Joe Biden is the victor in the United States presidential election. He was the Democratic Party’s nominee who, in a tight race against the current president Trump, managed to attract majority vote in key US states.
The election threw the world in worried anticipation of the results with an anxious eye on every new development in the race. The Electoral College that had been an internal element of presidential elections in the US, and completely unknown to the outsider, became under the scrutiny of the world at large.
Deep concerns on the part of western leaders and US allies over Mr. Trump’s individualist policies during the past four years, and their wish to see him lose had added to the increased interest in the ultimate result.
In the United States, however, the voter’s view of candidates is different from that of foreign observers. What was important to the hundreds of millions of Americans was far from the collective perception in Tehran, Ontario or Paris.
While there was no shortage of enemies for Mr. Trump within the country, the 71 million votes cast in his favor is hardly reflective of defeat in his political resume.
Trump introduced a new literature in the American contemporary politics that was interesting as well as attractive to most Americans.
He was neither a Republican fundamentalist nor a politician with heavy and complicated language that was difficult for the average American to understand. His, was a style in simplicity aimed at making a rapport with his base. His utmost self-confidence and his attempts to intimidate foreign adversaries attracted many enthusiasts and supporters within the country. The 71 million votes cast for him were not given to the Republican Party but were an endorsement of an individual called Trump.
In contrast, on the Democrats’ side, 77-year-old Joe Biden was not that kind of charismatic candidate who could attract enough popular vote (75 million) to defeat Mr. Trump with a large margin.
Rather, voting for Biden was a ‘no’ vote by that part of the American society that was unsatisfied with Trump and his policies over the past four years: from the leftist youth to dual nationals, black Americans and intellectuals who saw themselves either under pressure or victims of racism that in their view were encouraged by Trump’s policies.
Mr. Biden owes his victory not to his popularity and personal charisma as Barak Obama did, but the hatred of a part of the American society for Trump.
Here, criticism is due to the influential ‘mafia’ within the Democratic Party that keeps nominating individuals for presidency who enjoy little appeal with the public.
The twice nomination of Hillary Clinton despite her lack of popularity among the American voter and the party’s push to realize the presidency for her, is a good example of that. And now the risks of nominating Biden against a powerful and popular rival like Trump, further demonstrates the Democratic Party’s approach to presidential elections.
Had the ‘mafia’ within the Democratic Party nominated Bernie Sanders in the 2016 election, and not put him under pressure to give way to Hillary Clinton, national enthusiasm for him would have most probably led to Trump’s defeat.
Disappointment within Sander’s camp and the lack of Clinton’s popularity led to Democrats’ defeat then. Yet, once more, the Democratic Party took the huge risk of choosing Biden as their presidential nominee.
Likewise, rivalries within the Republican Party looked at Trump’s chances of winning the election four years ago with disbelief. Now, in this election, the Republican Party preferred to lose to the Democrats and prepare itself for the next election rather than standing by a half-hearted Republican like Trump.
Trump was not the loser in the election. He proved his huge popularity among American citizens. You might call him stupid, violator of human rights, immoral, non-adherent to the principles of diplomacy and whatever else you wish, but this election was for Americans, and belonged to Americans, and millions of them thought differently.
Donald Trump with the great asset of 71 million popular votes is going to establish his own political party. It is going to be a party that will open up a third dimension in the world of US politics and shake the very foundations of 200-year-old tired traditional houses of political parties.
This election, above all, brought to light the need of the American society for pluralism and for a political ‘third wave.”
