Saturday, December, 27, 2024
The year 2024 was one for the history books, and 538's visual journalists and reporters were hard at work explaining the data behind the news with visualizations and interactives. Here are 26 charts that encapsulate the themes of the year, from our flagship election forecast to visuals that show where Americans stood on the issues that dominated the campaign. (And, if you’re a fan of our work, check out what we did in 2023 and in years past.)
Welcome to 538's politics chat. The transcript below has been lightly edited.
In the wake of his November victory, President-elect Donald Trump has already had a fairly messy rollout of his Cabinet nominees. His first choice for attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, withdrew from consideration, and some of his other picks have their own personal scandals or controversies to overcome in the Senate confirmation process.
In the run-up to the 2024 election, many observers — from political scientists to think tanks, from pollsters to opinion writers — believed abortion would buoy Democrats to electoral victory. While some issued words of caution, others believed it was a "sleeper" issue that would ultimately turn out women, particularly young women, in support of Democrats.
Welcome to Pollapalooza, our occasional polling column.