One staple of every American political campaign in recent history has been the existence of a series of campaign promises – the vocalization of goals or plans of any political ticket in order to sway voters in their direction. In the 2016 presidential election, for instance, Donald Trum and Mike Pence promised to build a wall along the Southern border of the United States, adding that the Mexican Government would pay for it. Trump also promised to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. by levying tariffs on goods produced in China and Mexico. Campaign promises are often controversial as many political candidates propose unrealistic or unattainable ideas, later disappointing those who voted for them.
On the presidential campaign trail in 2020, President-Elect Joe Biden presented a handful of policies and initiatives that he aimed to institute if elected President of the United States. After the primaries ended, and Biden secured the Democratic Nomination for President, he chose California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate. Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris combined many of the ideas that she had proposed during her bid for the Democratic Nomination with many of Biden’s initiatives to create a joint agenda. Among the promises in this agenda were proposed solutions to issues ranging from Climate Change to Economic Recovery and Healthcare.
In the primaries, Kamala Harris expressed support for Universal Healthcare but has since aligned herself with Biden’s commitment to support and expand upon the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Since Harris joined the ticket, Joe Biden has reevaluated his Climate plan to reflect her views. The campaign promised that among Biden’s first acts as President will be to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement. In October 2020, Joe Biden spoke about his agenda to address Climate Change, saying that “we can change the path we’re on. We’ve got to act now.” Biden also has stressed his intention to renew partnerships with America’s global allies. This campaign’s economic promises include offering relief to small businesses that were hit hardest by the COVID-19 Pandemic, investing further in infrastructure, empowering labor unions, and bridging the racial economic divide in our country.
As important as these policies and initiatives may be, Biden and Harris had two main promises that they largely campaigned on – defeating Donald Trump and ending the COVID-19 Pandemic. On November 3rd, they defeated Trump and Pence for the presidency, fulfilling their first priority. Nonetheless, the Coronavirus Pandemic rages on, with the mass distribution of vaccines on the way. It is largely unknown how this new administration will respond to the virus, but it will be seen on January 21st, 2021, Biden’s first day as President. Similarly, the American people must wait until Inauguration Day to see if Biden and Harris keep true to their many campaign promises, and fight to institute their agenda.
