Harris or Trump? The Guardian: The US election's shocking gap

As the sun rose on Tuesday, there was something familiar about the ritual that would usher in Election Day in the US. Long lines of voters, self-voting candidates, TV pundits filling the screens with election map screens and a steady stream of results from safe blue and red states.
But this time something is different. The 2024 US presidential election has witnessed a late change of one of the candidates, two different debates, two assassination attempts, an intervention by the world's richest man, euphoria reminiscent of Barack Obama and rhetoric reminiscent of Adolf Hitler.

It is a campaign characterized by violence and joy. The result of this? Only a coin toss can determine the winner. America may be about to elect Kamala Harris, the first female president in its 248-year history. Or it could hand the White House back to 78-year-old Donald Trump, the first former president with a criminal record and two impeachments. Both sides are completely convinced that their side must win, that defeat would represent the end of democracy, freedom, and the American way of life.

They are like two fast moving trains as they run towards each other and an inevitable collision. For almost half of the country, the result will be devastating. They will have lost what veteran journalist Carl Bernstein once called a "civil cold war." That's partly because Trump has spent a decade sowing class and racial divisions. But this election has exposed a gender gap two years after the Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to abortion. Democrats nominated a woman, while Trump has embraced "machismo" and "bro" culture in a quest to find new voters.

Maureen Dowd, a columnist for the New York Times, wrote: “ It's the ultimate battle of the sexes in domestic elections. Who will prevail? Women, especially young women, who are appalled by the cartoonishly macho and obnoxious attitudes of Donald Trump and his entourage? Or the men, including many young men, union men, Latino and black men, who recoil at Trump's slurs, harassment and insults, seeing him as the backward antidote to shrinking male superiority."

Consider this part three in the Trump trilogy. In 2016, he was a brash newcomer, thumbing his nose at political and media power to the delight of supporters who thought the American dream had escaped them. In 2020, he was hammered by an electorate tired of the chaos, narcissism and incompetent handling of a global pandemic. When the history of the 2024 election is written, a single week in July will be at the center of the narrative. On July 13, at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks took aim with a rifle and opened fire, injuring Trump's ear and killing one attendee. A photo of Trump standing with blood on his face as he raised his fist and shouted "Fight!" became the indelible image of his campaign.

Two days later, the Republican National Convention began with some attendees wearing earmuffs in solidarity. Speaker after speaker insisted that Trump had been spared by God, a sure sign that his work in this country was not yet done. The nominee recounted the episode in a somber opening to his convention speech, but then exploded by recycling old grievances for more than an hour. Democrats needed to reclaim the narrative. At the end of that week, on July 21st, they did. Joe Biden, 81, trailing in the polls and reeling from a poor debate performance, bowed to pressure from his own party and announced he was withdrawing from the race.

It was, as 2016 candidate Hillary Clinton said, one of the most selfless acts of patriotism she had ever seen. Biden quickly endorsed Harris; The Clintons, Obamas and the rest of the party followed suit. The vice president talked about the "politics of joy" and nominated as a candidate for vice governor Tim Walz, who described their opponents as "weird". The Democratic National Convention in Chicago felt like the happiest place on earth, filled with relief, hope and fun. Even the state by state call became a dance party. Trump's campaign got off on the wrong foot, unable to frame Harris or find a derogatory nickname.

Trump was going off the rails with an outlandish, false story that immigrants were eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio. Harris, a former prosecutor, defeated him in their only debate in Philadelphia. With momentum on her side, she seemed to have found the long-elusive antidote to Trumpism. But there was one final twist, and it was the most unexpected of all. The last two months of the campaign were surprisingly undramatic, even anticlimactic, as if the cosmic scriptwriters had reached the climax too quickly. There was no more game changing as the polls stabilized and the balance was restored.

Harris ishte aq e disiplinuar sa shmangte ato lloj gafash të zgjedhjeve të kaluara, megjithëse përpjekjet e saj për t’u distancuar nga Biden u dhanë republikanëve ushqim. Trump ishte aq i keqdisiplinuar sa shumë amerikanë u ndjenë të mpirë nga indiferenca. Nuk kishte asnjë përsëritje të kasetës së Access Hollywood të vitit 2016, në të cilën ai mund të dëgjohej duke u mburrur për rrëmbimin e organeve gjenitale të grave, gjë që bëri që disa republikanë të bënin thirrje që ai të tërhiqej. Kur ai mendonte për personazhin e filmit Hannibal Lecter ose për madhësinë e organeve gjenitale të lojtarit të golfit të ndjerë Arnold Palmer, ose kur një komedian në mitingun e tij në Nju Jork ofendoi Puerto Rikon, republikanët ngritën supet dhe vazhduan.

Nëse do të kishte një surprizë në tetor, ndoshta ishte sipërmarrësi i teknologjisë Elon Musk që dha miliona dollarë në një përpjekje për të ndihmuar Trumpin në shtetet e lëkundura, ose kthimin e Hitlerit në skenën politike. John Kelly, ish-shefi i shtabit të Trump, tregoi sesi presidenti shprehte admirim për gjeneralët e nazistëve. Gjenerali Mark Milley, dikur në krye të nivelit të lartë ushtarak, e karakterizoi Trumpin si “fashist deri në palcë”. Harris, duke e zbutur gëzimin, miratoi këtë përkufizim për një njeri që pohon se emigrantët pa dokumente po “helmojnë gjakun e vendit tonë” dhe kërcënon të kthejë ushtrinë amerikane kundër “armikut të brendshëm”.

Është koha, këmbënguli ajo, për të “kthyer faqen” nga kaosi dhe për t’u ndarë nga Trump. Leon Panetta, një ish-sekretar i mbrojtjes dhe drejtor i CIA-s, thotë: “Është një zgjedhje shumë e fortë në këto zgjedhje. Është një zgjedhje mes shumë mënyrave nëse ne i përmbahemi kushtetutës dhe shtetit të së drejtës, nëse i përmbahemi një procesi zgjedhjesh të lira dhe të ndershme, nëse i përmbahemi të vërtetës apo nëse përsëri bëjmë një zgjedhje për të zgjedhur në thelb kaosin mbi rendin.

“Trump do të prodhojë kaos. Nuk ka shumë dyshime për këtë, sepse kjo është mënyra se si ai vepron. Ai vepron në kaos, sepse kështu ngacmuesit tërheqin vëmendjen dhe ai është një ngacmues. Atëherë shtrohet pyetja: A do ta lejojnë liderët e tjerë të zgjidhet ai që shkel parimet bazë të demokracisë sonë? Unë thjesht nuk mendoj se në fund do të mbizotërojë një ngacmues si Trump.” “A fiton fashisti?” nuk ishte një pyetje e bërë për asnjë nga 59 zgjedhjet presidenciale para kësaj. Por ndërsa miliona njerëz shkojnë në kutitë e votimit këtë të martë, pas miliona të tjerëve që kanë votuar tashmë, është çështja që ndjek Amerikën dhe botën.

Moe Vela, një ish-këshilltar i lartë i Joe Biden kur ai ishte zëvendëspresident, thotë: “Çdo demokraci në botë duhet të jetë në ankth dhe po kafshon thonjtë. Jo se SHBA ishte më e mirë se kushdo tjetër, por bota e ka parë gjithmonë SHBA-në si standardin e artë të demokracive. Që është shumë afër kolapsit dhe afër largimit prej nesh, nuk mund të ketë asnjë demokraci në botë për momentin që të mos shqetësohet.”

If that fate is avoided and Harris becomes the 47th president, the world will express relief that the populist tide has been defeated again. Trump will be seen as an aberration rather than the norm. But within the US, deep wounds will remain. The defining hallmark of the Trump era has been division and division: female vs. male, black vs. white, urban vs. rural, Hollywood vs. centrist, liberal vs. conservative. This has also been exacerbated by the social media buzz.

The Pew Research Center found that Democrats and Republicans are becoming more likely to view members of the other party as unintelligent, lazy, immoral or dishonest. A survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that 84% of workers agree that the current political climate causes American citizens to see each other as enemies, and 78% said they have seen people treated poorly because of their race. their perceived political

Johnny Taylor, president and chief executive officer of SHRM, says of the election:  “We believe, at least if the polls are accurate, that this will be close. So it is quite possible that 49.9% of the population will wake up in the future. Boring day their candidate didn't win and 50.1% are happy. It's one thing if my sports team loses to the other team in the Super Bowl. This is very personal to people because of the topics. If it's abortion, you think it's the end of the world if you lose."

Harris has promised to work with all parties and put a Republican in her cabinet. But there are many on the far right who will seethe with discontent at the prospect of a black female president, just as they did when Barack Obama took the White House. Fox News and other conservative media will thrive on hate mongering. A society curious about fascism, which Donald Trump brought so close to regaining power, will need more than a couple of elections to heal itself. Taken from  The Guardian