Opinion & Analysis: 58th US Presidential Election
It’s a product of malicious capitalism. A pussy grabber, trickster that would put Babas and saints to shame, Taj Mahal casinos doomsday conspiracy in US of A, fraudster, hater and ‘rapist’ who can’t keep his hands off women. Welcome to Trump land. A presidential victory that shocked and shook the world, ushering into a split and divided United States.
US is the new China, the Great Wall that will be built like a fortress, prejudices harboured against migrants that made the Land of Opportunity tower into a super economic power, violence against ethnic minorities, treating women as outcaste in society and prejudices against LGBT community. It’s an endless list for the Trump devotees, we call Bhakts in India.
It’s a dark moment in the history of US for a despicable man accused of assaulting and raping women, failed businessman, embezzling funds and taking pride in publicly asking a woman anchor about blood. It’s a blot to one of the biggest democracies in the world. Let’s analyse what went wrong in Hillary Clinton’s campaign or the faulty United States electoral system.
First thing first, Hillary Clinton sealed popular votes 59, 186, 057 over Trump’s 59,049, 470 with a gap of 135, 495. History repeats itself. Al Gore won more popular votes than George Bush but the latter was elected President by sealing 5 more votes from the electoral colleges. There are 538 electoral colleges in United States and votes go for electors and not candidates. The entire system is flawed and skewed. In his book, ‘The Quick and Dirty Guide to Primaries, Caucuses and Political Conventions: Understand Your Democracy or risk losing it’, Chris Bartlett argues that a state like IOWA has a history of nominating process and since 1972, the state garnered 50 percent rate of success in predicting Republican nominee and 43 per cent in success rate of Democrats.
The system is flawed and it’s quite complex to understand how Trump won with 290 electoral colleges while Hillary won 228. The electoral colleges represent the number of votes that each candidate gets that correlate with the winner. It’s an unfair system in a democracy like US.
The US Presidential Elections opened a can of worms to show how racism and misogyny has wafted into the lives of the average Americans. The statistics are telling: Donald Trump garnered 53 percent male voters in relation to Hillary Clinton’s 41 per cent while the latter sealed 52 per male voters to 42 percent to Trump. The black, Hispanic and Asia American voters in the age bracket of 18 to 44 rallied massively behind Clinton. The racial divide is wide: 63 percent white males voted for Trump while only 31 percent cast in favour of Clinton. Likewise, 52 percent white women voted for Trump and Hillary’s share was 43 per cent. The election shows despite progress made, US is still not ready for a woman President. It is misogynistic, parochial and patriarchal in attitude. Despite the vulgar attacks made against women and allegations of rape and sexual assault, it is surprising how white females screwed up and voted for such a despicable man.
No vote is as bad as zero vote. The largely disinterest and scant disregard for politics must account for something. It is worrisome. Is it the lack of vim or disenchantment for politics, migration, jobs, poverty or terrorism? We need to debate at length how someone like Trump whom every journalist worth its salt in US choose to deride and exit polls not giving him the slightest chance has ruled in this beyond ordinary election. These are questions one cannot afford to ignore. The ante diluvialist to gender role playing is rampant.
It is shocking that 46.9 per cent Americans didn’t cast their vote and the youth, blacks choose to stay away. A zero vote is as bad as no vote cast. It’s the economy, stupid! Trump cannot thump his chest since it’s no plebiscite for him.
What went wrong with Hillary Clinton’s campaign? Was it too much of overconfidence that she will sashay through with a huge chunk of white votes? Certainly, she got things wrong. There was a lack of effort, as pointed by experts, that she didn’t reach out to the white voters, to assuage their fears and convincing them to vote for her. Donald Trump has cashed on that and during the Primaries, votes were evenly distributed between him, Cruz and Rubio but still he made when chances were slim. He went to the people at the grass root level. Certainly, Trump symbolises everything that is wrong but today he is the President of the biggest power. Certainly, Bernie Sanders was one of the biggest reasons Trump won and had the former not exited, Trump would have been thrown in the garbage of history.
When Obama won the election in 2008, he had a trump card, ‘Yes! We Can! Sadly, Hillary had nothing of that sort to draw voters massively to her side.
Today, America is a highly divisive society, with a spate of violence where many are reluctant to accept Trump as their President and the latter’s camp are assaulting migrants, Muslim women and minorities. It is a real shame how US media who got it so wrong are denying racism. It’s at the core of US politics that racism has won this Presidential election, ugly misogyny is ruling American politics and a failed businessman whose campaign reeks of prejudices, assaulting people and women and taking pride in harbouring hatred will be the most powerful man in the world. Someone who has the scant disregard for laws and think women are his private property, scything his way on them.
Darkness has crept in US. The world is changing, right from Brexit to US elections where it will take a long time for wounds to heal. Democracy is not necessarily a good thing with blithe ignorance for human equality, gender balance and values that America represented for everyone. The Great American Dream may soon fade away with the election of a jerk, fraudster, rapist and cartoon. President Obama has lent so much dignity to the White House but, unfortunately, the sheen is lost with the election of Donald Trump. It whittles down to values spanned away and a missed opportunity with history for electing a woman President. America has compromised its values the world looked with pride at for Hillary Clinton embodied the principles of unity and standing what is right.
One can only hope but the latter is a dichotomy of sort with an archaic electoral system. Today, a pantomime whose only feat is rumpy-pumpy sex is ruling over the world. Perhaps, US should borrow Great Britain’s anthem and twist it to God Save America.
Vishal Bhidu 