The race to win the White House this November has come down to two old, White men. Not a perfect match

So Bernie Sander’s second shot at a political revolution was stillborn yet again. Some may blame the Democratic Party’s establishment for sidelining him, others will point to the fact that Sanders was backed by polarising figures such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, the two rookie members of the US Congress, whose views are considered an anathema to “middle” America, a very important vote-bank which propelled President Donald Trump to power. However, Joe Biden, the winner of the race to stand against Trump, the 45th President of the US, may not be the best candidate. Sure, he will have the backing of former President Barack Obama, the man under whom Biden served as Vice President, and the entire Democratic Party establishment as well as much of the celebrity and media world, who are desperate to see the back of Trump. But say what you will about Trump and the Republican Party, the ground game that “team Trump” has is tremendous as is his ability to focus the media narrative on himself.

The fact is that the longer Trump stays in power, the more focussed his voters become on keeping him there. He is a lightning rod for many media issues and say what you will about his often mindless foreign policy and his verbal gaffes, Trump always has had a point about the duplicitous nature of the Chinese dragon, which is now on full show during the Coronavirus crisis. The fact is also that strangely for a Republican President, he has never had to actually resort to huge acts of American military aggression. Indeed, he has been less trigger happy than his predecessor, the aforementioned Obama. Defeating Trump will take a sharp focus and gritty determination. And Biden, who is actually older than Trump, despite his five decades of public life, might not have what it takes to beat Trump. However, even a day is a long time in politics and the American response to the Coronavirus crisis might help either side much more than they expect.  And then there is the American Presidential election system, flawed but fair at the same time, giving some smaller States an outsize responsibility in choosing the winner and discarding larger ones completely. Voting is not at all easy for some minorities across the US; some States have actually made it harder. And if Bernie Sanders supporters or “Bros,” as they were pejoratively known, don’t come to the polls this time as they did in the last election, things will definitely not be all that great for Biden.

(Courtesy: The Pioneer)

The race to win the White House this November has come down to two old, White men. Not a perfect match

So Bernie Sander’s second shot at a political revolution was stillborn yet again. Some may blame the Democratic Party’s establishment for sidelining him, others will point to the fact that Sanders was backed by polarising figures such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, the two rookie members of the US Congress, whose views are considered an anathema to “middle” America, a very important vote-bank which propelled President Donald Trump to power. However, Joe Biden, the winner of the race to stand against Trump, the 45th President of the US, may not be the best candidate. Sure, he will have the backing of former President Barack Obama, the man under whom Biden served as Vice President, and the entire Democratic Party establishment as well as much of the celebrity and media world, who are desperate to see the back of Trump. But say what you will about Trump and the Republican Party, the ground game that “team Trump” has is tremendous as is his ability to focus the media narrative on himself.

The fact is that the longer Trump stays in power, the more focussed his voters become on keeping him there. He is a lightning rod for many media issues and say what you will about his often mindless foreign policy and his verbal gaffes, Trump always has had a point about the duplicitous nature of the Chinese dragon, which is now on full show during the Coronavirus crisis. The fact is also that strangely for a Republican President, he has never had to actually resort to huge acts of American military aggression. Indeed, he has been less trigger happy than his predecessor, the aforementioned Obama. Defeating Trump will take a sharp focus and gritty determination. And Biden, who is actually older than Trump, despite his five decades of public life, might not have what it takes to beat Trump. However, even a day is a long time in politics and the American response to the Coronavirus crisis might help either side much more than they expect.  And then there is the American Presidential election system, flawed but fair at the same time, giving some smaller States an outsize responsibility in choosing the winner and discarding larger ones completely. Voting is not at all easy for some minorities across the US; some States have actually made it harder. And if Bernie Sanders supporters or “Bros,” as they were pejoratively known, don’t come to the polls this time as they did in the last election, things will definitely not be all that great for Biden.

(Courtesy: The Pioneer)