I've been wanting to write an article about the US Election for some time, but like the polls keep saying, it really is too close to call!
At the time of writing (31st October 2024) 37% of registered voters (60 million) have already cast their votes; polling stations on 5th November open at different times of day and the US time zones stretch from Vermont to Hawaii - over a five-hour time difference. So no clear start or end point to the election (unlike say, a football match).
But we can take a look at the birth charts of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris to see who might have the upper hand on Election Day.
Donald Trump - born 14th June 1946 at 10.54 am in Queens, New York, USA
Kamala Harris - born 21st October 1964 at 9.28 pm in Oakland, California, USA
I was surprised to find many similarities between the two birth charts, despite the candidates’ obvious differences.
SIMILARITIES
Both candidates have Mars in Leo within a few degrees of each other (Mars = anger/assertiveness/war; Leo = royalty) They are both seasoned fighters who enjoy winning and being in the limelight. Interestingly Mars will enter Leo on 4th November, the day before the election, a transit that only happens every couple of years.
Both Harris and Trump have South Node in Sagittarius, meaning they are here to learn the same karmic lessons - to develop focus and the art of communication, in order to help others. As the polls open in Washington on 5th November, the Moon (mood of the people) will be in Sagittarius, favouring both of them.
Both are air signs, she a Libra and he a Gemini. And both have communication planet Mercury in a water sign, she in Scorpio and he in Cancer. Air signs are driven by ideas, concepts and rhetoric, while Mercury in a water sign can read the room and make decisions based on instinct and gut feeling. A useful combination.
Finally, both have their natal Moon in passionate and explosive fire signs. Kamala's moon is in Aries and Donald's in Sagittarius. Their emotional outbursts and commitment to the cause are very real.
DIFFERENCES
So what makes these two different astrologically?
Donald has a lop-sided chart, with all his planets on the Eastern (left) side, meaning he is easily able to focus on himself and his own agenda without internal conflict or self-doubt. This certainly helps with confidence and decisiveness.
Trump has three planets in Cancer (the US is a Cancer nation with its birthday on 4th July). Cancer is the sign of the homeland, the family, tradition and roots. Trump's supporters rally behind his cry of 'Make America Great Again' and look to him as a father figure leading their country back to greatness.
Whatever we may think of him as an individual, Trump certainly has the birth chart of a charismatic leader, with Mars rising in the royal sign of Leo and the words to fire up his supporters with his silver-tongued Gemini Sun conjunct North Node (karmic path) in the house of fame, career and public image.
On Election Day Jupiter, planet of good fortune is crossing Trump's Sun/North Node conjunction, a transit that would normally be viewed by astrologers as a sign of triumph. Plus transiting Uranus (planet of shock and sudden revelation) has been conjunct Trump's Midheaven (public image) all year. Millions still find it incredible that a convicted felon has been allowed to stand for President.
Kamala has three planets in humble earth sign Virgo, meaning she genuinely believes in hard work and service and wants to help others. Her planets are scattered more evenly round the birth chart wheel than Trump’s (see diagram), meaning she is multi-faceted and able to understand different points of view.
Her Libra Sun seeks balance and compromise. She is a gutsy fighter, but plays fair and uses her considerable intellect to win battles. Her transits are less favourable than Donald's on Election Day, but she is in the 'progressed full moon phase’, meaning her life's work is currently peaking and will do so over the next three to four years.
SUMMARY
With the US election taking place on the cusp of Pluto's entry into community-focused and technological Aquarius (19th November), will a bitterly-divided America vote for a brave new world? Or attempt to rekindle past glory?
And if Trump does win this election, will America really become great again? Or is his vision a nostalgic fantasy that over the coming decade will gradually be consigned to history, as the world's priorities and power-balance shift.
Whatever our political or personal beliefs, and whatever we think of the two candidates and how they were selected, it seems this election marks a tipping point in world history.
Image; Kamala Harris & Donald Trump - Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (FMT)