{"id":4766,"date":"2025-07-08T15:59:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T15:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aomtodayprod.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=4766"},"modified":"2025-12-23T12:30:26","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T12:30:26","slug":"how-the-gop-won-the-2024-u-s-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/how-the-gop-won-the-2024-u-s-election\/","title":{"rendered":"How the GOP Won the 2024 U.S. Election"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Daniel Butcher<\/a><\/p>\r\n

The Republican Party took advantage of the headwinds facing the Democratic Party during the cycle leading up to the 2024 U.S. election, including switching presidential candidates at a late stage and persistently high inflation, for which voters blame incumbents. Regardless of the potential effectiveness of their policy proposals, winning GOP candidates spoke to American voters\u2019 concerns about jobs and the high cost of living as many Democrats instead painted a rosy picture of the economy.<\/p>\r\n

Academy of Management Scholar Tim Pollock<\/a> of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville said that, in contrast with Democrats, who focused on touting the accomplishments of the Biden-Harris Administration, more Republicans were willing to talk about voters\u2019 concerns, anxieties, worries, grievances, and other negative feelings.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cRepublican candidates were willing to say, \u2018Yeah, we hear you. We are going to deal with this. We\u2019re going to bring inflation down,\u2019 even though inflation was already coming down, and even though many of the factors across the supply chain that might have been responsible for inflation are not actually under government control,\u201d Pollock said. \u201cWhatever the actual reasons are, they said, \u2018We hear you, and we\u2019re going to do something about it.\u2019 And the Dems are citing data and saying, \u2018No, things are great\u2014unemployment is low, and the stock markets are hitting record highs.\u2019<\/p>\r\n

\u201cBut if I\u2019m living paycheck to paycheck, I don\u2019t care what the S&P 500 is doing,\u201d he said. \u201cI care about the prices of eggs, meat, and gas.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

In an ironic twist, many economists are skeptical that the Republicans\u2019 policy proposals\u2014sparking a global trade war with high tariffs and deporting illegal immigrants\u2014will actually improve the economy, create jobs, or bring down inflation.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cEvery economist I’ve seen, heard, or read says that they\u2019ll do the opposite\u2014those policies would increase inflation,\u201d Pollock said. \u201cIncreasing tariffs would only increase costs, because they\u2019re going to get passed on to U.S. consumers, and cracking down in immigration will cause labor shortages, etc.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cBut on the campaign trail, they were saying, \u2018I\u2019m going to solve the problem,\u2019 and people are thinking, \u2018Great, because nobody else is listening to what my concerns are; nobody else says they want to fix this, and they hear me and understand what I care about,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

A sample of Pollock\u2019s AOM research findings:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n