America’s choice? Balancing Fear and Hope during Uncertain Times
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Come what may, the 2024 presidential election will decisively reshape and redefine the American political scene. Whether voters choose Harris or Trump, change – socio-economic, cultural, ideological, and everything in between – is guaranteed.
Earlier this year, the Democrats’ situation seemed dire. Beyond broad dissatisfaction with the economy, immigration, and foreign policy, unabating anxieties over President Biden’s age left many doubting his chances of re-election. However, his shocking exit – and Vice President Harris’s subsequent nomination – have reinvigorated the democratic base. Yet, despite positive indicators, the race is still ridiculously close – the closest, in fact, in 60 years. Though Harris currently leads Trump in the polls 49%-46%, a huge improvement from Trump’s 45%-43% lead against Biden, she remains within the margin of error. And, the seemingly unprecedented stakes of this particular race only exacerbates the tension.
A second Trump presidency is a frightening prospect. Electing a felon convicted on 34 counts would inevitably erode the gravity, dignity, and moral authority traditionally accorded to the presidency. And, lest we forget, Trump orchestrated an insurrection against the US capital to block the peaceful transition of power and called to “terminate” the constitution. Re-election could only mean that the disgraced ex-president had succeeded in undermining the majority of Americans’ faith in and respect for our bedrock principles – democracy, law, and order. Promising to be a “dictator on day one”, Trump has not sugar-coated his intentions. The 900-page Project 2025, authored by 140 Trump staffers, lays bare painstakingly-detailed plans to radically restructure our government, enshrining and enforcing Conservative values. We must not ignore these warning signs: if re-elected, Trump will attack the checks and balances keeping autocracy at bay.
The recent debate spotlighted the paucity of Trump’s policies: despite spending years disparaging Obamacare, when asked about healthcare reform, he could offer only “concepts of a plan”. Lacking any real plans for action, he instead scapegoats and fear-mongers – build a wall, deport millions, imprison detractors. So, besides concretely reshaping democratic processes, a second Trump term would also foretell an ideological transition: if his campaign only offers discrimination, re-election would signal a broader embrace of intolerance.
Bleak as the ideological implications of a Trump victory may be, a more positive reading is equally warranted.
Like Obama before her, President Harris would automatically ‘make history’, ushering in a new, more representative definition of leadership. Yet, despite MAGA efforts to paint the current vice president and former senator and attorney general as a “DEI hire”, Harris has largely shirked identity politics. Without shying away from her personal biography, she has instead prioritised substantive policy.
In response to Trump questioning her race, Harris dismissed his “tired playbook”, simply responding: “next question.” Echoing Michelle Obama’s iconic call to “go high”, this unwillingness to acknowledge, much less engage with, Trump’s crude (yet ultimately petty) insults is a welcome reminder that the baseline etiquette of pre-Trump political discourse is not irretrievable. Though a vote for Harris will, for many, be a vote against Trump, it is nonetheless a conscious choice for competence, a promise eagerly embraced by ordinary citizens tired of the theatrics.
As it stands, America is at a crossroads. Although countless polls demonstrate that many think divisions have never been greater, on many issues, we share common ground. So, what would electing a black woman, arguably the antithesis of MAGA bigotry, mean? In my view, we might dispel the myth of division, illuminating instead the beating heart of tolerance, perhaps diminished, but never abandoned.
With just under a month until election day, the race is still too close to call. Yet, there is cause for hope. Harris’s favourability rating has jumped 16 points since entering the race, the largest improvement in 35 years of NBC polls. Even if we must wait until November to know exactly what form it will take, change is undeniably in the air.