Criminal convictions, Taylor Swift, dog-eating, Hannibal Lecter, brat summer, an assassination attempt (or two), coconut trees, and nail-bitingly close margins in the polls; the 2024 United States elections has it all.

In the midst of the year of elections – 64 globally to be exact – I moved from Edinburgh post July 4 to Washington D.C. pre November 5, on a study abroad programme for the academic year.

Situated a mere ten minutes from the White House, the George Washington (GW) University campus is constantly buzzing with diplomats, congresspeople, and the occasional Presidential motorcade. The students are representative of the city, with the university boasting the largest chapter of the College Democrats in the country and one of the biggest College Republican chapters, proving the level of political engagement on campus.

I’ve noticed that social settings are minefields riddled with hot button political debates. At a rooftop party on one of my first nights, I found myself engaged in a lengthy discussion with an American on the second amendment after I had stated that owning a gun was unfathomable to the European mind.

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Unprompted, he started explaining the historical and political context of the second amendment to me. His animated monologue made me realise that the passion with which Americans support their candidate and party is not comparable to anything I have ever experienced in Europe or the United Kingdom. The laptop and car stickers plastered everywhere, the utter disdain and disrespect for their opposition candidate, and the bipartisan polarisation is unreservedly different to the UK’s mild-mannered political landscape.

While DC is an incredibly liberal area of the States, it is often seen as a divider between the North and the South of the country. As my friends and I drove down to North Carolina through Virginia for Labor Day weekend, the deeper South we came, the more Trump flags we spotted. One beach day involved tanning, swimming, and reading, all while lying next to a beach umbrella which was flying a Trump 2024 flag.

The ultimate surprise came when we passed Confederate flags hung proudly outside houses with a white picket fence and a pick-up truck parked in the driveway. The statement “it doesn’t get any more American than this” was said countless times that weekend.

I was fascinated by this visible polarisation and decided to discover the political culture further by attending both the Democratic and the Republican Presidential debate watch parties, viewing the first half with the Democrats and the second half with the Republicans. The environment at the Democratic watch party was electric, a lecture theatre filled with 300 impassioned students. The moment Trump opened his mouth, the room burst out into laughter, with the frequent “bigot” being shouted at the screen. Loud cheers and applause erupted every time Harris finished speaking or when she landed a good line.

During the commercial break, I headed to the Republican watch party which had a completely different ambiance. The room was smaller and the viewing experience was much less vibrant than that of the Democrats. A common denominator between the two watch parties was the laughter when Trump spoke. Trump’s playground zingers and claims of immigrants eating dogs clearly catered to the crowd’s sensibilities. They loved him. One student even shouting out “who fucking cares” when the topic of climate change was broached.

Donald Trump and Kamala HarrisDonald Trump and Kamala Harris (Image: free)

However, where they somewhat lacked in energy, they made up for in merchandise and clear support in the vision of the party. The room was littered with Trump-Vance stickers and almost every student was wearing a Trump shirt, sticker, or hat; with one shirt sarcastically saying “tax the poor.” After the event, one girl still wearing her MAGA hat told me that a student had made gag sounds at her while she walked past.

The day after the debate, disheartened is the word that I would use to describe the atmosphere on campus. A clear disappointment in both candidates for failing to highlight their policies, a criticism which has been expressed by many Americans over the past weeks. I spoke to the Chairwoman of the GW College Republicans, Victoria Carlson, who underlined the importance for both candidates to speak on policy rather than promote their personality. She stated that that was the reason why she supported Trump.

She said: “I’m honestly more concerned about policy. You can do something great for our economy and maybe have said something a little off colour back in the day, I’m more concerned about the question: can people live a life that is sustainable?”

The significance of policy over personality was reiterated by the Chief of Staff of the GW College Democrats, Logan Olszewski. “American politics has shifted to be more personality-based and I would have liked to see more policy from both candidates.”

They also both spoke on the polarisation that they have experienced over the years, with Olszewski mentioning that families have split up over the bipartisan divide. This statement took me back to 2016 when Brexit was creating rifts between friends and families with differing opinions on the matter.

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This, however, points to the policy-based nature of UK politics compared to the personality-based political landscape in the US. When speaking to either side of the political spectrum here, the critique of the opposing side is often about the person over their policy measures.

You’ll scarcely hear a conversation about tax cuts or foreign policy measures, as discussions are centred around issues like Trump’s legal complications or Harris’ facial expressions. The difference between the two political systems has become exceedingly palpable to me over the past few weeks.

So with the race for the oval office ramping up into its final few weeks, the US is set to close off the year of elections with vindictive tweets, explosive interviews, glitz and glam, and overall political frenzy.

It really doesn’t get any more American than that.

Maryse Bots is a student journalist at the University of Edinburgh, who is spending a year in Washington DC