Wednesday 12 October 2016

Perspectives on the forthcoming US election


Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton / AFP PHOTO / DESK

I have decided to write this article in view of the fact that with less than 100 days to the date of the United States of America’s presidential election on November 8, one of the prominent candidates, Mr Donald Trump of the Republican Party, had to say that it would be “a waste of time” if he lost the election. (CNNReport , August 3, 2016). As a result, the election is likely to end with a crisis of confidence if Trump loses. Such an outcome will be a disservice to democracy all over the Western world generally and the US, its avowed champion, in particular.
But what is democracy?  The ancient Greeks, as contemplative thinkers,  fashioned out in the City of Athens , a radically  people -oriented  system of government that was operative  from 508 until 322 BCE whereby  power was placed in the hands of the people (demos)  to debate among themselves, rich or poor  and decide on how they wanted to be governed by three important  Institutions in the polity as their pillars of Democracy , namely ( a) the Assembly of the Demos (b) the Council  of tested Elders  numbering 500  and (c ) the People’ s Court . The Assembly gave opportunity to all male citizens of 18 years and above, whose parents and themselves  were free citizens and not slaves to speak their minds  and exercise their vote regularly. After two centuries, the system broke down due to the inordinate excesses of demagogues  led by Demosthenes who perverted the wishes of the people.
Since the modern era, democracy has become the system of governance  in the  Western world  with variants of the system being championed  by Britain  and the United States  of America  ever since. The rest of the world has come to respect democracy defined by one of the finest presidents of the USA as “the government of the people, by the people and for the people”. Its greater workability  and better success  in lifting the innate spirit of man  to soar higher  to achieve socio-economic exploits  not only for himself but for the good of the generality of the governed  has endeared the system to its friend or foe the world over.

It is clear  from the names, Democratic Party and Republican Party , the two dominant  political parties in the USA, that  it has always been the intention  of the founding fathers  and subsequent leaders of the country that their desire was to be governed  as a “democratic republic “ as distinct from a “monarchical democracy”  that still obtains in Britain from which the US broke away in 1766. With this background, it is my intention to express  my observations, reflections and fears for the future of democracy  in the US from the prism of  an “armchair” dispassionate  observer  of what has transpired  since the campaign  for the election of the next President  of the greatest ( not  largest) democracy in the world  started  about a year ago.
 Incidentally , I also  had the opportunity  to comment  on the 2000  election between George  W. Bush  and Al Gore in the article, “One Shot in the Bush and an Ox is Gored”  published that year in The PUNCH.
For the success of democracy, most writers are agreed that there must be some minimum preconditions. Some essential Institutions must exist and function effectively to ensure a level playing field. Political parties must exist as midwives  for ushering in the modus  operandi of regulating the number of contestants, political party manifestoes  and guidelines , practical and ethical  arrangement for conduct of elections , funding of party and candidates ,  and generally satisfying the people’s expectations  and making it easy for them to make their preferred choice  of the party’s torch-bearer. There must be an overall umpire – like a state organisation and a legal court of last resort for resolution of conflicting interests and disputes. As I will indicate later, my first adverse  observation is that  imperfections  in the setting  up and weakness  in empowering  the political parties  vis – a -vis the ambitions of the political gladiators  constitute the Achilles’ heel of the American system. Maybe, this is as a result of the respect for individual freedom of choice as against the collective standpoint  as a way of American life and living .
Constitutionally, when there is a sitting President not seeking reelection, as Barack Obama in this his second term, it is provided that electioneering for the ensuing year cannot  begin earlier than 644 days  before the Election Day. Therefore, the candidates of the two major parties  entered  the race for the 2016 presidential election  as follows:- (a) Hillary Clinton: a brilliant Attorney at Law, former US Senator and who, was First Lady as wife of President Bill Clinton later vied against Obama for the Presidency in 2014 and later served as Secretary of State during his first term of office, started  her campaign  on April 12, 2015, that is 517 days to,  or one year and seven months before the Election Day. She was joined by two others in the Democratic Party list including another strong candidate, Bernie Sanders,  a serving Senator who calls himself  an independent Socialist.   ( b) Donald Trump: a reality Television star and a real estate developer, a self-declared “multibillionaire “ who was  formerly a member  of the Democratic Party, declared his  candidacy  under the platform  of the Republican Party on June 16, 2015, that is 573 days or one year and nearly five months before the election. Joined by a large motley team of contestants originally, 20  thinned down  to 16  comprising four serving/former senators, 15 serving /former governors, one businesswoman  and one businessman in total. Before the campaign matured, Trump was considered a weak candidate  but he turned the table against all odds and to the bewilderment of all. ( c) Until late July 2016, when  the candidate  of the Libertarian Party, Governor Johnson and his running mate surfaced, the contest was essentially  between Clinton  and Trump who had been officially  adopted  as candidates  of the Republican and Democratic parties respectively.
However, the electoral campaign of both candidates became some kind of hot, bitter, acrimonious and divisive  contest, described by the CNN as “election unlike any before”  for several reasons.
Both can be seen as rebels not ready to toe party lines, manifestoes (if any)  and ideals. Both tend to succumb to the dictates of the off-the-run young members of both parties and some undecided voters but opinion- moulding  or vocal community  influentials . Trump champions not only his own vision of government run as a one-man business wary of what many business entrepreneurs  of his type call “paralysis of analysis”, jumping into conclusion  without careful investigation  which may run his effort  down the ditch. On the other hand, Sanders sees himself  as championing  a movement  ( don’t call it a revolution ) towards the far -left repugnant  to a majority of Americans  except the impatient young voters  who feel left behind  by the system. Both are not party loyalists  but their campaign slogans seem to catch the fancies  of the young, impatient, undecided voters  or new voters  who seem at this point  in time and history of  the American socio-economic landscape  to be led by wrong champions. Trump is too self-opinionated to build a cohesive team and too inexplicably  dirty- rich  to successfully lead a rebellion of “ have-nots”.
However, given the challenges confronting each of the candidates  outlined above, Clinton and Trump have had to use their best endeavours  to run their campaigns without rubbishing their political parties. This means that they would try to utilise their personal qualities , resources and social and other experiences gained over the years. On doing so, it is observed that there are glaring challenges that  can mar the success of  their campaigns.  They both have clear chips over their shoulders. Clinton having  been in the public glare  directly  or indirectly  for nearly  40 years  is considered jaded by many of the young , undecided voters  and  having loyally served  Obama  lately  and so deserving  some rest  and that having  functioned as  First Lady during the Presidency of Bill Clinton is considered a surrogate of her husband or that of Obama both of whose approval  rating  in their second terms would  have qualified  them for a third innings  if the American constitution had  permitted.  In any case, she is considered  generally as an “establishment  candidate “ , too smartly knowledgeable to be tainted  by political mudslinging  or bothered by spurious  inquisitions  lined up  by the Republican Party.  On the other hand , Trump, weaker in intellectual prowess , political experience and lacking  the social polish  of Clinton right from the beginning  did not hide his aversion towards research-based  policies or what he termed “political correctness”.

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