Wake Up, Columbia—The Working Class of America Thinks Differently
With confusion and devastation, most Columbia students neglected the real cause of Trump's win.
The day after the election, Columbia's campus, usually bustling with activity, fell silent—classes were canceled, students exchanged tears, and emotional posts flooded social media. Columbia grieved Kamala Harris’ election loss.
But how did so many students fail to see this coming?
When a candidate wins both the electoral college and the popular vote, we must remember that liberals, conservatives, and independents alike voted to make Trump the 47th president of the United States. When a candidate wins all seven battleground states, we must remember that a good deal of our peers likely contributed to Trump’s win.
The results of this election, which many are calling a landslide victory for Republicans, not only show that the Democrats need to rebuild their party but that surprised students have been disconnected from the majority of the United States for the past four years.
If you’re asking yourself how a “sexist, racist, dictator” has just been reelected, I fear that you are missing the point. Character was clearly not the main concern of the 77 million Americans who voted for Trump.
Less than 30 percent of Americans have believed that the country was headed in the right direction for most of Joe Biden’s presidency. As James Carville put it, “It's the economy, stupid.” Indeed, the average American in this election described the economy as their biggest concern. Polls showed that 52 percent of registered voters said the candidates' positions on economics were an “extremely important” influence on their vote. One poll found that the top reason voters did not choose Harris was because they felt “inflation was too high under the Biden-Harris Administration.”
In contrast, many swing voters felt that the Harris campaign was defined by social issues, like abortion and “saving democracy.” In fact, the same poll found that the top reason swing voters chose Trump was because they believed “Kamala Harris is focused more on cultural issues like transgender issues rather than helping the middle class.”
I am not disputing that women's reproductive rights and social justice are essential issues for Americans, but if I were to ask you what other vital issues defined the Harris campaign, what would come to mind?
You'd likely find it a lot less difficult to describe Trump's policies, even if you disagree with them. Trump is economics: He wants to bring manufacturing jobs back to America. Trump is border control: He wants to stem the flow of immigration and deport illegal immigrants. Trump is honest: He wants to end corruption and “drain the swamp.”
The Democratic Party has become a party for wealthy elites, people who have the time, money, and resources to prioritize social issues—a huge privilege that many of Columbia's students have. The median family income of a Columbia student is $150,900, almost twice the median household income of the United States.
Democrats were so caught up in highlighting Harris’ moral superiority that they couldn't have open conversations with right-leaning Americans about the actual policies that motivated them to vote for Trump. Democrats failed to build bridges and, therefore, failed to win the popular vote.
When your ears are filled to the brim with the Democratic Party’s rhetoric, you become deaf to the concerns of Republicans and moderates. When you entirely surround yourself with people who share your politics, you never get a chance to understand those with whom you disagree. When you attend one of the most elite, cosmopolitan, and liberal colleges in the United States, it’s easy to lose touch with what the average American is thinking and feeling.
Lack of perspective in higher education has also been a massive factor as to why Democrats—especially those at elite institutions like Columbia—have continued to underestimate Trump's influence. Progressive academics seem to be almost wilfully ignorant about the many reasons Trump is so popular with middle America. How can you claim to want to dismantle right-wing ideologies when you refuse to exit your echo chamber? How can you draw in your opponent’s supporters if you can't be objective enough to analyze how they persuade their base?
The Republicans are now the party of the working class. As Senator Bernie Sanders wrote the day after the election, “It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them.”
There is a false sense of political security at Columbia—maybe this election was the wake-up call we all needed.
Ms. Aigbogun is a freshman at Columbia College. She is a staff writer for Sundial.