If this
election was going to be a contest between Tim Kaine and Mike Pence, we would
be in familiar territory. A centrist Democrat running against a conservative
Republican would make it an unremarkable race between true representatives of
the two parties that have dominated the American electoral landscape now for
more than a century. It would likely cause a low turnout, because passions
around these two candidates would not run very high and it would almost
certainly result in a Democratic victory, because that is where demographics
are steering the outcome of our national elections, all other things being
equal.
It is
enticing to think that this ‘B-Team election’ might still come to pass, even
though it is getting to be late in the day. There are a good number of people
who believe that Donald Trump will abandon the race at some point, before
November 6 if he sees that he cannot win or after November 6, if he gets
elected. The reasoning goes 1) that his candidacy, from day 1, was all about
enhancing the Trump brand and proving to the world that a fraud could actually
win a presidential election in the USA, even though this would undermine his
claim that ‘the system is rigged’; and 2) that he never had the intent to
occupy the White House, but just wanted to get on the cover of every magazine and
monopolize the media for almost two years. I don’t share this opinion, because
I think that he would have picked another, more electable, running mate, if
this had been his intent all along. But we can’t rule it out given all the
other tricks Trump has already pulled in this campaign, his proven disdain for
the GOP and his demonstrated disregard of anyone’s interest other than his own.
John Oliver, the host of HBO’s ‘Last Week Tonight’ show, latched
only half-jokingly on this theme when he explained that dropping out would be
in the best interest of the Trump brand by saving him from the embarrassment of
defeat or being condemned to a government job (and government housing) for the
next four years.
On the other side of the race, the pressure on Hillary
Clinton keeps mounting. The public seems to have already accepted that she is
not trust worthy (not any better than her opponent) and apparently (disturbingly)
that fact alone is not enough to deny her a victory in November. But between
the continuing FBI investigation of her use of private email servers, the
questionable role that the Clinton foundation has played in her service as a
public servant (Senator and Secretary of State) and now rumors about her
health, more and more facts come out that could derail her presidential
ambitions at the last moment.
Given this state of affairs, we can’t completely rule out
that, in the end, the race for the White House would be contended by two
candidates who were never elected in primaries but nominated by their parties’
first choice candidates. And that, in turn, could mean that America will elect
a President who was not vetted in the exhaustive primary process, but simply
put in place by a personal decision from a disqualified contender. That does
not look like a democratic outcome, does it?
But in this case we simply may have to accept an imperfect execution
of the democratic process (who said that democracy is a messy process?) and
here is why.
The country could not have come up with worse first choices
than it has done in this go-around. Conventional wisdom says that we have to
respect the outcome of the political process. That the will of the people, as
expressed in the voting booths, will have to be obeyed. But sometimes we have
to be contrarian because conventional wisdom is hardly ever forward looking and
unequipped to deal with exceptional circumstances.
If we let the A-team have its way, we are going to hand over
the leadership of the Western world to a septuagenarian (over the hill) who,
for good reasons, is mistrusted by more than half of the American population.
If it is Hillary Clinton, we elect someone who has demonstrated to consider herself
above the law, of a privileged caste and entitled to the throne. We get a self-serving
‘First Couple’ in the White House that will have put its personal ambitions
above the interest of the nation. The only reason why Hillary Clinton would
deserve getting votes is to keep Donald Trump out of the White House.
If it is Donald Trump, we elect someone who takes advantage
of the growing number of dispossessed by whipping up the flames of their anger,
hopelessness and frustration. Someone who refuses to do his homework,
disrespects the law, disrespects women, minorities and immigrants and makes us
wonder, at every outburst of campaign rhetoric, about his mental state and
capacity. We would hand over the reins to an unbridled egomaniac who aspires to
nothing else than putting the Trump brand on America’s identity.
Is this an acceptable choice for a time when America’s global
position and reputation is at stake?
I long for decency, normalcy and predictability and will be
rooting for the B-Team.
