United States Presidential Election, 2020 (Fester)

''I'm rewriting this and all of my other election pages, so I apologise if this looks messy. Also, this is not what I think will happen, it is only designed to be interesting.''

The United States presidential election of 2020 was the 59th quadrennial American presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former Vice President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the junior senator from California, defeated the Republican ticket of incumbent President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

The main issues of the election were the economy and immigration after the suicide bombing at the Lincoln Memorial in late 2019. The polls were neck and neck until late October, when the economy collapsed. Trump had made his economy the primary focus of his campaign, so Biden took a large lead that Trump never caught back up with.

Biden defeated Trump, winning a majority in the popular and electoral vote. Trump would be one of only two incumbent residents in the first half of the 21st century to lose an election.

Background
Article Two of the United States Constitution provides that the President and Vice President of the United States must be natural-born citizens of the United States, at least 35 years old, and residents of the United States for a period of at least 14 years. Candidates for the presidency typically seek the nomination of one of the political parties, in which case each party devises a method (such as a primary election) to choose the candidate the party deems best suited to run for the position. Traditionally, the primary elections are indirect elections where voters cast ballots for a slate of party delegates pledged to a particular candidate. The party's delegates then officially nominate a candidate to run on the party's behalf. The general election in November is also an indirect election, where voters cast ballots for a slate of members of the Electoral College; these electors in turn directly elect the President and Vice President.

President Donald Trump, a Republican was eligible to seek reelection to a second term due to the Twenty-second Amendment; in accordance with Section 1 of the Twentieth Amendment, he did not win a second term and it expired at noon on January 20, 2021.

Early States
Despite being heavily favoured in polls issued weeks earlier, Biden was only able to defeat Mayor Pete Buttigieg in the first-in-the-nation Iowa Caucus by the closest margin in the history of the contest: 33.8% to 33.6%.

The victory, which was projected to award him 14 pledged national convention delegates (one more than Buttigieg), cemented them both as front-runners and marked a clear difference from 2008, where he finished in fifth place behind Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John Edwards and Bill RIichardson. As a result of the primary, Tim Ryan, Wayne Messam, John Hickenlooper, Seth Moulton, and Eric Swalwell suspended their campaigns. A week later, Bernie Sanders won the New Hampshire primary, and as a result Tulsi Gabbard, Beto O'Rourke and Cory Booker suspended their campaigns, endorsing Sanders, Buttigieg and Kamala Harris respectively.

Kamala Harris convincingly won the Nevada Caucuses, becoming the first Indian-American woman to win a primary state. She also narrowly defeated Joe Biden in South Carolina, who had usurped Biden and the now-faltering Buttigieg as the front-runner. Kirsten Gillibrand, Jay Inslee, John Delaney, Amy Klobuchar, Julian Castro, Andrew Yang and Elizabeth Warren suspended their campaigns.

March
By Super Tuesday, only four candidates remained - Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg. Kamala Harris won her home state of California, albeit it was closer than expected she also carried North Carolina. Biden swept the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia and Utah. Bernie Sanders carried Massachusetts, Vermont and the Democrats Abroad. After this, Pete Buttigieg suspended his campaign. Biden would win Louisiana and Sanders would win Maine a few days later. Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Washington and North Dakota held their primaries a few days later, and Biden would win all but Washington, which went to Harris. After coming third in Michigan, Bernie Sanders suspended his campaign and did not endorse the two remaining candidates.

After winning Arizona, Florida, Colorado and Wyoming on March 17, (Harris won Illinois), the Californian Senator withdrew from the race, making Biden the presumptive nominee.

General Election
The primary themes of the election were the economy, immigration, and President Trump's personal image.

The President emphasised his good economy and it became his primary point during the campaign. He repeatedly asked at rallies "if you were better off now than you were four years ago", as he tried to take back the Rust Belt.

Biden had also launched an onslaught of rallies and campaign ads in the midwest, speaking about his roots and how he was the more experienced and more sane choice. During the debates, pundits noted their similar debating styles, however Biden came across as more witty, relatable and intelligent. Despite this, the polls remained neck and neck.

However, late in October, the economy plunged into recession, this cycles' 'October Surprise'. The Trump campaign's central message was in tatters. Many top campaign officials jumped ship, and Trump desperately tried to change the topic to immigration. In the days leading up to Election Day, the Trump campaign had all but admitted defeat, and Trump spent the last few days relaying his achievements.

Election Night
Late on Tuesday, Biden had been projected to reach the required number of Electoral Votes to win the Election. Trump initially refused to concede, however after intense pressure from top RNC officials, Trump conceded in the early hours of Wednesday Morning.

The Next Day
In the early hours of Wednesday, Biden delivered his victory in speech Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, declaring that "Tonight, America... You have taken back your country!". He then mentioned that he had received a gracious call from President Trump and that he looked forward to working with him. He then continued, saying that this was an important time in American history and that it was time for the country to come together. Trump had called Biden to concede the election at 2:50am ET, and he made his concession speech at 10:30 in the morning. He echoed Biden's words about the country coming together, and wished the President-Elect luck during his term. He had also spoke about his accomplishments, such as the Right to Try act and peace talks with North Korea. He thanked his supporters for sticking with him through the past four years and promised to continue fighting for them.

Results
Thanks to Kamala Harris relentlessly campaigning in the South and successfully bringing out the African American vote, she narrowly won the states of Georgia and North Carolina, which had looked impossible for the Democrats as late as October. This was the biggest electoral victory since Barack Obama's in 2008, (in which Biden was on the ticket) and it was the first election since the 1990s that a Democrat won Georgia. Arizona also narrowly went to Biden, along with Maine's second district, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Iowa. The states of Montana, the Dakotas, Texas, South Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Alaska and Kansas considerably tightened, although they did not flip.

Transition
After being uncharacteristically quiet on Twitter and refusing to meet with President-Elect Joe Biden,

Donald Trump delivered his farewell address on the 15th of January, five days before Biden was sworn in. He spoke about country unity and he thanked his supporters for being by his side. However, towards the end, he started a rant on live television, mentioning things ranging from his disrespect by world leaders and Congress, how the election was stolen and the economy was rigged to fail, and that the powers that be were against him. This would overshadow the inauguration and would become one of the most famous videos of all time. Biden was sworn in as President on January the 20th, 2021. In his speech he said that it was time for a "New Reconstruction" and he pledged to only serve one term. Trump would die less than a year later, and it spawned numerous conspiracy theories.

Aftermath
The Biden administration would not be one of radical change; but rather a return to normalcy. Biden had failed to help the economy recover and had no significant successes, and the administration had nothing to define it. As a result, Vice President Kamala Harris could not promote any achievements in the run-up to the 2024 election, and in an upset lost the election to former South Carolinian Governor Nikki Haley, who would serve two terms.

See more
List of Presidents of the United States (Fester)