As the 2024 Presidential election draws closer to its conclusion the issues driving the American people to the polls have crystalized and clarified and most clearly of all shines the
stark contrast between the visions offered by President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Based upon polling from Statista/YouGov in July, The Economist/YouGov in August, Pew Research in September and Marist in October, analysts have gleaned that the Economy, Inflation and Consumer Prices are most consistently the most important combined issue in the election by a wide margin.
Other top issues which vie for prominence from month to month are Immigration/Border Security, Healthcare, Crime, and Foreign Policy. In a remarkable departure from previous races, the political hot-button issue of Abortion is almost an afterthought in most polls.
Both parties have published their platforms addressing these issues which have been analyzed, scrutinized and of course, deliberately misinterpreted by pundits and their opponents alike for months, this is an election after all. But each candidate’s position can be condensed relatively simply.
Economy, Inflation and Consumer Prices
Donald J. Trump: President Trump’s platform calls for the President and Congress to “commit to unleashing American Energy, reining in wasteful spending, cutting excessive Regulations, securing our Borders, and restoring Peace through Strength,” in order to correct the spiraling economy and reduce inflation. Specifically, Trump places domestic energy production center stage and prescribes “lifting restrictions on American Energy Production and terminating the Socialist Green New Deal,” as well as “Energy Production from all sources, including nuclear, to immediately slash Inflation and power American homes, cars, and factories with reliable, abundant, and affordable Energy.” Trump also broke new ground with a vow to eliminate Taxes on Tips for American service workers, no taxes on Social Security and no taxes on Overtime as well as “mak(ing) permanent the provisions of the Trump Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that doubled the standard deduction, expanded the Child Tax Credit, and spurred Economic Growth for all Americans.” This is a major condensation as well, Trump’s platform spends four entire chapters on economic, trade and job building reforms.
Kamala Harris: Vice President Harris’ platform conversely lays the blame upon “anti-competitive practices that let big corporations jack up prices and undermine the competition,” as the root cause of the high cost of living and slow growth for Main Street America. Harris promises to correct this through an effort to “go after bad actors who exploit an emergency to rip off consumers by calling for the first-ever federal ban on corporate price gouging on food and groceries.” She further calls for “making our tax system fairer and prioritizing investment and innovation,” promising to “ensure the wealthiest Americans and the largest corporations pay their fair share, so we can take action to build up the middle class while reducing the deficit,” and pitching expanded Child Tax Credits and Earned Income Tax Credits.
Immigration/Border Security
Donald J. Trump: Trump’s policy on immigration and border security is largely unchanged since his initial 2016 Presidential run calling for a restoration of the border policies he enacted during his first term including a halt of all releases of illegal immigrants into the country and deployment of the U.S. military to interdict drug and human smuggling across maritime borders. A new addition is a vow to launch the “Largest Deportation Program in American History,” in concert with his Travel Ban for unvetted migrants, and use Title 42 to combat child trafficking crisis by “returning all trafficked children to their families in their Home Countries immediately.”
Kamala Harris: Harris in a departure from boilerplate Democrat rhetoric has pivoted to a stance of “tough, smart solutions to secure the border, keep communities safe, and reform(ing) our broken immigration system.” She also touts her previous role as Attorney General of California as proof of her capability to wrangle with “international drug gangs, human traffickers and cartels.” However, Harris focuses on an allegedly “bi-partisan” border security bill that met with widespread scorn and derision from Republicans and only held token support from anti-Trump Republicans on the hill with several calling it a “sham.”
According to Congressman Don Davis’s (D-NC) website even Washington state Democrat and chair of the Progressive Congressional Caucus Pramila Jayapal condemned the bill as pointless saying, “The majority could barely pass this legislation last year,” referring to the party-line vote in 2023. “And now it’s going to magically pass it in the House with a two-thirds majority? Give me a break. This bill is going nowhere, so let’s just be clear about that.”
Harris’ campaign vows to “bring back the bipartisan border security bill and sign it into law.”
Crime
Donald J. Trump: In President Trump’s platform to “Renew The Pillars Of American Civilization,” extensively refers to restoring law and order. “Republicans will restore safety in our neighborhoods by replenishing Police Departments, restoring Common Sense Policing, and protecting Officers from frivolous lawsuits. We will stand up to Marxist Prosecutors, vigorously defend the Right of every American to live in peace, and we will compassionately address homelessness to restore order to our streets.” In his Agenda47 plan, Trump also calls for the firing of “Radical Marxist Prosecutors,” and the appoint 100 U.S. Attorneys adding, “As part of this effort, there should be a federal inquiry into the Soros prosecutor in Austin, Texas, who charged a veteran with murder for defending himself against a threat by a heavily armed member of a radical left mob.”
Kamala Harris: Vice President Harris focuses on efforts begun under the Biden Administration for federal-level investment and thereby control of “local law enforcement and community safety programs across 1,000 cities, towns, and counties, and placing more mental health professionals in schools. Overwhelmingly however, Harris’ crime policies revolve around gun control and confiscatory laws declaring on her website, “She’ll ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, require universal background checks, and support red flag laws.”
Harris also suggested that she would continue to target her opponent in particular noting, “She’ll fight to ensure that no former president has immunity for crimes committed while in the White House.” She also called for “common-sense Supreme Court reforms — like requiring Justices to comply with ethics rules that other federal judges are bound by and imposing term limits — to address the crisis of confidence facing the Supreme Court.”
Healthcare:
Donald J. Trump: While the RNC platform itself is rather brief on the subject of healthcare, in Trump’s Agenda47, the President is detailed in his policy plans to the point of being verbose targeting major pharmaceutical companies. “Every year, we spend hundreds of billions of dollars to treat these chronic problems rather than looking at what is causing them in the first place,” Trump said. “Too often, our public health establishment is too close to Big Pharma—they make a lot of money, Big Pharma—big corporations, and other special interests, and does not want to ask the tough questions about what is happening to our children’s health.” He also called out “the scourge of Drug Addiction in America” adding, “If Big Pharma defrauds American patients and taxpayers or puts profits above people, they must be investigated and held accountable.”
He further called for major reforms tackling “homelessness, the drug addicted, and the dangerously deranged,” promising to “use every tool, lever, and authority to get the homeless off our streets. We want to take care of them, but they have to be off our streets. There is nothing compassionate about letting these individuals live in filth and squalor rather than getting them the help they need. We need professionals to help them.”
Kamala Harris: Harris’ healthcare policy is largely predicated on “expanding and strengthening the Affordable Care Act,” and levying tax credits for healthcare premiums and government price restrictions on pharmaceuticals. She also pitches the fallacy of cancelling medical debt, which is effectively a taxpayer funded bailout. The Vice President also leverages heavily on forcing “millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share in taxes,” in order to fund Social Security and Medicare, expanding these programs to encompass government subsidized child care and long-term medical care.
In terms of combatting drug dependency Harris leans once again on the “bipartisan border bill” to combat drug-smuggling and touts making the overdose-reversal drug naloxone available over-the-counter.
Foreign Policy
Donald J. Trump: The Trump foreign policy we can expect is one that would largely mirror the President’s first term with two notable exceptions: the Russo-Ukrainian War and the Israel-Hamas War. In the RNC platform Trump’s campaign promises a “return Peace through Strength, rebuilding our Military and Alliances, countering China, defeating terrorism, building an Iron Dome Missile Defense Shield, promoting American Values, securing our Homeland and Borders, and reviving our Defense Industrial Base.” Trump has also in several media appearances promised to address the Russo-Ukrainian conflict before even taking office and reportedly has asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to wrap up operations in the conflict with Hamas prior to his inauguration according to Fox News citing the Times of Israel.
In February Trump also called for stern measures to rebuke increased espionage being conducted by China saying, “As President, I took the most dramatic action of any administration to curtail China’s ability to conduct espionage in the United States,” President Trump said. “And when I’m back in the White House, those efforts will be expanded in a very, very big way. Instead of hunting down Republicans, a reformed FBI and Justice Department will be hunting down Chinese spies.”
Kamala Harris: The Harris campaign’s strategy leans heavily upon work conducted under the Biden-Harris Administration while leaving her responses to both the Russo-Ukrainian and Israeli-Hamas conflicts ambiguous. The only forward looking statements she offers on her campaign site is that “Vice President Harris will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to protect U.S. forces and interests from Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups,” and ” Vice President Harris will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself and she will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself.” Regarding China she adds, “She has met with China’s Xi Jinping, making clear she will always stand up for American interests in the face of China’s threats,” but regarding the Russo-Ukrainian conflict she presents no policy plan on the page.
According to the Associated Press, “The vice president has yet to specify how her positions on Russia’s war with Ukraine might differ from Biden’s,” suggesting that she is likely to continue Biden’s policy of pouring billions of American tax dollars into weapons, ammunition and other assistance without pushing for a peace settlement between Kyiv and Moscow.
Conservatives, we are in a battle for the survival of a free America established and created under God’s laws. None should stay on the sidelines in this election. Working together we can save America for our children, grandchildren, and future generations. Please forward this and other CHQ articles to your contact list to inform and educate family, friends, neighbors, and others on what’s at stake in this election.
Matthew Holloway is a contributor for Conservative HQ. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@theconservativefreelancer.com.
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