There are only 48 hours left in this presidential race and the United States is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I only perceive two emotions: excitement and anxiety.
If Donald Trump repeats the surprise of 2016, Democrats will experience a deep collective depression. Conversely, with Joe Biden winning, the same Democrats will also be overwhelmed: Republicans have a knack for leaving a mess behind them. This time, starting with the pandemic, the extent and severity of which Donald Trump persists in minimizing. The weekend started with terrifying numbers: almost 100,000 new cases! More than 20 states have experienced the worst week of new infections since the start of the pandemic and none have seen the situation improve.
However, from one rally of thousands of his supporters to another, the Republican candidate persists in claiming that “the turn has been taken”, that there are only ” fake news “Who are interested in” COVID, COVID, COVID “and that, anyway, there is nothing there:” I got it and look at me! “
A strategy of denial
Faced with the accumulating cases and increasing hospitalizations, it is as if Trump stole the famous replica of Chico Marx in Duck Soup : “Who are you going to believe?” Me or your own eyes! “
If the polls are confirmed and Joe Biden wins the November 3 election, it will be he who will have to heal the wounds behind Donald Trump; he who will have to impose unpopular decisions on the wearing of masks and the need for certain localized reconfigurations; he who will have to demand compliance with measures that his predecessor did not want to adopt, giving free rein to the spread of the coronavirus.
Which brings me back to the election of Barack Obama to the presidency in November 2007: a frankly historic moment with the appearance of a “bad badluck”. The first black president in the history of the United States was dumped by the Republicans of George W. Bush, an economy in ruins, a nation torn apart and a country bloodless by a grueling “war on terror”.
Everything to redo
Love or hate Obama, he got the US economy back on track, even though the locomotive took longer than expected to pick up speed. At the start of his first term, jobs were disappearing by the hundreds of thousands a month.
Economists now recognize that eight years later, Trump inherited a vibrant job market. In other words, it is on the impetus given by Obama that his own economic growth has surfaced. What will the Republican President leave to his successor? Another mess not possible. Beyond controlling the virus, it will likely be years before the US economy returns to its pre-pandemic pace. The tax cuts have mainly benefited the richest. The different levels of government are in debt and short of revenue. Nothing has been done to counter the impact of climate change.
In short, the party is over even before the Democrat takes up residence in the White House. Really, you have to be cracked to want this job!
