HWS News
20 September 2024 Digging into the 2024 Election By Andrew Wickenden '09
During the President’s Forum Series, Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report offered insights and analysis of the 2024 race for White House and Congress.
Amy Walter, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Cook Political Report, joined the HWS President’s Forum Series for a conversation about U.S. politics and the major factors at play in this year’s election cycle.
Fielding question from President Mark D. Gearan, Professor of Politics DeWayne Lucas and the campus audience, Walter discussed the state of the presidential race and the unusual nature of this year’s election, touching on key battleground states, the limitations of polling, and her predictions for which party will capture the House and Senate.
With partisanship “calcified” as much as it’s ever been in modern U.S. politics, the presidential race has become, Walter said, a “reset of where we were back in 2016 and 2020 with the election coming down to a very narrow slice of the electorate.”
Despite major events over the past several months, like the assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden’s exit from the race, the presidential contest still hinges on a handful of states like Pennsylvania, Georgia and Wisconsin, and the Nebraska district that includes Omaha.
“[Vice President Kamala] Harris’s entry into this race reset it, but it didn’t restructure it,” Walter said. “With the Democratic side energized and everybody on the field, the Republican side energized everybody on the field, we’ve gone from a race where Trump was basically very, very close to having it sewn up, to a race where it’s a 50-50 jump ball.”
With the campaigns “basically in a deadlock,” she said, the best way to assess Harris and Trump’s paths to the White House are to “look where they’re spending their money, look where they’re spending their time, look where they’re spending their energy.”
Gearan and Lucas, who are teaching a course on the 2024 election this semester, asked Walter about the ways in which the electorate’s familiarity with each candidate might impact the race and whether anything in the polls suggest that voters’ perceptions about the candidates might change.
Students asked Walter to comment on the reliability of polling and prediction models, Harris’ risk of alienating left-leaning voters and insights into congressional races.
“At the end of the day, where the presidential race goes is likely to tell us where…control of the House will go,” Walter said, cautioning that because of the West Coast states’ vote-by-mail processes, the final tally may take a little time.
For more than 25 years, Walter has built a reputation as an accurate, objective and insightful political analyst with unparalleled access to campaign insiders and decision-makers. One of Washington’s Most Powerful Women in 2023 and 2021, she is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, where she provides analysis of the issues, trends and events that shape the political environment.
A contributor to the PBS NewsHour, she provides weekly political analysis for the popular “Politics Monday” segment and is a featured contributor for their Election and Convention special coverage events. She is also a regular Sunday panelist on NBC’s Meet the Press and CNN’s Inside Politics and appears frequently on Special Report with Bret Baier on Fox News Channel. From 2017 until early 2021, Walter was the host of the weekly nationally syndicated program “Politics with Amy Walter” on The Takeaway from WNYC and PRX. She’s also the former political director of ABC News.
Walter was an inaugural fellow at the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago, where she now serves on the Board of Advisors. She graduated summa cum laude from Colby College, earned an honorary degree as a Doctor of Letters, and serves as a Trustee to the Board.
Established in 2000 by President Mark D. Gearan, the President's Forum Series brings a variety of speakers to campus to share their knowledge and ideas with students, faculty and staff, as well as with interested community members.
Top: President Mark D. Gearan speaks during the President's Forum with Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report and Professor of Politics DeWayne Lucas in Froelich Hall.
