Does anyone envy the choice facing American voters in just 31 days time ?
While it has often been the case that candidates for the most powerful position in the world have been less than inspiring, this time around they are positively awful. Donald Trump, the man in possession, is a bombastic and incredibly arrogant man in his mid 70s. His performance as President over the last 4 yeas has, to say the least, been problematic and he's probably been the most divisive President in modern times. Now, having poo-pooed the seriousness and danger of the COVID-19 virus epidemic and largely ignored the medical advice surrounding it, he's caught it and finds himself in hospital. As an elderly and overweight man, he is at considerable risk of suffering serious consequences and could even be unable to continue with his campaign for re-election.
On the other side of the ballot is Joseph Biden, a lifelong Democrat whose credentials may be even worse than those of Mr Trump. A long-time senator for the miniscule state of Delaware, Mr Biden is basically a non-entity. As such, he was chosen to be the vice-Presidential candidate alongside Barack Obama in 2008, being someone who would keep his head down, cause no waves and offer no challenge to his boss. All of this he seems to have achieved without difficulty and his reward, if that is what it is, is to be in line to become President next January. That a man of such little note and in his late 70s, and who will be 82 by the end of a first term should he be elected, is the best that his party can find to challenge the widely reviled Mr. Trump is rather frightening.
The choice before American electors is truly dreadful. Neither candidate can be called attractive, in a political sense, and many voters may be inclined to vote against, rather than for, one of them; others may simply not bother to vote at all. Victory for Mr Trump would mean 4 more years of chaotic and divisive leadership, while victory for Mr Biden would mean a return to the inertia of the Obama years, with the USA drifting aimlessly to nowhere in particular. Possibly worse would be the increased prospect of the very elderly Mr Biden becoming unable to complete his term and the baton being passed to his strongly left wing deputy, Kamala Harris. Regardless, it seems highly likely that Ms Harris would be the Democratic Party's candidate in 2024, by when Mr Biden will surely be considered too old to stand.
Perhaps the usual cries of "God Bless America" should be replaced with "God Help America", not to mention the rest of the world.
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