Struggling to understand the US presidential election? Here’s an A-Z dictionary to guide you through the battle between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

A – abortion. A hot button issue that Democrats hope will be Trump’s Achilles heel, given his role as president in ending the federal right to the procedure.

B – border. A weakness for Vice President Harris, through her association with President Joe Biden, amid charges that under their watch the frontier with Mexico was crossed by millions of undocumented migrants.

C – California. The liberal home state of Harris, a circumstance that has prompted her to try to look more centrist and moderate as she woos independent and Republican voters.

D – debate. A catastrophic performance by Biden in June led to him abandoning his campaign. Trump was bested by Harris in their debate and he has refused a rematch before Election Day.

E – Elon, as in Musk. The tech mogul that has put his mouth, money and media platform at the service of Trump.

F – fundraising. After replacing Biden, Harris stunned America by attracting vast sums in donations from suddenly jubilant supporters. 

– Eating dogs and cats? –

G – genitalia. The anatomical feature of the late golf great Arnold Palmer that Trump saw fit to address at a campaign rally.  

H – Haitian. The nationality of some immigrants living in Ohio that Trump, his running mate JD Vance and other Republicans have alleged, falsely, are eating people’s dogs and cats.

I – information (see dis- and mis-). A mist of bogus claims permeating the campaign, like the pet-eating Haitians and this gem from Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene: the Biden administration is controlling the weather.

J – January 6. The date of the 2021 Capitol insurrection by violent Trump supporters bent on keeping him in power after he lost to Biden in the 2020 election. Trump recently called the uprising “a day of love.”

K – Kamala. What’s in a name? If elected, she would be America’s first female president and the first one of South Asian heritage — both historic achievements that are reflected in her name.

L – ladies, ones with cats but no kids. A demographic defined by Vance years ago which came back to haunt him.    

M – Media. Harris was accused of avoiding one-on-one interviews, reinforcing the impression that Americans simply did not know much about her. However, she has recently grown into the task, including facing a hostile sit-down with Fox News.

– ‘Most beautiful word’ –

N – national security. Trump says he will bolster it while Harris says he is a threat to it.

O – old. Biden, 81, bowed out because of the impression he was too worn out for another term. Trump at 78, is now the oldest US candidate ever. At 60, Harris by comparison comes across as young.     

P – Project 2025. A prominent think tank’s blueprint for far-right rule under Trump. 

Q – quit, for Biden’s departure from the race. The political earthquake this July of an incumbent president stepping aside and yielding to Harris rejuvenated Democrats who had been increasingly resigned to another Trump term.

R – refusal. Trump refuses to promise he will accept a loss in November, raising the specter of another January 6 type insurrection.

S – swing states. The seven states that can go either way and are seen as determining the election.

T – Tariffs. The levies Trump says he will slap on all imports into the US. “It’s the most beautiful word in the dictionary,” he has said.

U – “unfit” and “unstable.” How Harris describes Trump.

V – Vague. Harris has faced charges of leaving her policy positions intentionally ambiguous so as not to alienate potential voters. Trump has also made huge promises without providing details of how to make them come true.

W – weird. Harris’s running mate Tim Walz coined this way of describing Trump, Vance and others in their orbit, much to the delight of Democrats.

X – (e)xhausted. A term that a Trump aide has been quoted as using to describe the Republican in the grueling homestretch.

Y – yes men. The people, it is feared, that Trump would surround himself with in a second term, meaning no guard rails against rash or dangerous behavior.

Z – Zelensky, Volodymyr. The Ukrainian president who is surely fretting over Trump’s affinity for Putin, who ordered the 2022 invasion.

dw/sms/st