US Presidential Election: Gender, Emotion & Online Culture Drive Engagement

Published 05 August 2024

Author
Emilia Morano-Williams
2 min read

Following the withdrawal of President Joe Biden from the 2024 US presidential race, American Democrats are showing higher levels of engagement with this election cycle, while American Republicans are reporting less worry and frustration. We explore these shifts and highlight three trends in American voters’ outlooks.

  • A Political Gender Gap: The polarisation of men and women’s political views – men increasingly identify as right-wing and women as left (see The Brief) – is evident in the US election (especially among young voters). Following the June 27 debate, 39% of men said they had a somewhat or very favourable opinion of former US president Donald Trump, compared to 37% of women (New York Times/Siena College, 2024). This gender gap has remained following the start of vice-president Kamala Harris’s campaign. Among male votes, Harris trails Trump by five percentage points (compared to Biden’s 12), but has an equal approval rating among female voters (Morning Consult, 2024).

    To young men, Trump appears as “an anti-hero sticking it to a system viewed as slow, ineffectual and corrupt” explains John Della Volpe, polling director at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics.

  • A Bipartisan Emotional Uplift: Following Biden’s withdrawal, the percentage of Democrats who say they’re worried about the election fell from 48% to 25%, while the share of Republicans who are worried fell from 33% to 15% (Morning Consult, 2024). Feelings of frustration are also down from 40% to 17% among Democrats, and from 28% to 12% among Republicans (Morning Consult, 2024).

  • Meme Mobilisation: For Democrats, this new tenor of the election is broadcast through internet memes, which showcase Harris’s “kooky persona” in a way that spurs shareability. A tweet from Charli XCX stating “Kamala IS brat” – referencing the British singer’s popular new album – received over 40,000 reposts and 334,000 likes. Meanwhile, fundraisers on American video call service Zoom are raising millions of dollars for Harris’s campaign.

 

Stay tuned for more updates on voter sentiments leading up to the US presidential election on November 5, 2024.