The Hidden Strategy of 2024: How Campaigns Compel America’s Overlooked Voters

In 2024, various tactics can be employed in publicly held elections. However, behind the scenes, similar tactics may be at play in privately decided appointments of office. Does the influence of those in someone’s ear matter? Who are these “advisors,” as they are often referred to? For many candidates and professionals seeking appointments, there are two sides: aligning themselves with the voter’s or appointer’s deepest desires to achieve a favorable outcome or strategically choosing which opinions to listen to in order to accomplish the same goal. The likelihood of losing diminishes as fairness decreases.

"In a race against time, United States presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have traversed the nation’s swing states in a bid to woo undecided voters and bag crucial Electoral College votes that could decide the winner of the 2024 US election" (Al Jazeera).

The art of persuasion has never been impartial. Swing states, such as Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, highlight this truth as candidates inundate undecided voters with tailored messaging. Behind every carefully chosen word is a strategist pulling the strings, a figure who understands that outcomes can hinge on perception as much as truth. This manipulation begs the question: is the process still democratic when influence is so acutely calculated?

If individuals possess inside knowledge about a stock trend and act upon it, that would be considered insider trading, as per the SEC and the government. However, when campaigns use numerical data to pinpoint individuals’ potential to be influenced, can elections still be considered organic expressions of choice?

"Targeting irregular voters, teaching supporters to surveil polling places, and bombarding states with voting-related lawsuits have become prevalent strategies" (CNN).

Campaigns today are less about participation and more about precision. In 2020, Florida and Georgia exemplified this phenomenon as data pinpointed low-propensity voters, enabling targeted outreach that swung local results. Knowledge of these patterns, akin to insider trading, transforms elections into finely tuned operations. Can we still call it “choice” when voters’ actions are anticipated, optimized, and exploited?

Tourette’s syndrome, a disorder characterized by unusual outbursts that the brain compels individuals with the disorder to perform, raises an intriguing question. Humans, the dominant species that has both the capacity to destroy the Earth and the potential for greatness, what compels them to act in such destructive ways? This perspective brings everyone and everything into a state of equilibrium, rooted in the fundamental concept of compelling. Some may perceive compelling as an innate instinct or a survival technique. While this perspective may not delve into a detailed history lesson, it draws parallels between the actions of cavemen and modern-day American voters.

"The value of education, and [one’s] ability to pay the bill, remains a significant factor influencing voter behavior" (American Sociological Review).

Compulsion often arises from necessity. In Appalachia and the Midwest, where education levels remain comparatively lower, voters are driven by immediate survival—economic security, employment, and community preservation. Just as cavemen discovered fire to combat the forces of nature, these voters are compelled by instinct to embrace political messaging promising stability. What appears like choice is, at its core, a response to survival.

Cavemen were compelled to discover and harness fire, which provided a sense of dominance over hunger, body temperature, and homeostasis. This equilibrium, enhanced by the addition of fire, served as a catalyst for many individuals. However, it also held a profound influence on the ambitions of candidates and appointees with fire in their eyes. Is ambition an innate trait or a learned behavior?

"General self-efficacy has a positive effect on voter turnout" (Journal of Politics).

This demonstrates that belief in personal agency influences political participation, reinforcing the connection between self-confidence and civic engagement. The desire to succeed stems from belief—belief in one’s ability to create change. Grassroots campaigns in states like Texas and Ohio demonstrate this, as voters motivated by their sense of agency turned out in record numbers to support local candidates. Like the fire wielded by the caveman, ambition drives political action. Those who understand this principle do not seek to stoke flames; they ignite movements.

The voter has reached the voting booth. Did they happen to be in the right place at the right time, or were they targeted—compelled to do so all from a paper of probability? What makes up this likelihood? One common trend among political candidates for 2024 was to strategically create a presence in areas of the United States that, on paper, lack high levels of education. These areas, which primarily value manual labor, trades, or the integration of religion into daily aspects such as work, life, and community, are occupied by vested interests of the few who seek to lead and create them. Do you feel valued if you are merely a pawn in the game of the few to create the few?

"Support for Democrats increased in highly educated Black and Hispanic neighborhoods but stagnated or declined in similar less-educated areas" (Wall Street Journal).

The disconnect between education and electoral strategy is intentional. Regions where higher education is scarce are not elevated—they are mobilized. Rural areas and working-class communities become chess pieces in a larger game, their loyalties compelled through cultural and economic promises. Are voters participants in this process, or are they outcomes already calculated on campaign spreadsheets?

Compelled, studied, or mere natural happenstance—there is something to examine in the patterns that allow any party to secure widespread support, whether through strategy, influence, or circumstance. How and why these coincidences occur can only be fully understood once one comprehends the workings of the brain and its controllable and/or subservient nature in the future. One thing is certain: 2024 will be a year that will be remembered and referenced for years to come.

"Significant voter apathy exists among the poor, particularly in Bibb County, where nearly a quarter of the population lives in poverty" (Associated Press).

In regions consumed by poverty, voter apathy is not born of disinterest but exhaustion. When survival itself becomes a full-time effort, the capacity to engage with electoral systems diminishes. The paradox of political dominance lies here—those compelled the least are those whose voices are most easily excluded. This year will not just be remembered as a moment in time but as a reflection of systems built to compel outcomes without regard for fairness.

Works Cited

"US Election 2024: The Key Issues Driving Votes in the Swing States." Al Jazeera, 5 Nov. 2024, www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/5/us-election-2024-the-key-issues-driving-votes-in-the-swing-states. Accessed 8 Dec. 2024.

"Trump and Harris Election Updates." CNN, 4 Nov. 2024, www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/2024-election-trump-harris/index.html. Accessed 8 Dec. 2024.

"The Value of Education and Political Engagement." American Sociological Review, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20342579. Accessed 8 Dec. 2024.

"General Self-Efficacy and Voter Participation." Journal of Politics, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23481740. Accessed 8 Dec. 2024.

"Democrats’ Support Among Educated Voters." Wall Street Journal, 7 Nov. 2024, www.wsj.com/politics/elections/democrats-college-educated-voters-election-2024-fd0a3917. Accessed 8 Dec. 2024.

"Voter Apathy in Poor Regions." Associated Press, 2 Nov. 2024, apnews.com/article/34209a5bba0b2697eb6fcdd004dca584. Accessed 8 Dec. 2024.