Every conversation I’ve had for the past six months, whether it personal or business, includes a brief or not so brief diatribe on the US election and the choice facing American voters. I’m surprised I haven’t written about this subject before now. Well, there are now three days before the US election and now is as good a time as any.
My point of view is straightforward and obvious, shared by many Canadians and many people around the world. Donald Trump is not in it for the American people, he’s in it for himself. He’s a terrible choice for President of the United States, one of the most powerful nations in the world.
He’s in it to make as much money as he can for himself, his organizations, and his family. He’s in it to stay out of jail and avoid the trials and sentencing for the multitude of crimes he’s been charged with. He’s repeatedly shown that he’s selfish, racist, misogynistic and a bigot. Donald Trump has asked Americans to vote for him on November 5, 2024, "one last time, as they'll never have to vote again", implying he'll do away with elections in the United States. He's still saying he didn't lose the 2020 election, that it was stolen...over 60 losses in court cases challenging the 2020 election results say otherwise. He was found guilty of sexual assault. The list of egregious action on the part of Donald Trump is endless. Given all this, the world is looking at America and wondering why this race is even close. How can 48% of American voters be voting for Donald Trump?
His base of supporters includes the evangelical Christian right-wing; Donald is not religious and knows nothing about the teachings of the bible. At his famous Washington D.C. rally he stood in front of a church and held a bible upside down. Most of his other supporters are low income rural folks. Donald Trump hasn’t lived a minute of his life in a low income scenario; he’s lived in New York City his entire life, initially as the son of a wealthy real estate developer, then as an alleged wealthy real estate developer himself. New York City is not rural America. Donald Trump has nothing in common with the “Make America Great Again” group of supporters.
Yet somehow he has a strong and long-lasting connection with his “MAGA” base of supporters. All of this is baffling to the rest of the world; we don’t understand how 48% of American voters don't see what we see. Having said that, I understand that political loyalty runs deep in America. People who identify as Republicans believe in lower taxes, less regulation, smaller government, and normal commercial forces where the strongest businesses and people, survive and thrive.
I’ve had this discussion with several American friends and family. I’ve been very careful, as I don’t want to lose any friendships over politics. But even the most experienced, educated, intelligent and rational of those Americans, that are staunch Republicans, are willing to overlook Donald Trump’s flaws because they believe firmly in the Republican values noted above, their deeply held belief in the basic flaws in the Democratic platform, or their perceived flaws in Kamala Harris. Whichever one or more of these things it is, in their mind Donald Trump still remains the better choice.
They may see Democratic leaders, and Kamala Harris specifically, as too liberal, too socialist, and spending too much government money on charity programs. I admit those are valid concerns, but the difference between a competent leader such as Kamala Harris and a self-serving individual such as Donald Trump are so obvious. Donald has shown America and the World who he is, he can’t be a serious alternative to Kamala Harris. Yet the latest polls show Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in a statistical tie.
So far I haven’t seen any evidence of bias among the voters against Kamala Harris because she's a woman and a visible minority. Maybe the people holding these views are buried in the larger group of “undecided voters”. It’s now the year 2024, we’d like to think society as a whole has evolved and matured beyond biases toward women and visible minorities.
Kamala Harris has raised well over a billion dollars in less than three months. She revitalized the Democratic Presidential campaign when she took over as the party’s top nominee. The kind of energy she brought to the campaign and the energy of the campaign itself reminds me of Barack Obama’s campaign in 2007. Maybe there should be an unwritten rule in both parties that Presidential candidates cannot be over the age of 65. Younger candidates enthuse voters and get the attention of Gen Z and Millennial voters, in particular. There seems to be an easier connection to be made there. It pains me to write this as ageism really bothers me. But the change in energy when Kamala took on the Presidential candidacy is undeniable.
I don’t have a vote in the upcoming US election. I can only cross my fingers and hope the polls are wrong, and that Kamala Harris wins the election in a landslide.
POSTSCRIPT - November 6,2024
It's the day after the 2024 US Election and as you know Donald Trump won the Presidency in a decisive manner and the Republicans took control of the US Senate. My phone blew up this morning with messages from my Canadian friends, "How did this happen ?!?!" My answer is - I don't know, I'm bummed out and we're in for four more years of buffoonery.
I thought Kamala ran a good campaign; she spent a ton of time in the swing states but lost them all. Apparently white suburban women did not vote for Kamala; Apparently Trump got a lot of the Latino vote even though a speaker at one his rallies called Puerto Ricans "garbage". As much as it mystifies me, the results are definitive. The only thing left to decide is who controls the House of Representatives; they are still counting the votes. I can only shrug my shoulders. I'll connect with my American friends and family in the coming weeks and get their take.
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