Behind the times

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump have intensified campaigning in seven states ahead of the election on Nov.5. These are known as the “battleground” or “swing” states as they often decide who wins due to undemocratic interference by The Electoral College. These states are Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgoia, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada, and North Carolina where results may not reflect the wishes of US voters as a whole.

The Electoral College consists of 538 electors with a majority of 270 needed to win. Both Harris and Trump campaigned hard in the swing states as last week’s polls showed Harris ahead in four swing states and Trump in three. Although his position has improved marginally on the Electoral College front the outcome remains too close to call while Harris is slated to win the popular vote.

Last Sunday, Harris marked her 60th birthday with visits to two Black churches in Georgia where she appealed to Black men to cast their ballots for her. Trump, 78, pretended to make French fries in a McDonald’s restaurant in Pennsylvania to mock Harris who, in her youth, worked at a McDonald’s to earn money for university education.

Politically conservative US voters of both genders feel uncertain about the candidacy of a woman for a post which has always been held by men, including generals and lawmakers, men who have governed during war, cold war, and peace. While women in the top job, like Britain’s Margaret Thatcher, proved just as or even more able to handle difficult situations than men, many US voters are far behind the times. Millions of others are welded to family loyalty to either the Democrat or Republican party and refuse to shift even if one presidential candidate or the other or both are not to their liking. Many could skip this crucial election.

While Harris has not played the gender card in this race, she is expected to win a majority of women’s votes. This counts as an advantage. At least seven million women more than men are registered to vote and turnout among women is higher than among men. She is also likely to secure the votes of Black and Latino women but has been helped by ex-President Barack Obama to convince Black men to vote for her rather than boycotting balloting.

Trump is playing hypermasculinity and misogyny cards in his bid to attract men’s votes. On one hand, he appeals to men who feel they have not achieved what they want in life and envy women who get ahead. His backing from corporate billionaires like Elon Musk impresses such men. On the other hand,Trump portrays himself as a winner as he survived an attempt on his life despite being impeached while president, convicted of 34 felonies, and found guilty of sexual assault.

Thanks to Trump, the campaign has turned into a slanging match rather than a dignified race based on debates and party programmes. When she entered the contest in July after President Joe Biden dropped out, Trump said Harris - whose mother was from India and father from Jamaica - had decided to identify as Black rather then Asian for political advantage. However, this was not an opportunistic choice as she attended Howard University, a Black college in Washington. He has mispronounced her first name, called her “mentally impaired,” a “dummy” and “grossly incompetent” and accused her of doing a poor job as vice president although President Joe Biden was in charge. Trump has said she is an “extremist” because she pledges to improve health care and other benefits for the middle class. He has claimed Harris and his Democratic party adversaries are both “lunatics” and an “enemy from within.”

Harris responded to this charge by saying he considers “anyone that doesn’t support him an enemy of our country...He’s saying he would use the military to go after them  and we know who he would target, because he has attacked them before: Journalists whose stories he doesn’t like, election officials who refuse to cheat by finding extra votes for him, judges who insist on following the law instead of bending to his will.”

As Trump fell asleep during a rally and has cancelled media recent interviews, she asked, “If he can’t handle the rigors of the campaign trail, is he fit to do the job?” She repeated the Democratic mantra, “Trump is unfit for office.” She has made her medical records public; he has not, although this is expected.

While these exchanges might impress or amuse individual voters, it is Electoral College electors who will decide who wins – whatever the popular vote.

Adopted in the Constitution in 1787 when the country was young, communications were poor, and under colonisation, the Electoral College was meant to grant more voting power to residents of states with smaller populations. In theory, they would be disadvantaged by more populace states. In the Electoral College, each state receives two electors for its two senators plus an elector for every representative in the lower house of Congress. In practice, a state with a small population is also given three electors regardless of the number of legislators in the lower house. Furthermore, each state makes its own rules governing the way electors vote. As a result, the allegedly democratic US does not grant “one person, one vote.”

This has led to losers becoming president in races in 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016. In modern times, the Electoral College has given the US and the world George W. Bush who waged disastrous wars on Afghanistan and Iraq and Donald Trump, a narcissist who wreaked havoc on both the domestic and international scenes. In this region, he moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, defunded the UN agency caring for Palestinian refugees, and closed the US East Jerusalem consulate serving Palestinians and the Palestinian mission in Washington. He also recognised Israeli annexation of the Syrian Golan Heights, conquered by Israel in 1967 along with East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.

Photo: TNS