What a Tank of Gas Taught Me About 2024

On May 15, 2022, I turned sixteen and earned my driver’s license the very same day. No Fourth of July celebration I’d ever been to came close to the rush of freedom and independence I felt in that moment. For the next month, it seemed like I spent more time in my 20-year-old car than in my own house.  

In June of 2022, the thrill of independence I had embraced in May was quickly replaced by the sting of a $66 gas bill. Nearly my entire after-school paycheck disappeared into my gas tank. Even then, I knew the gas price wasn’t normal. 

When Biden took office in January 2021, the average gas price was $2.34 per gallon. In June 2022, the gas price rose to $5.12 per gallon. For me, it was frustrating. But for families already stretched thin, those same gas prices forced them to choose between filling up the car and paying for groceries or rent. 

Like most Americans, I didn’t understand how the economy worked or what exactly caused the inflation at the time, but I did know who the president was. The inflation crisis of 2022 became the glass window through which Americans came to see Biden’s time in office. When it came to the 2024 election, the inflation of 2022 was at the forefront of our minds, not idealistic debates about the state of democracy.

The 2024 election was not a radical change in the American electorate; it was a backlash. By the summer, his approval rating had sunk into the low 30s, a sign that voters held him responsible for rising costs and economic strain. Few Americans are eager to vote for the party that recently made their lives worse. Biden’s Vice President, Kamala Harris, was viewed as an extension of that same leadership. 

In March of 2024, Biden was declared the presumptive democratic nominee. Four months later, on July 21st, Biden announced his withdrawal from the presidential race. That same day, he endorsed Kamala Harris as the new democratic nominee. Voters were angry at the past four years, and Harris hadn’t built the familiarity to stand on her own

She entered the race with barely 100 days to define herself. Instead of being viewed as a fresh start, she was tied to a presidency voters had already rejected. What voters wanted was someone who acknowledged their anger and promised change. There just wasn’t enough time for Harris to step out of Biden’s shadow.

Kamala was relying on the Democratic Party’s reputation, and their reputation was nothing more than another drawback for her campaign.  Voters increasingly view the Democratic Party as “out of touch.”   Even as a democrat, I questioned whether there was any real center to the party in the 2024 election.

I couldn’t figure out how to advocate for democrats without falling back on criticizing Trump. And neither could the very person in his opposition. During the presidential debate, Kamala spent her second statement reminding voters why Trump was the wrong choice rather than showing them why she was the right choice. 

Instead of seizing the opportunity to define herself, she echoed the party’s habit of playing defense. Even at its most disciplined, the Democratic message seemed defined by cultural fights rather than concrete solutions. It seemed like we were clinging to abortion and reproductive rights, climate change, and relaxed border enforcement.

While these issues stir passion, most voters were still stuck on their grocery receipts and gas bills. The economy was the issue that cut through every other concern. Yet, Democrats seemed preoccupied with debates that didn't match people’s daily anxieties. That disconnect left many Americans feeling like the party was fighting for causes, but not for them.

At first glance, the 2024 election might have looked like the beginning of a realignment in which Democrats were losing touch with American voters. However, the case for realignment collapsed once you realized Republicans were running defense, too. Trump didn’t surge on some wave of radical change in 2024; he eked out a 1.5% win by running against the weaker party. Trump used the same strategy as Biden in 2020: don’t choose the president now, choose me.

Nothing illustrates this defensive campaigning more clearly than the “Let’s Go Brandon” slogan. It wasn’t a call for transformation. It was just a reminder to voters of how much they disliked Biden. Ultimately, the 2024 election wasn’t about democracy or realignment. It was about the same sting I felt at the gas pump, multiplied across millions of voters. 

“The Greatest Political Movement of All Time”

After winning the presidential election in 2024, Trump confidently began his victory speech by addressing the election as “the greatest political movement of all time.” His next words follow: “There’s never been anything like this in this country.” While bombastic, his claims aren’t entirely wrong.

The 2024 election didn’t just change who sat in the White House; it signaled a radical, long-term change in the American electorate.

This push for change in America is not out of the blue. Before the election, over 70% of Americans said they were dissatisfied with how things are going in the U.S.  In fact, the last time even half of Americans reported being satisfied was more than 20 years ago.

Trump’s candidacy represented an avenue toward change in this failing system. Americans weren’t just reacting to short-term issues; they were seeking a new kind of politics. Why should the citizens of the United States cling to the idea of upholding “traditional democracy” when it consistently isn’t working for 70% of Americans?

Trump’s unpredictability and projection of power felt refreshing to Americans who had grown tired of the stale air of American democracy. Trump’s reputation stood in direct contrast to political tradition. The New York Times editorial board even further described Trump’s character as “unworthy of the responsibilities of the presidency.”

These criticisms weren’t baseless. On January 6, 2021, following the election of President Joe Biden, a crowd of Trump supporters breached the U.S. Capitol, leading to violence and disruption. Then, in May of 2024, Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts. Traditionally, events of this magnitude would have severely damaged a candidate’s reputation, as was the case when President Nixon resigned in the aftermath of Watergate.

Even with these circumstances surrounding Trump, his chances at the ballot box were unaffected. In fact, he secured a larger share of the popular vote in the 2024 election than he did after winning the 2016 election. He was breaking norms in American politics, and people liked it. Voting for him was more than endorsing a candidate; it was endorsing a new America.

By electing a man disqualified by past standards, Americans proved that they were willing to discard old rules of legitimacy in favor of someone who promised change. The difference in 2024 wasn’t just Trump’s return to the White House; it was the coalition that carried him back. It was broader than the Republican parties of the past.

Trump became the candidate of those who felt invisible. Even his GOP platform was explicitly dedicated to “the Forgotten Men and Women of America.” Washington runs on jargon and partisan games while ordinary Americans are left to sort through rising prices and broken institutions. Trump’s message resonated because he spoke to the people who felt left behind rather than the insiders.

My sister felt like one of those forgotten Americans. She has voted Democrat as long as she could, but 2024 was different. As an engineer working in manufacturing, she saw her industry becoming less and less supported. Trump’s fifth promise to bring manufacturing back to America hit home. Despite the title, her job depends on an industry that has long been the symbol of working-class struggle. In her mind, Trump was fighting for her industry.

That feeling echoed across much of the working class in 2024. Exit polls by NBC showed that 56% of those without college degrees backed Trump, while Democrats won the college-educated by the same margin. The divide couldn’t be clearer: Republicans claimed the working class, while Democrats consolidated the educated elite. This directly challenges the old notion that Democrats are the party of the people.

On the surface, one could read the election as thermostatic due to Biden’s reputation for high prices and inflation. However, that logic doesn’t account for the size and nature of Trump’s coalition. He didn’t just ride Biden’s weakness; he built a working-class base that Democrats once claimed.

Instead of being the party of the people, the Democrats represent a specific identity. To be a Democrat, it felt like you had to be pro-choice, pro-LBGTQ, pro-immigration, and if you wavered on one of these issues, you weren’t a true democrat. On the other hand, Republicans projected themselves as the party of the “outsiders.” Democrats demanded ideological purity, while Republicans broadened their appeal to the frustrations of ordinary Americans.

That shift explains why political scandals barely touched Trump in 2024. Americans weren’t voting on traditional measures of character; they were voting on who they believed would finally listen.  The result wasn’t only a Republican victory but a reordering of political power.

If anything, that proves Trump was right when he called his win “the greatest political movement of all time.” It is the beginning of a new political era.