Donald Trump is yet again on a roll,
however fake news it might seem in this post-truth media world. That is the
funny and dark irony. Beleaguered, demonized, trolled, thoroughly exposed, caricatured,
spoofed, pulped and pulverized, the old man with his thinning golden hair still
seems to be on a roll.
So much so, like he did with what
apparently and falsely seemed the formidable candidature of Hillary Clinton in
the last presidential elections in the United States of America in 2016, by winning
the polls despite having polled lesser number of votes, and polarizing the
entire country on racist, white supremacist, misogynist and xenophobic lines,
he might very well do it again. Indeed, the Democrats, often driven by the same
deep pockets lobbies as before, even coinciding with the big bucks and hardline
interest groups of the Republicans in terms of vested interests, have yet again
seemingly opened the presidential electoral game in favour of Trump. With Joe
Biden in the running, with running mate Indian-origin candidate Kamala Harris,
there are serious speculations that Trump might yet again return to the White
House.
This is not the first time that the
Democrats have deliberately and systematically chosen a weak candidate. Even in
the last elections, there was widespread opinion in the US, that stoic
socialist Bernie Sanders from Vermont
would have given a run for his money to Trump, floundering with shameful charges
of sexual harassment, bad and abusive language, real estate blues and a
colourful record of a reported debauched life with video evidence etc. Some of
it was proved, some was not, other sleazy stories were buried in the
information glut of charges and counter charges which the American media and
local gossip factories celebrated in the run-up to the polls. It was also
alleged that he was not mentally fit to hold this difficult and delicate
position.
At that time, as prime time
television in America gloated and bloated on how disgusting was Trump, as the
big papers destroyed whatever little credibility he had, no one could even
imagine that he would finally become the president of the USA. Sociologists and
media theorists would call it the boomerang effect, that those attacking Trump
on grounds of high morality or Christian purity or gender justice, etc, were
missing the wood from the trees, and were actually scoring a free self-goal.
The more he was turned into a bad man, the more Trump seemed to be scoring his
goals in the American hinterland, especially in the vast, empty and untouched
landscape of rural America, especially among the white working class and jobless
people living in the countryside, and including among the women.
The Democrats and their media and
poll analysts just missed the smell of the wind blowin’ out there, so obsessed
were they with their high moral ground, the low credibility TRP of a
bad-mouthing and sexist Trump, the email leaks of Hillary Clinton, and the
Russian factor looming large in the elections.
Two conspiracy theories were rampant
during the 2016 elections and they might come back again in another avatar this
time too. One was that Russia was managing the Trump campaign through its
sinister and diabolical methods, especially proved by the Wikileaks email leaks
of Hillary Clinton, which massively helped Trump. The second was that there was
a huge white backlash from the ground, especially among the illiterate white
working class in the cities and the countryside, including the huge number of
jobless and impoverished sections, against Barack Obama, a black man, ruling
for two terms, and becoming the first black man to become the president of the
USA. Surely, both the theories seem to be hitting the nail on the coffin of the
Democrats’ candidate.
In 2016, Bernie Sanders was riding a
massive wave, a mass wave of solidarity and support, unprecedented in the
history of capitalist USA. Almost the entire millennials, youngsters and
students, across colours, status, campuses and class spectrum, were supporting
Bernie: an incredible upsurge for the socialist and Left principles and values
of equality, justice, egalitarian ethics and anti-war politics flooded the
political mainstream consciousness, and the critique of capitalism
post-recession acquired a new life not only in campuses, but across the media
and middle class spectrum. ‘Bernie’ from Vermont, a die-hard socialist, won one
battle after another. The old man became a river of redemption for the young in
America, who wanted change, peace, no war, and a new society, with hope
floating like a miracle. Bernie resurrected the spirit of the anti-capitalist
Occupy Wall Street movement.
His candidature was unfortunately and
predictably shattered by the Democrats belonging to the Rightwing lobbies,
including the pro-Israeli hardliners. Once again Obama blocked his candidature.
People were convinced in the US at that time that Bernie would have been a
formidable opponent to Trump and the working class and the educated, especially
the young, would have definitely voted for him. Indeed, many of the young
supporters of Bernie refused to vote for Hillary Clinton, and chose to abstain.
One big reason for the dislike for her was her crude and transparent happiness
expressed after the gruesome roadside murder of Libyan president Muammar
Gaddaffi, and her role in the escalation of war in Syria.
The latest goof-ups by Trump, which
otherwise seems so universally shameful and embarrassing, even for a
thick-skinned man like him, might just not affect his credibility among his
fanatic followers one bit. He has apparently called American soldiers ‘suckers’,
that is, those who died in World War II. Besides, he has apparently come on
tape with a top journalist declaring that the Corona pandemic might be
disastrous etc, and that China might not be at all under control. However, in
all his public utterances he has stated just the opposite, that all is well, that
China is doing course correction, and that there is nothing to worry. Even
while thousands were dying in America, especially in big cities like New York,
especially Blacks and Latinos when compared to the White population, and the
cases were rising like hell across the American landscape.
Rightwing hardliners including
pro-gun lobbies and supremacists actually rejected the pandemic, chose to
protest against restrictions, lockdown and quarantine in the name of individual
freedom, dumped the mask into the garbage can, and chose to assemble and mingle
in bars and public spaces in total disregard for the norms of social and
physical distancing. Trump himself refused to wear the mask in the initial
days.
With so many thousands dead, and the
pandemic refusing to die down, the economy in a slump, and the American foreign
policy in doldrums, and the promise of jobs an illusion, Trump is banking on
various factors to push the mandate in his favour, including in the so-called
swing states. He is banking on the white backlash against the Black Lives
Matter movement, and the brutal use of armed mercenaries and Feds against
peaceful protestors in democratic and liberal strongholds like Portland in
Oregon. He is banking on the recent peace deal brokered by him between the
United Arab Emirates and Israel, the first in a beginning foreseen across the
Arab world which is aligned with Saudi Arabia and is opposed to Iran. And he is
banking on his original ‘Make America Great Again’ constituency of white
supremacists, racists, sexists, and anti-immigrants.
With Joe Biden appearing weak and
indecisive, and with his history of being a pale shadow in the charismatic presence
of Obama, Trump is pushing the negative discourse of his son’s links in Ukraine
etc. A Bernie would have shown him his place. A Biden might just find himself
on a sticky wicket as the race heats up.
