In the end, US chose felon over prosecutor

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. (Courtesy)

I have been in the US recently for four straight months at the height of the presidential campaigns pitting Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, two candidates who are diametrically opposed to each other in nearly everything that should matter to the electorate.

Donald Trump is an old White Supremacist business tycoon with a privileged upbringing, but lacking in sophistication and intellectual flamboyance despite having Warton School of Finance in his resumé as an Alma Mater. Trump has the double dubious distinctions of being a US presidential candidate who has persistently kept his tax records under wraps besides being a convicted felon.

In contrast, Harris is younger, self made intellectual of humble Black/Asian American background, who has spent most of her adult life in the corridors of justice as a Prosecutor, District Attorney, Attorney General, Senator and Vice President of the United States. The entry of Kamala Harris seemed to breathe fresh air into the Presidential campaigns given the disquiet that the would-be voters had expressed regarding President Biden’s advanced age.

Kamala’s performance during the Presidential Debate excited her supporters, who were convinced that the Democratic Party had made the right decision to step down Joe Biden in her favour as presidential candidate to face Trump.

On the surface, the stars seemed to have lined up well for Kamala to be the 47th President of the United States. It now seems that all the excitement and exuberance was premature.

For the second time in less thana decade, Americans are denying a very capable woman a chance to be their President.

The US has persistently pushed the narrative of gender inclusivity across the globe yet, surprisingly, American women cannot elect their own to be president despite their numerical superiority; a typical exemplification of the Biblical dictum of “do as I say, not as I do.” Clearly, this decision by American voters to choose a convicted felon over a sober intellectual with an admirable track record in public service is not without a good reason. At best, it is quite spiteful of women, and at worst, it undermines America’s global credentials in the fight against gender discrimination.

The question then is: why are Americans showing Harris the middle finger the same way they did to Hillary Clinton, a fellow woman lawyer and distinguished public servant? Pundits have attempted to explore the mind of the American voter towards Harris and her presidential bid.

The greatest challenge facing Americans at the moment is an economy that is not creating enough decent jobs for them. The cost of living and interest rates have remained unreasonably high for the better part of Joe Biden’s presidency. This means that household incomes have been battered by inflation, and mortgage holders can hardly keep up with payments due to unpredictable interest rate regime.

Additionally, demographic shifts that have occurred in recent decades are reshaping the electoral landscape. In all the 50 states, the share of the non-Hispanic White eligible voters has been declining since 2000. During that period, Hispanic voters have come to make up increasingly larger proportions of the electorate in every state. These gains are particularly large in the Southwestern US, where states like Nevada, California and Texas have seen rapid growth in the Hispanic share of the electorate. These rapid demographic shifts have clearly put the native White Americans on notice that their dominance is increasingly being challenged.

That explains persistent claims by Trump on the campaign trail that President Biden and Harris were on a mission of infiltrating the US with “criminals from Mexico who are killing Americans and eating their pets.”

The message got Americans really scared about what would happen if Kamala Harris became the next President.

Professor Ongore teaches at the Technical University of Kenya
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