A presidential campaign unlike any other ends on Tuesday. Here’s how we got here

WASHINGTON — These are elections that no one could have foreseen.

Not so long ago, Donald Trump was furious with Mar-a-Lago after being impeached twice and voted out of the White House. Even some of his closest allies looked to a future without the charismatic but erratic billionaire who led the Republican Party, especially after his failed attempt to overturn an election ended in violence and embarrassment. When Trump announced his comeback bid two years ago, the New York Post buried the article on page 26.

At the same time, Kamala Harris languished as an unremarkable sidekick to the president Joe Biden. Once seen as a rising star within the Democratic Party, she struggled with both her profile and her portfolio, disappointing her supporters and delighting her critics. No one was talking about Harris running for the top job — they were wondering whether Biden should replace her as his running mate as he seeks a second term.

But on Tuesday, as unlikely as it seemed before, Americans will choose Trump or Harris to serve as the next president. It is the final chapter in one of the most baffling, unpredictable and consequential sagas in political history. For once, the word “unprecedented” is not overused.

“If someone told you in advance what would happen in this election and you tried to sell it as a book, no one would believe it,” said Neil Newhouse, a Republican pollster with more than four decades of experience. “It has energized the country and polarized the country. And all we can hope is that we will come out better in the end.”

History was and will be made. The United States has never elected a president who has been convicted of a crime. Trump did not survive An But two assassination attempts. Biden fell out in the middle of an election year and Harris could be that the first female president. Fundamental principles about democracy in the world’s most powerful nation will be tested like never before since the Civil War.

And we haven’t even talked about the background of simultaneous conflicts Europe and the Middle East, hacking by foreign governments, an increasingly normalized blizzard wrong information and the intimate involvement of the richest man in the world, Elon Musk.

For now, the only thing the country can agree on is that no one knows how the story will end.

The Republicans could have been done with Trump after that January 6, 2021.

That’s the day he incited his supporters with false claims of voter fraud, ordered them to march on the U.S. Capitol as Congress ceremonially certified Biden’s election victory, and then stood by as they rioted. threatened lawmakers and his own vice president.

But not enough Republicans joined Democrats to convict Trump in an impeachment trial, clearing the way for him stand for re-election.

Trump began planning a comeback even as some leaders in his party hoped it would overshadow him Ron DeSantisthe governor of Florida, or Nikki Haleythe former governor of South Carolina who served as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations.

In the following year Trump has announced that he would run against Biden, he was criminally prosecuted four times. Two of the charges related to his attempts to overturn his election defeat. Another involved his refusal to return classified documents to the federal government after leaving office. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and none of these cases have been resolved.

However, a fourth indictment in New York led to Trump becoming the first president in American history to be criminally convicted. A jury found him guilty of falsifying company records on May 30 hush money payments to a porn star who claimed they were having an affair.

None of that slowed Trump, who virtually ignored his opponents during the primaries as he strode toward the Republican presidential nomination. A mug shot of one of his arrests was adopted by his followers as a symbol of resistance against a corrupt system.

Trump’s candidacy benefited from it anger about inflation And frustration with migrants crossing the southern border. He hammered Biden like that too too old for the job even though he is only four years younger than the president.

But Democrats also believed that the 81-year-old Biden would be better off considering retirement rather than a second term. So when Biden struggled through a presidential debate on June 27 – losing his train of thought, appearing confused and stammering through answers – he faced escalating pressure within his party to drop out of the race.

As Biden faced a political crisis, Trump attended an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. A young man evaded the policeclimbed to the top of a nearby building and fired several shots from a semiautomatic rifle.

Trump grabbed his ear and fell to the stage. As Secret Service agents crowded around him, he rose to his feet with a streak of blood running down his face, pumped his fist into the air and shouted “fight, fight, fight!” An American flag flew above our heads.

It was one an immediately iconic moment. Trump’s path to the White House seemed clearer than ever — perhaps even inevitable.

The vice president was getting ready to do a puzzle with her nieces on the morning of July 21 when Biden called. He had decided that end his re-election bid And endorse Harris as his replacement.

She spent the rest of the day making dozens of phone calls to arrange support, and that was enough for her to secure the nomination within two days.

It was a surprising reversal of fortune. Harris had flamed out when he ran for president four years earlier, dropping out before the first Democratic primaries. Biden revived her political career choosing her as his running mateand she became the first woman, black person and person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president.

But Harris’ battle didn’t end there. She fumbled questions about immigrationoversaw the high turnover in her office and faded into the background rather than using her historic status as a platform.

That all started to change on June 24, 2022, when the US Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to abortion, established by Roe v. Wade. Harris became the White House’s leading advocate on an issue that reshaped American politics.

She also proved to be more agile than before. Shortly after returning from a week-long trip to Africa, her team orchestrated a spontaneous venture to Nashville so Harris could show support for two Tennessee lawmakers who were expelled for protesting gun control.

Meanwhile, Harris was networking with local politicians, business leaders and cultural figures to get ideas and build connections. When Biden dropped out, she was in a better position than many realized to seize the moment.

The day after she became a candidate, Harris flew to Wilmington, Delaware to visit campaign headquarters. Employees had spent the morning printing “Kamala” and “Harris for President” signs to stick next to outdated “Biden-Harris” posters.

There were 106 days until the end of the elections.

While speaking to campaign staff in Wilmington, Harris used a phrase that has become a mantra chanted by supporters at rallies across the country. “We’re not going back,” she declared.

It is a fitting counterpoint to Trump’s slogan ‘make America great again’, which he has used since the launch of his first campaign more than eight years ago.

The two candidates have virtually nothing in common, something that was on display on September 10, when Harris and Trump first met. their only televised debate.

Harris promised to restore abortion rights and use tax breaks to support small businesses and families. She said she would “be a president for all Americans.”

Trump took credit for appointing the judges who helped overturn Roe, promised to protect the US economy with tariffs and made false claims about migrants eating people’s pets. He called Harris “the worst vice president in the history of our country.”

Harris was widely seen as gain the upper hand. Trump insisted he won but declined a second debate. The race remained remarkably close.

Experts and pollsters have been scrambling in recent weeks to identify any shifts in the candidates’ chances. Microscopic changes in public opinion can influence the outcome of elections. It could take days before enough votes are counted to determine who wins.

When it becomes clear, the outcome may just be a surprise in a campaign full of them.

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