(October 2) The dome of the U.S. Capitol Building is visible as Chris Litchfield of Washington, DC, an activist with 'Faithful America', ties down a 15-foot golden calf balloon meant to resemble Donald Trump.
Photo Credit: AFP
In a symbolic move, Kamala Harris took the stage at the same place where Donald Trump told his supporters on January 6, 2021, to "fight like hell," shortly before they ransacked the US Capitol. She made her closing pitch to the Americans by painting next week's election as an existential choice between her presidency, which will come "with a to-do list full of priorities" for the American people, and the Trump Presidency, which will unleash "chaos and division". Aiming to reach out to all Americans, she asserted, "Our democracy doesn't require us to agree on everything. That's not the American way," Harris said. "We like a good debate. And the fact that someone disagrees with us does not make them 'the enemy from within.' They are family, neighbours, classmates, coworkers."
Rallying Voters Is The Only Way
It's a good pitch, but the question is whether those she was trying to address were listening. The polls remain tight, with neither side being able to deal a knockout punch. Rallying the base, therefore, remains the core aspiration of the two sides. This was evident in Donald Trump's Madison Square Garden rally earlier in the week where crude comments about his opponent were met with a receptive audience. Though Trump's speech was largely focused on immigration, his deportation plans, crime, the border, and the economy, others in the rally referred to Puerto Rico as a "floating island of garbage" and inferred that Jews are cheap and Palestinians are "rock-throwers". Others referred to Harris as the "antichrist" and also said that Harris "and her pimp handlers will destroy the country".
The oldest democracy in the world looks vulnerable from within. The institutional fabric is withering away and there is no leadership in sight that can provide some semblance of reassurance. What is remarkable is the dwindling faith of ordinary Americans in their nation's institutions. According to a recent survey, most voters think that Trump will not concede if he loses the 2024 presidential election, with some of his supporters even positing that losing candidates have no obligation to do so. More disturbingly, the majority of voters have no confidence that the Supreme Court would be able to make the right decision.
The "Enemy Within"
For Trump, therefore, it makes sense to keep talking about migration and the rising cost of living, which is resonating with a wide audience. He has promised to launch "the largest deportation programme in American history" and has been targeting the Biden administration for mismanagement of the economy. But insidiously, he also keeps talking about "an enemy within", which, according to him, is a "massive, vicious radical-left machine that runs today's Democrat party" and upon which he will set the military if elected. This is aimed at keeping his base mobilised.
For Kamala Harris, too, it is important to keep her base mobilised. In particular, she has focused on the women voters who are anxious about reproductive rights. The former first lady, Michelle Obama, reflected on this theme when she campaigned for Harris and made an impassioned plea to American voters "not to hand our fates over to the likes of Trump, who knows nothing about us, who has shown deep contempt for us", because "a vote for him is a vote against us, against our health, against our worth".
Harris And Biden, Biden And Harris
Harris is struggling to emerge out of the shadow of President Biden as the challenges that Biden is facing continue to constrain Harris as well. It is a tough balancing act for the Vice-President. "My presidency will be different because the challenges we face are different," Harris has underscored. "Our top priority as a nation four years ago was to end the pandemic and rescue the economy. Now, our biggest challenge is to lower costs, costs that were rising even before the pandemic, and that are still too high." It's not likely that for those who have been hurting economically looking at Harris outside of the Biden overhang will be that easy. Biden himself continues to intrude in his own way; a recent video of the President was doing the rounds, in which he was seemingly calling Trump's supporters "garbage". Though the White House has clarified that he was referring to hateful rhetoric used against Puerto Ricans at the Trump rally, Trump has latched on to it, targeting Democrats for running a 'hate campaign'.
As the world awaits the results of one of the most consequential elections in recent memory, the internal turmoil in the US reflects some long-term trends in the nation's politics. A highly polarised, inward-focused America will not be able to provide the world with the kind of leadership this moment in global politics demands. Other nations, including India, should be ready for this shift and for making their contributions toward managing the global turmoil.
(Harsh V. Pant is Vice President – Studies and Foreign Policy, at Observer Research Foundation, and Professor of International Relations at King's College London.)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author