Trumping Trump, and a lesson for Bernard Grech

As I get down to write, at noon on Friday, the counting of votes in the American presidential election is not over yet.

“Every election sees a huge effort to try and attract dissatisfied voters. Barack Obama did it and so did Trump with the religious Right. If Trump has lost, that may mean the Right has drawn in its oars after four years of Trump.”

So all that has happened between now and the time on Sunday when you get to read this article is out of the scope of this article. What we know so far (always subject to a later rectification) is that Democrat Joe Biden is in advantage and is lacking just a handful of electoral votes to be declared the winner. Here again, different versions differ, 253 or 264 according to whether they take into account the results of Arizona.

What we also know is the completely insane, criminal and downright dangerous attitude exhibited by Donald Trump. We used to think this happened only in Third World countries where coups and counter-coups are common and where charges of electoral fraud are common.

Usually there would be the presence of international observers to mediate between the parties but this is the United States, the largest democracy in the world.

To hear Trump charge the election, already won (with the vote counting yet not concluded) is 'being stolen' is treading on dangerous ice which may lead to violence on the streets.

This is not just the president of the USA, but also the Commander in Chief of the US army with all its nuclear weapons. At least there are still real patriots around, like the television stations who interrupted their carrying of Trump's incessant press conferences, switched him off ' because he's lying'.

That Trump and the Republicans fight for every state and vote was to be expected but then there are courts and procedures. Four years ago, and even more eight years ago there were all sorts of court cases after the election but eventually people accepted the verdict.

The electoral panorama has meanwhile changed and Trump had not a small part in this, with his incessant tweeting, his domination of the airwaves, his almost daily press briefings.

With his departure an era is being brought to a close, leaving us with some wry memories, suchlike as that the pandemic would be over by Easter, or that bleach gets rid of the infection. Thousands, millions, have had their lives shortened through his pig-headed refusal to accept the danger of the pandemic.

At the same time, it must be admitted the Democrats did not get the victory they expected after four years of Trump. Joe Biden himself would not have made it were it not for a surge of support by Afro-Americans before a crucial primary.

The American political panorama is a complex reality, quite different from the one we are used to. Apart from the vastly different contexts on a geographic level and the different socio-economic contexts between urban and rural areas, there are also racial differences.

On this level one can say that the Republicans have a more uniform white race backing while that of the Democrats is more reflective of the different races that make up America today with Chinese and Vietnamese pockets thrown in. The Latinos, I think, are more Republican inspired by Cuban emigres. As for the big Jewish lobby this is solidly pro-Trump.

Seen in this perspective, to consider the American electorate as uniform is deeply reductive. Any election has to consider all these faultlines and then some.

Every election sees a huge effort to try and attract dissatisfied voters. Barack Obama did it and so did Trump with the religious Right. If Trump has lost, that may mean the Right has drawn in its oars after four years of Trump.

No election is like another, but on a personal level some reflections and conclusions may be drawn. Let’s face it, Joe Biden is not the sharpest knife in the drawer but if he gets elected, this would be the election of an average man, not that of an exceptionally gifted one. A man who sits back and let others drive rather than a front-wheel drive one.

This ought to be of comfort to the average Bernard Grech as he battles against the honed Labour machine and the ominous presence of his immediate predecessor. An average leader should be better able to get support from those around him rather than a superior leader overawing his cowed supporters.

On the other hand, as Joe Biden did, a leader must not be afraid to refer at delicate issues, such as race, as long as this is done responsibly.

To read the comment spaces on the Maltese social media, there is a huge chunk of public opinion that is not being reflected in the official party rhetoric. A real leader, even one of average intelligence and personality, seeks to harness and channel these public expressions of opinion.