In the end, the pollsters got it wrong in America. It was not the razor tight race most had predicted it would be. Instead, Donald Trump won a decisive victory, all set to become the 47th President of the United States.
It was a remarkable comeback for a man with criminal charges (and more pending), who has faced criticism for his controversial remarks and policies, and ran a campaign often characterised by divisive rhetoric.
Yet, it would be foolish to dismiss Trump’s victory simply as a sign that more than half of America supports his vision. This election was about much more than that and the fact that Trump looks set to win the popular vote, along with the likely Republican control of the House of Representatives and the Senate, it shows that much bigger issues are at play.
The fact that more black men voted for Trump this time, that Latinos also voted for him in greater numbers, tells the story of a country united by one thing — cost of living.
While the US economy has done much better than other developed countries and job numbers have been encouraging, high prices have hurt Americans especially those on the lower end of the economic ladder. Just everyday stuff, like how their groceries cost, has impacted people in a big way.
And this was the common thread that brought voters out for Trump across ethnicities. Illegal immigration is tied to this, as Trump talks about saving American jobs and pushing for manufacturing at home.
It did not help Kamala Harris that she simply was not able to shake off the tag of being part of the Biden administration which has had abysmal ratings in all opinion polls.
To the point where only a few weeks ago, when she was asked on a TV show about whether she would have done anything differently from President Biden, she said “not a thing”.
Trump’s campaign seized on this and it was pretty much downhill for the Democrats. The late August/early September surge that Harris saw after her nomination quickly evaporated. Kamala Harris was also counting on women to be her big backers especially as abortion rights took centre stage.
But she has performed underwhelmingly among women too. Maybe at some level, America is still not ready for a female president. Both the women who ran for this office, Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris, have been defeated by the same man.
Voting for change
But there is more to it than that. This election needs to be a wake up call for the liberal elite and the Democrats in particular, that people are increasingly weary of the establishment and voting for change. It is a phenomenon we are seeing in Europe too, where far right parties have made significant gains in several countries including France and Germany.
Voters here too are challenging the status quo. The fact that the challenges of Trump’s first presidency, including his legal issues and refusal to accept the previous election results, did not deter voters is telling.
This was very much a vote for Trump and his promise for change. It appears that large sections of American voters are willing to put aside his shortcomings because they believe he could offer a different path for the economy.
For the Democrats, another point to ponder is what went wrong with the campaign with all the billions of dollars put into it, with all the biggest celebrity endorsements from Taylor Swift to Oprah Winfrey to Jennifer Lopez — nothing worked. The liberal and intellectual elite appear to be cut off from the realities of what working class Americans think and feel.
I consider myself a liberal too and realise that trashing this mandate is not going to cut it. Understanding it is what is needed.
