BY EMERSON LAYNE

Ladies and gentlemen to distinguished peers, the 2024 presidential election has been coming in hot this year. Both Republican and Democratic presidential candidates officially began their campaign trails right after the end of the RNC and DNC. 2024’s Republican presidential candidate is former president Donald Trump and his vice president pick, JD Vance. The Democratic presidential candidate is vice president Kamala Harris and her vice president pick, Tim Walz. There has been back and forth banter between the presidential candidates, diverse campaign strategies, and most importantly their promises if they get elected as president. So, let’s get into each presidential candidate’s promises and stances on important issues, so you can know who to properly support in the upcoming election. 

The economy and taxes are seen as a prominent issue within the US. With recent inflation and increased taxes, many voters would like to see the state of the economy improved by the next president. Both candidates have laid out several planned policies to reconfigure the economy if elected. However, their approaches to economic improvement are very different. Harris plans to have mortgage assistance for first time homeowners, tax credit for parents with newborns, bans on price gouging, middle class tax cuts and increased corporate tax rates. Trump’s campaign plans on having tax deductions for corporations and increasing the current tax deduction and child tax credit. 

Immigration remains a prominent issue among voters. One of the largers concerns according to polls is the lack of border control and illegal immigrants coming into the country. Again, both candidates have put forth ideas on teh topic and they diverge quite a bit in their approaches. Harris’ campaign pledges to bring back a bipartisan border deal that Trump recently played a part in killing; one of the plans was to have more funding to construct the border between Mexico and the US. Trump’s campaign promises to have the largest domestic deportation in US history, have ideological screenings on immigrants from certain countries, and end birthright citizenship if at least one parent is illegal. 

An additional issue growing in the US is abortion and women’s health rights. The issue of abortion has skyrocketed in the minds of voters after the recent overturn of Roe v Wade back in June 2022. Harris’ campaign has made it clear that they support a woman’s right to reproductive freedom and plans on attempting to reverse the overturning of Roe v Wade. From Trump himself, he takes credit for the overturning of Roe v Wade. However, Trump has stated that he will let the states decide whether to prosecute women and doctors who perform abortions and believes the overall decision to ban abortion should be left up to the states. During the end of August, Trump made a statement on NBC News about Florida’s 6 week abortion ban, stating that it was “too short”. 

Another issue that has the two parties divided is their thoughts on LGBTQ+ rights. In just the past few years we’ve seen bills targeting transgender individuals in sports, healthcare restrictions, to gay individuals being targeted over marriage equality. Harris has been open in support of the LGBTQ+ community and has backed the Equality Act and Respect for Marriage Act while supporting non-binary markers in passports and better access to healthcare for transgender individuals. Trump has a much different perspective on LGBTQ+ rights. Some of Trump’s plans include removing transgender women from sports, establishing only two genders in the government and a national prohibition on medical treatment for transgender children and adults.

Foreign policy is a topic that always garners attention during a presidential race. Wars raging in the Middle East and Eastern Europe will require decisions by any future president. In particular the Israel-Hamas War has generated the most dissension among Americans. There are a wide variety of opinions about what role America should play in the dispute, and because there are so many different ideas the candidates will find striking the right tone to be a bit tricky. Harris has been an advocate for a two state solution between Gaza and Israel, wants the hostages to be released, Israel to become stable again and for the Palestine people to have their own free country. Trump has been open in support of Israel and advocates for the destruction of Hamas. Trump has also been critical over Israel’s tactics in the war, wanting them to be more aggressive and to quickly get the war over with. 

And finally, the climate has been a worldwide issue in the growing concern of climate change and global warming. Harris’ campaign supports the ban of fracking and to increase production of clean energy and electricity as an alternative to oil and gas production. In Trump’s campaign they plan on increasing oil production and want to create the cheapest energy and fuel in the world. Also, back in 2020, Trump had commented on climate change, believing climate change persists as an “expensive hoax”. 

So these were some of the stances and policies the current presidential candidates have expressed their support or disapproval of on important US topics. Harris and Trump show a complete contrast in their beliefs and policies, leaving no room for compromise or another candidate. So choose who you want to support wisely, as they might become the 47th president of the United States.