29th November 2020

 Musings.......

The US Presidential election 2020 will be forever remembered as the Pandemic Election. 

The elections held on November 4th was one of the most crucial election for the United States of America as well as for the world. 

The leader of the so called free world was battling to hold on to the position. The result would have determined whether it remains or chose to uphold Nativism and Nationalism over Globalism. 

The elections were for the 538 Electoral votes in which the candidate securing 270 would win the Presidency. 

Two party Presidential system of Government in US meant the fight was between the Democrats and the incumbent Republicans. 

Easily remembered as the party of Bill Clinton, the Democratic ticket went to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for President and VP respectively. 

Remembered easily as the party of the Bushes or Ronald Reagan, the Republican ticket was the incumbent Donald Trump and Mike Pence. 

In a dramatic reversal of fortunes, Donald Trump lost the electoral college 306 to 232 in an exact reversal of numbers from the 2016 elections where he had won 306 electoral votes to defeat Hillary Clinton. 

Most polls and American media got the results wrong with Donald Trump overwhelmingly exceeding expectations and performing well but not so much as to defeat Joe Biden. 

Joe Biden was a weak candidate from the start. He is considered non charismatic and too much of a Washington establishment person to the liking of the American public. 

However he was able to pull of a narrow victory in key states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, and the all important Pensylvania, the so called “ swing “ states. 

According to the writer, Donald Trump  himself was his undoing. His campaign and government were doing all well up until the Pandemic struck US.  The economy was doing historically well and there were record job creation. 

Once the Pandemic struck, President Trump through his media gaffes and denial speeches heavily mismanaged the whole thing leading to the implosion of his campaign. 

The single most important factor in this Pandemic election were “Mail in Ballots” introduced in several states months beforehand the General Election Day. 

Mail in Ballots ensured that millions were able to vote beforehand and those who chose to vote through mail exceeded expectations.  

These mail in ballots were heavily favouring Democrats and finally we have to say that Trump miscalculated the power of Mail in voters.  

Trump was vouching for the silent Majority who was waiting in the wings for Election Day to vote Trump.  Finally, even with a last minute blitz campaigning across the country, President Trump fell just short in key states. 

That President Trump was able to garner so many votes ( more than 80 million ) is testimony to the fact that the Right wing movement in the US is still alive. 

Joe Biden has vouched to “ bring America back” and take back its position as the World Leader. “A Biden cabinet would be one of the most diverse in US history” , he promised.  

Along with the rest of the world, India too looks forward to the next President and his policies. Hopefully he will be able to conduct meaningful dialogue and cooperation through engagement, instead of “ just talk” and carry forward Indo- US relations to new levels. This is important considering the rise of China as we all know. 

As far as Trump is concerned, he has run out of options. The writer must caution that it’s not yet time to write him out. Trump may well be preparing for a rerun in 2024 and with 80 million people behind him, we can look forward to an interesting 4 years and beyond in the Americas. 

Food for Thought.......

RC