During a campaign rally in the key battleground state of Michigan on Sunday, US President Donald Trump played a montage of contender Joe Biden's many and varied verbal gaffes. The purpose of the video was clear: to call into question the Democratic presidential candidate's fitness for the highest office in the land and the world.
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But one thing is undeniable: Though most surveys and anti-Trump pundits point to a slam-dunk victory for Biden, even Democrats are acting doubtful.
The ill-ease they display when confronted with the discrepancy between the massive, enthusiastic crowds that Trump has drawn and the far more subdued banner-waving elicited by Biden is not the only clue. Far more telling is the boarding up of businesses in cities across America, as a precaution against looters.
Shop owners fear that if Trump is re-elected, the Black Lives Matter and Antifa gangs are going to use their disappointment as yet another excuse to smash storefronts and steal merchandise. The sheer volume of plywood suggests that not only Republicans remember the surprise outcome of the 2016 presidential election when everyone was certain to see Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton on her merry way to the White House.
The difference this time around is that the electorate has become even more divided. The current race is frenzied, and the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic is only partly responsible for the hysteria. In at least equal measure is the sense that the United States is in the throes of a societal civil war being fought by opposing armies.
This probably explains the unusually high voter turnout relative to that of previous presidential elections. Indeed, with early voting and mail-in ballots, some 96 million Americans – nearly half the total of registered voters nationwide – had done their civic duty by Monday, a full 24 hours before the official opening of election day.
But it also underscores a paradox about the nature of the current fight. On the one hand, it is based on a rift between those who adore Trump – either in spite of or due to his brash persona and controversial tweets – and those who hate him with such a passion that any Democrat would do, including one who can't get seem to get his own policies straight in an interview or debate.
On the other hand, the battle goes well beyond the personalities of the incumbent and his rival, which is why many people championing the former are just as put off by his manner as those who would rather die than see him remain at the helm. Indeed, the outcome of this election will determine the very character – and reveal the self-image – of the United States.
At an Independence Day ceremony at Mt. Rushmore on July 3, Trump summed it up as follows: "Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values and indoctrinate our children ... This left-wing cultural revolution is designed to overthrow the American Revolution."
Ironically, it is a description with which the "squad" – House Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilan Omar (D-MN.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) – would agree, albeit without the negative adjectives. They make no bones about their dim view of the country that they wish to reshape in their "progressive" image. They do not hide their intention to undo all of Trump's economic accomplishments at home and foreign-policy successes abroad.
Omar recently said that if and when Biden becomes president, all cabinet positions should and will go to members of her camp. She knew when she uttered those words that it didn't matter whether the Democratic candidate was listening.
She was right not to care, because it is the radical arm of the already extremely liberal party that is pulling the strings with or without Biden at the helm.
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