Though Democrat Joe Biden is leading in national polls, a brute majority of the Whites, constituting about 70 per cent of the US population, in their hearts want to witness the triumph of ‘Trumpism.’ They are keeping their fingers crossed to see the return of Donald Trump in White House in 2021, for another four years.
They know Trump won’t be able to do exactly what he says, but they like his sentiment – all summed up in his blood and thunder. In his campaign slogan ‘Make America Great Again,’ they see a true White American who can check the rapid ‘browning’ of America.
Inaccuracy of national polls
National polls definitely show the popularity of a candidate across the country as a whole, but cannot correctly predict the result of the election. This exactly happened in 2016 when Hillary lost the election despite leading in national polls.
But then FiveThirtyEight, a website named from the number of electors in the United States Electoral College that focuses on opinion poll analysis, predicts that Joe Biden has a 71 per cent chance of beating Donald Trump in the race for the White House.
No doubt Biden has tremendous appeal for settlers when he promises to reverse Trump policies that separate parents from their children at the US-Mexican border, rescind limits on the number of applications for asylum, end the bans on travel from several majority-Muslim countries and protect the “Dreamers” – people brought illegally to the US as children who were permitted to stay under an Obama-era policy – as well as ensure they are eligible for federal student aid. But then the fact remains that such promises have no appeal for Whites.
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What is Trumpism?
In fact, Trumpism is a collection of characteristics and attitudes, some of which have long been present in White dominated American society that actually Trump himself did not create.
Erika Lee, Director of the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota in his book ‘America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States’ warns that an irrational fear, hatred, and hostility toward immigrants have been a defining feature of our nation from the colonial era to the Trump era. Today, Americans fear Muslims, Latinos, and the so-called browning of America.
He also explains how xenophobia works, why it has endured, and how it threatens America. It is a necessary corrective and spur to action for any concerned citizen. But then America for Americans still remains a pretty much attractive slogan for the Whites and they believe that Trump can stop browning of America.
To win the support of the influential elites and business community Trump’s master stroke is his tax reform plan signed into law in December 2017, which, very much like Reaganomics, included substantial tax cuts for higher income taxpayers and corporations.
This approach is inspired by the supply-side economist Arthur Laffer’s Curve which states that if tax rates are increased above a certain level, then tax revenues can actually fall because higher tax rates discourage people from working. The importance of the theory is that it provides an economic justification for the politically popular policy of cutting tax rates. Broadly speaking the less you tax rich people, the more money will flow into state coffers.
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Biden’s response to Trump’s ‘American First’ agenda
In response to Trump’s ‘American First’ agenda Biden has come up with ‘Buy American’. He proposed a $400bn increase in government spending on US-made products, in addition to spending $300bn on the research and development of new technologies, including electric vehicles and 5G networks.
“When the federal government spends taxpayers’ money, we should use it to buy American products and support American jobs,” he argues while unfolding his ‘Buy American’ plan. This is definitely an appealing slogan but then White ego believes in the supremacy of the Whites and somebody rightly said, “You get racism crossing the street; it’s in the very fabric of American society.”
A survey on White Americans’ views on racial discrimination carried out after the tragic murder of a 46-year-old black American George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer, sharply divides Democrats and Republicans. While 9 in 10 Democrats say black people are treated less fairly by police, compared with just fewer than 4 in 10 Republicans. This survey proves that the mindset of the Republicans who believe in supremacy of the Whites.
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Biden’s selection of Kamala Harris: Will he get support?
On the other hand here it is pertinent to mention that Biden’s selection of Kamala Harris as his running mate may attract voters of Indian origin only for he may not also get support from Americans of Pakistan origin. Harris, whose father was Jamaican and mother came from India becomes both the first black woman and the first Asian to run on a major party presidential ticket.
Commenting on her selection BBC reported, “Harris’s move from moderate, then to the left and now back, perhaps, to the Biden middle could leave some voters wondering where her core values lie – or if she has any core values at all.”
According to a Pew Research Centre report, “Today, voters who are more certain of their choice in candidate are more likely to expect that their candidate will win the 2020 election. Nearly all strong Trump supporters (97 per cent) expect him to win, compared with 77 per cent of his more moderate supporters. Similarly, among Biden supporters, those who support Biden strongly (93 per cent) are more likely than those who support him moderately (76 per cent) to expect him to win the November election.
But among voters who are more unsure of who they are voting for, those who lean toward voting for Trump (76 per cent ) are more likely than those who lean toward Biden (61 per cent) to expect their candidate to win.”
If the elections were held today, Biden would surely have won. But it’s too early to comment for the result of upset in 2016 election is still fresh in our memories.
Moreover, there are some reasons to think that the election result may turn out to be a major disappointment for the political analysts who are betting on Biden for President Trump is likely to have an advantage in a close election because it’s the Electoral College which elects the president and vice president of the United States.
The writer is an author at Pakistan & Gulf Economist. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.