US Presidential Election 2024: The 2024 US election stands out globally, not only for its uncommon parts, however for the intense issues it raises. Regardless of who wins, this election might additional harm America’s repute as a democratic chief within the eyes of the world. The 2024 US presidential election is coming to a detailed, with the primary voting day on November 5. It has been stuffed with robust disagreements, conflicts and dramatic occasions. Many fear that America’s democracy—based mostly on ‘Jeffersonian’ concepts about particular person rights and people-powered authorities—might be threatened, relying on the end result. ‘Jeffersonian’ refers back to the beliefs of Thomas Jefferson, one among America’s founding figures. His concepts emphasised the significance of private freedoms and a authorities that represents and serves its individuals, somewhat than rule over them.
The competitors between present Vice-President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump has been seen as fairly tight. Neither candidate has a transparent lead, making the race very shut and unsure. This has made each side uneasy, as the end result might go both approach.
This truth alone reveals a troubling actuality concerning the poor situation of US democracy as we speak. It reveals simply how a lot of a priority the present state of the system actually is. In a well-established democracy, particularly one which calls itself probably the most highly effective on the earth—a candidate like Trump shouldn’t be so near successful given how he has disregarded fundamental requirements of decency and damaged a number of legal guidelines.
Energy Play: A Excessive-Stakes Recreation
Here’s a former president who was impeached by Congress twice, in 2019 and 2021. This yr, he was additionally convicted on 34 felony counts and located liable for sexual abuse in a civil trial. On high of that, he nonetheless faces critical expenses for holding secret authorities paperwork with out permission and for encouraging a mob to assault Capitol Hill. Regardless of all this, he’s near presumably returning to the White Home.
Throughout this time, he survived one assassination try and averted one other.
On the similar time, John F Kelly, his longest-serving chief of employees and a former four-star marine basic, stated that Trump suits the outline of a ‘fascist’. Kelly instructed The New York Instances that the previous president was positively on the far-Proper and was an authoritarian. He brazenly admires dictators, which he has admitted. If a author made up a narrative like this and despatched it to a writer, they might in all probability be laughed at for the way unbelievable it’s. However, because the South Asia Peace Motion Community (Sapan) media factors out, this has truly been actual life in America.
In distinction to the controversy surrounding one candidate, Kamala Harris’s rise has been inspiring and historic. She is the primary girl and the primary with each Indian and Caribbean African heritage, to be nominated by a serious political get together. Nevertheless, her rise to this place was additionally filled with surprising challenges and unlikely occasions. She joined the race within the last stage of the marketing campaign after President Joe Biden, who would often be the plain selection for a second time period, needed to step down as a result of issues about his age affecting his potential to steer.
Unyielding
What makes the 2024 presidential election much more uncommon is the continuing, intense conflict occurring nearly 6,000 miles away within the Center East, involving Israel, Palestine, Lebanon and Iran. The extraordinarily violent Hamas assault on Israel on October 7 final yr, adopted by Israel’s extremely damaging response, has tremendously affected the presidential race.
Harris has had the tough job of balancing America’s robust assist for Israel whereas additionally talking up for the rights of the Palestinian individuals. On the similar time, she has confronted strain from the left-leaning members of the Democratic Social gathering, who need her to assist the Palestinians extra.
Trump, in the meantime, has brazenly supported Israel, whereas additionally attempting to win over Muslim American voters. As Trump has taken a powerful, nearly absolute place in favour of Israel, he has not confronted a lot opposition from inside his Republican Social gathering. That is very completely different from what Harris has needed to deal with.
One other battle affecting the election is the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the place the Biden-Harris Administration has clearly supported Kyiv. Trump, nonetheless, has downplayed the problem, claiming he might remedy the battle in simply in the future—a ridiculous assertion that, surprisingly, nonetheless resonates together with his supporters.
These wars have uncovered the fully reverse overseas coverage views of Trump and Harris, resulting in clear political penalties for each within the election. As a result of the US has been concerned in conflicts all over the world for a few years, individuals in different nations are watching the election intently, feeling each frightened and, in some instances, a bit happy by its struggles.
Individuals are anxious as a result of whoever wins the presidency will impression many nations. However there’s additionally some enjoyment in seeing America laughed at because of the impolite and stunning behaviour seen throughout the marketing campaign. The election outcomes will not be clear on November 6 until one candidate wins by a big margin. Trump, who nonetheless has not admitted his 2020 loss to Biden, and his group are prone to elevate many challenges, even when he loses clearly on this election. If Trump loses by a small margin, the response might be much more intense and, presumably, violent.
The worldwide group, particularly such nations as China and Russia, which took pleasure in America’s election points in 2016, will presumably discover much more satisfaction if issues go mistaken this time. The 2024 US election is particularly a matter of concern for the world due to the numerous unusual and strange occasions surrounding it, irrespective of who wins.
(Girish Linganna is a Defence and Aerospace Analyst based mostly out of Bengaluru. He’s additionally the Director of ADD Engineering Parts, India, Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of ADD Engineering GmbH, Germany. The views expressed on this article are of the writer solely.)
