As I write this, the US presidential election is in the balance. Biden is ahead but there is no certainty he is going to win. Trump could still win a second term. The big question is - how? How can a man who is a narcissist, rapist, racist, misogynist, tax-dodging, corrupt monster responsible for 225,000 Covid deaths possibly win a second term?
More easily than you might think actually. Firstly he appeals to many because he is seen as straight-talking, and many are disillusioned with politicians' empty promises. He 'says what he thinks' even if that is only for effect. I saw some footage of him at a rally the other day. I hate to admit it but I was impressed. He was slick, he came across as a consummate performer, almost like a very good stand up comedian. And what he said hit home. Every phrase and sentence pushed the buttons of his admiring supporters.
"Make America great again", "Build the wall", "Jobs, jobs, jobs" - this is exactly what millions of Americans, who've been suffering from low pay and joblessness and have been ground down by forty years of neoliberalism want to hear. To them, he is a saviour. Contrast that with the mealy-mouthed platitudes and empty slogans of "Yes we can" Obama, who did nothing for the American working class and plenty for his backers in Wall Street.
The truth is that the mainstream Democrats and their corporate backers have nothing to offer the great majority of Americans. People are desperate for change and no amount of Biden's appeal that "we can be better" will change that or assuage their anger. This is the beauty of neoliberalism, you dump on the many, slash their pay, benefits, and healthcare. Then you find a populist like Trump to offer them change - with no intention of delivering anything.
It was the same with Brexit. The Tories dumped on the UK working class, particularly in the industrial North, and brought poverty and homelessness, and despair to many thousands. Then they pushed the same buttons of anger and frustration that Trump did, blamed it all on the EU and immigrants, and offered to make Britain great again by leaving the EU - result? Boris Johnson and an eighty seat majority.
Its a tried and tested method and it works over and over again. The left has failed to find an effective antidote, largely because it doesn't hold the levers of economic power and control the media. Simply appealing to people's better nature for compassion, fairness and equality doesn't work in a climate of fear and anger.
In The Byline Times today Anthony Barnett summed the situation up:
The US is deeply polarised and this has to be addressed not denied by claiming ‘we can overcome’. Obama presided over a massive widening of inequality, something Biden Democrats have never acknowledged. The system he represents and assisted is divisive and makes his words ring hollow.
By contrast, in Michigan, Trump rallied his supporters with a claim on the future that recognised America as a battleground: “We are going to keep on working, we are going to keep on fighting, and we are going to keep on winning, winning, winning.”
And they love him for it.
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