U.S. politics hits rock bottom
This is a time for new leaders with different visions to engage in the political process
It is entirely understandable why millions of people in the United States and millions more around the globe are exhausted listening to U.S. President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump exchange insults well in advance of the 2024 presidential election.
Both candidates are compromised in different ways, yet they rarely miss an opportunity to reveal the catastrophe which awaits the United States and its global partners if their opponent is elected. Those wondering when the dismal state of U.S. politics will hit rock bottom need not wait any longer. It has arrived and is rearing its ugly head.
One question that remains on the minds of many is when did the U.S. became such a polarized and toxic country?
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bush v. Gore which propelled George W. Bush to the White House in 2000, former vice-president and senator Al Gore conceded the controversial presidential election with dignity and integrity. Twenty years later, after launching dozens of lawsuits and encouraging an insurrection of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to hold onto office, Trump finds himself at the centre of one of the most publicized court cases in American history.
To be clear, Trump is not responsible for ushering in the polarization of American politics; he simply added fuel to an ever-expanding fire. The seeds of discontent and unrest were planted well before he made the decision to throw his hat into the election ring.
Indeed, although countless political pundits expressed shock and dismay when Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016, the U.S. had already prepared itself for a candidate like Trump. Trump’s victory was hardly an accident; the foundation for a candidate who was prepared to take on the Washington, D.C. elite and grant permission to millions of Americans to remove their filters and speak their minds, was his secret sauce. And even when his tactics were no longer a secret, Trump’s base held firm.
As in the past several U.S. presidential elections, the electoral map of the U.S. will likely remain the same in 2024. The middle of the country will be Republican red and the coasts Democratic blue.
While a jury in Manhattan must still decide the outcome of the hush money scandal involving Trump, Stormy Daniels, Michael Cohen and others who are alleged to have tried to cover up what could have derailed Trump’s election in 2016, it does not appear that this case will compel American voters to take stock of how dire a state their country’s in.
Fearful that Vermont’s Sen. Bernie Sanders was gaining too much momentum during the 2020 Democratic primaries which the Democratic party establishment believed could result in a second term for Trump, party officials rallied around Biden just before the 2020 Democratic primaries in South Carolina. It was this primary that turned the tide for Biden who ultimately would secure the Democratic presidential nomination.
But Biden made a serious mistake when he was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States.
Recognizing that his advanced age was an issue in 2020, he should have made it clear that he would be a one-term president, paving the way for a younger, more dynamic candidate to take his place in 2024. But Biden convinced himself that only he could ward off Trump. While he still might be able to do this, the stakes are far too high to gamble the future of the United States and the world community on Biden’s ability to defeat a former president whose popularity continues to grow with every indictment.
There is no easy solution to breaking the gridlock in the United States. It took several years for the U.S. to find itself in this predicament, and will likely take many more for elected officials and the electorate to be more concerned about the difference between right and wrong than left and right.
To observe that the United States is at an important crossroads in its history would be an understatement. The 2024 U.S. presidential election could be the most consequential of our time. What provides some comfort and hope is that there are members of Congress who have exhibited tremendous courage in speaking out about how the American political system has failed its citizens. Liz Cheney, a former Republican member of the U.S. House Representatives from Wyoming, and her House colleague Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois, have both been outspoken critics of extreme elements in their party, and how toxic a second Trump presidency would be.
This is a time for new leaders with a different vision to engage in the political process. There are countless opportunities in the U.S. and in other democratic countries for people to share their voice with those willing to listen.
With what is at stake in November 2024, this is not the time to remain silent.
What provides some comfort and hope is that there are members of Congress who have exhibited tremendous courage in speaking out about how the American political system has failed its citizens