The writing is on the wall, and Joe Biden-Kamala Harris team is on the threshold of making history, while Donald Trump is turning out to be not only a bad loser, but someone who is defying the very concept of democracy, by raising doubts over the counting process. It is unthinkable at this stage that without an iota of evidence, Trump would be able to challenge this election, particularly when his rival has polled five million votes more than him, and is likely to cross the 300-mark so far as the Electoral College count goes.
This is what landslide is all about, and when Trump had trounced Hillary Clinton in 2016, he too had acquired 304 Electoral College votes, making it into a one-sided election. The odds are totally against the incumbent President, and the only way forward for him should have been to accept the verdict gracefully, and assist state officials to ease the tension, which seems to be unnecessarily building up.
It has been the long-standing tradition of this great nation, that the losers display dignity and grace by congratulating the winner, and thus strengthen the concept of Abraham Lincoln’s thesis concerning democracy being “Of the People, By the People and For the People”. This doctrine has been fortified by this poll, which was, essentially, a referendum on Trump. More than putting their weight behind the Democrats, the people of United States have rejected Trump and his majoritarian politics, which bordered on racism and the principle of superiority of the white race. In fact, some of his followers had inclinations similar to those of dreaded groups such as the Ku Klux Klan.
Trump contested on the Republican party ticket, but his politics and policies were on many occasions far removed from what his colleagues believed in. For the outgoing President, politics was only about himself. It started with him and also ended with him. Like several leaders who bear an authoritarian streak, Trump did not believe in the process of consultation, in order to enunciate policies which had wider acceptance. In pursuance of his polarising politics, he followed the divisive and confrontational path, making the country schizophrenic in the eyes of the world. So much so, the world’s oldest democracy, which has inspired so many nations, started appearing as a bad role model.
The most significant aspect of this acrimonious battle for the White House was that the Democrats chose tried and tested Joe Biden as their candidate. He has always been a low-key politician with tremendous goodwill, and valuable experience of dealing with both the House of Representatives and the Senate. He has been a Washington insider for over four decades, and has friends on both sides of the political divide.
Therefore, had the Democrats fielded a strong personality, Trump would have been in a more formidable position. However, against Biden, who did not react to his provocations, he could not attain what he may have wanted. Trump’s orthodox, arrogant and no holds-barred approach was solely meant to please his dedicated followers.
However, in the process, he did not perhaps realise that he had turned majority of Americans against him and his politics of Trumpism.
The bitter reality is that the rest of America, who the President did not include in his pursuit for power, has proved to be the dominant force, making him the third President in the past 50 years, after Jimmy Carter and George Bush (Senior) to have been virtually denied a second term by the people. The transition of power from Carter to Ronald Reagan and from Bush to Bill Clinton was smooth and a testimony to how democracies work. This is the tradition that stands broken now, even though Trump and his supporters know that it is all over for this time at least. They must concentrate on 2024, if they want their nominee to make a comeback.
However, it is to Trump’s credit that he has not allowed Big Corporates and Wall Street to dictate his Presidency, and while he was there, he did what he perceived to be in the best interests of his country, even if many disagreed with his methods. He was more of a businessman for whom relationships with countries was transactional and not based on long-term agreements and practices. His view on NATO worried most European nations, but he did not budge from his position.
For us Indians, Trump shared a special bond with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who went out of his way to attend the “Howdy Modi” mega show in Houston last year where he endorsed his friend’s candidacy. “Ab Ki Baar Trump Sarkar” is what Modi declared while appealing to Indian Americans to vote for the President. Obviously, this association could prove to be embarrassing for the Prime Minister, but it is in the interest of both Washington and New Delhi that the relationship should go further, rather than being affected by the looming change of leadership in the White House.
India has a strong connect with the Democrats and Kamala Harris has a family back in Tamil Nadu. For her it is glass ceiling moment as she is emerging as not only the first woman Vice President in American history but also the first woman of colour to achieve this coveted post.
Although it was Trump’s slogan to make America Great Again, yet the people of that country have chosen Biden to accomplish this task. Between us.