Vincent Douglas ’25 will be voting for the first time as an 18 year old in the 2024 presidential election, but he’s not exactly enthused about either history-making candidate.

Both Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump have their own host of issues, he feels, so it’s been difficult settling on a decision before he’s at the polls this November.

Even though he’s made his choice, “I feel that neither of them is very qualified to be the leader of the country,” he said.

Vice President Kamala Harris stepped into the presidential race after President Joe Biden dropped out following significant pressure from high level Democrats. She chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate, a strategic choice that she hopes will help the campaign appeal to Midwestern voters.

Her debut re-energized the base towards an election that many Democrats previously thought was doomed, with a level of enthusiasm characterized by record breaking donations to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Trump and his running mate Sen. JD Vance, meanwhile, has sought to paint her as a radical, out-of-touch Bay Area liberal who’s responsible for the current state of San Francisco. Their
attacks focus on tying Harris to Biden’s record, particularly on immigration and the economy.

Jeff Isola, Riordan’s AP Government and Politics teacher, said that winning over disaffected blue collar workers is a must. Labor has traditionally sided with Democrats, but Isola warned against treating their vote as guaranteed, especially as the party became more elitist, urban, and educated over the past 30 years.

“They [Democrats] haven’t done anything to actually prop them up to help them to support them. And so they [blue collar workers] feel disaffected by the process, much like a lot of people in poverty felt disaffected by the process.”

He added, “But Donald Trump came out with this rhetoric of rallying them, like, hey, the government’s not paying attention to you.”

“And it’s so ironic that the Republican Party that has traditionally been…elitist, lots of money, is making this appeal to those in poverty and saying, ‘I represent you’. And a lot gravitated towards that.”

Their respective campaign strategies made way into their only debate on Sept. 10 in
Philadelphia, where Harris’ performance showed off her prosecutorial background while Trump, at times, struggled to stay on track.

Douglas said, “I think they were both trying to say what the American people wanted to hear.”

Polls show Harris and Trump neck and neck in swing states, but Isola advises, “Ignore it. I don’t think we’re learning enough from 2016.”

“American politics have really disintegrated over the last few years,” Douglas said.