“Make America Red Again.” This is what Donald Trump promised during one of his campaign rallies. It was a promise that the media and analysts did not give much credence to, but which his voters – and not only they – believed, and today they are handing him the reins of the country for another four years. The votes are still being counted, but the projections leave no room for an upset: Donald J. Trump will be the 47th President of the United States, and the Republicans have won control of the Senate. A GOP victory in the House of Representatives is not yet certain, but any such setback would be marginal in the face of a party that controls the judiciary and can count on a conservative majority in the Supreme Court, the executive branch and a substantial part of Congress.
Donald Trump also wins a historic popular vote victory, which shows that the winners are the “forgotten men and women of America” to whom the Republican Party platform has committed its articles, gadgets, local rallies, unspeakable words in the halls of good politics that are now commonplace on the very avenues of rural America, as well as in the suburban neighbourhoods where the Democrats continue losing support and appeal. Black voters, Latinos, young white men and Americans of Arab ancestry, who will not forgive the Biden administration for the slaughter in Gaza, have drifted to the right. Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, cryptocurrency companies, oil tycoons and that part of Wall Street that still believes in a self-regulating market have all won as well.
The election campaign was dominated by three key issues: inflation, abortion and immigration. Trump’s narrative proved more compelling than that of Kamala Harris, who, despite the injection of millions of dollars in donations and the backing of Hollywood’s establishment, was unable to attract the same coalition that ultimately propelled Joe Biden to victory in 2020. The extent to which the outcome of the polls was determined by the fact that she is a woman of colour is something that few are willing to acknowledge. However, this does not negate the reality that the glass ceiling remains an unbreakable barrier, as it was for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
The Democratic Party will ultimately have to explain why their proposed blueprint for the country failed to gain momentum, despite the fact that Donald Trump inherits from Joe Biden a “remarkable economy,” according to the Wall Street Journal, with one of the lowest unemployment rates in US history, strong economic growth (GDP up 2.8% in the third quarter), and inflation close to 2%.
The most encouraging aspect of this election night is the voting process itself. Despite considerable doubt surrounding the integrity of the process, US citizens were able to exercise their democratic right to choose their candidates and vote freely, including voting by mail and by email. Those who cast doubt on the process have now been rewarded with a second term for the winning candidate. The result of Tuesday night’s vote thus marks a shift in the narrative of an overwhelmingly polarised America. On Wednesday, the nation became united again, with a common identity, a unified political stance and, somewhat paradoxically, with the election of one of the most divisive presidents in US history.
