The 2024 American Presidential Election! What’s New?

Will it result in the passing of the Torch? Will it be a period of Transition? Will the Republicans be given the keys to Make America Great Again? Perhaps not the Republicans but their Dean Donald Trump? Over the past three months, I had shut myself off from the US Presidential Elections.

A race between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, for different reasons, was not in the best interest of the US and most of the world. Biden’s performance at the presidential debate was not the case of having a bad debate. It was much more. It had left doubts in the minds of many about the ability of Biden, if elected to ‘successfully’ manage four years into a new presidency. That was a turning point. The calls for him to pull out of the contest grew. Many were satisfied that he had done a good job up to then, but another four years would have been something else! My big beef was about his handling of the Israel-Gaza war. As far as I am concerned, he was complicit in the ‘genocide’ in Gaza. The image of his hugging Netanyahu and emphasizing the fact that Israel had a right to defend itself did not go down well with me. It savoured of accepting that the killing of over 40,000 Palestinians, including thousands of children, was a part of Israel’s right to defend itself. While millions around the world, including most countries, called for a permanent ceasefire, the US under Biden kept bobbing and weaving.

That is a permanent stain on a man whom some claimed to be one of the best ever US Presidents. He did a lot for Blacks, including selecting a black woman as his Vice President and among others, having the first Black female Justice of the Supreme Court. Blacks had admittedly strongly supported him. But his age featured, and many supporters might not have voted for him. His only saving grace was having an opponent like Trump who was found guilty of 34 felonies. Unbelievable for a country that used to and still considers itself the fountain of democracy. Trump is well known for his lying. Sometimes, he appears to exist in another world. But many Americans, particularly the Republican base, like him and couldn’t care what he says. I have made the point before that they clung to him because he was saying things that many of them wanted to say and actually believed. I highlighted the Republican base, but it was much more than the so-called base. Many Republican members of Congress danced to his silliness, and tried to rationalise many of his far fetched arguments, or rather sayings. The polls were suggesting victory for him on November 5.

Then things changed. Out of the blue Biden announced his withdrawal as the Democratic candidate and within half an hour proposed his Vice-President, Kamala Harris of Indian and Black heritage, as the person to replace him. The timing of that decision though not deliberate, handed the Democratic party a path out of its misery. For one, with the Democratic Convention a couple weeks away, it was difficult to find challengers within the party. Also, many still had a lot of respect for him and were prepared to go along with the candidate he proposed. The party immediately responded to the new situation and found a way hopefully, to blunt Trump’s march to what he considered a sure victory. There was a change of momentum within the Democratic party. Funds began to pour in, and Kamala Harris started gaining wide support within the party, including those who under normal circumstances, might have challenged her for that position.

She selected as her Vice-President, Tim Waltz, the governor of Minnesota who served as an Army Veteran and High School Social Studies teacher and Coach. A friend of mine on first finding out about and seeing him on television said he looked like a man whom he would want to take to a rum shop, have a beer with and speak about women and politics. (Those were the words of my friend). I am actually writing this article long after the time it was due because I looked last night, Wednesday night, at the third night of the Democrats Convention when a straight talking Waltz introduced himself to the audience and to the public generally. His work as governor of Pennsylvania spoke volumes to the type of person he was, his position as football coach and having come on stage, some of the persons he had coached in school really grounded with a lot of people. He appears to be a dynamic person and a good campaigner, one who connects easily with people. Regarding his small community, he refers to them as neighbours rather than voters.

Trump was put on his back foot. His campaign was designed to focus on the age of President Biden who is actually only three years older than him. He makes a play at finding nicknames for his opponents, but had difficulty coming up with one for Harris. So, he paints her as someone who was always an Indian but has suddenly discovered that she is black (Harris is the daughter of an Indian mother who was a scientist and Jamaican father who was a professor at the Economics Department at Stanford University). Trump considers himself better looking than Kamala Harris. He considers her a dunce, despite her having a degree in political science and economics from Howard University, and a law degree from the Hastings College of Law at the University of California.

The battle is well and truly on. With my new interest in the 2024 elections, I have looked at the past three days of the Convention of the Democrats and will look again tonight when Kamala Harris takes the stage. I do not have a lot of confidence in American presidents. They follow the line. There is little room for departing from traditional policies.

• Dr Adrian Fraser is a social commentator and historian