A vision of light over darkness

Donald Trump was brimming with confidence as he accepted the Republican Party’s nomination for four more years in the White House. In 2016 he was the rank outsider against Hillary Clinton, the populist insurgent hellbent on overturning political convention and “draining the swamp” in Washington. Two weeks from voting day, opinion polls gave Mrs Clinton a seemingly unbeatable 12-point lead. Yet it was Mr Trump who triumphed. If his supporters are nervous about the 7.1-point RealClearPolitics average lead that Democrat challenger Joe Biden had ahead of this week’s virtual Republican convention (down from 9.3 points a month ago), they will have been reassured by Mr Trump’s determination to fight and win again against the odds.

Disenchantment is widespread. His struggling re-election campaign needed a strong acceptance speech. He delivered it against the spectacular setting of an illuminated White House. His case was based on the fact he has kept his promises and on portraying Mr Biden as a 77-year-old dotard “Trojan horse” of the socialist left. Mr Trump laid the groundwork for a searing battle between now and November 3 that will go to the heart of the enormous ills besetting the US, but also to the nation’s strengths. He hammered the argument that he is best placed to revive the US economy post-COVID, that he is the guardian of Americans’ way of life, including the right to carry guns, religious freedom and tough border security. He underlined his pro-life record, his appointment of more than 300 conservative judges, law-and-order policies, his good record in the Middle East and his unrelenting America First policy internationally.

There is much to criticise about his often disruptive first term. The unflattering character reference by his sister last week shows the antagonism he arouses among even some closest to him. But the election will be a referendum on his record, including his ill-fated handling of the pandemic. The deaths of 180,000 Americans from COVID-19 could weigh on the result. To some extent the outcome will depend on which candidate and which party can persuade voters it has the best plan to deal with the pandemic and lead the US to a sustained post-COVID expansion and a return to rebuilding what Mr Trump insists was the “greatest economy in history” before it was poleaxed by the Chinese virus. As the President said, there are strong signs of recovery. Millions of jobs were created in May and June, the stockmarket is soaring.

Violence in US cities will also be a potent issue, no less important than the fight against COVID-19. Mr Trump’s determination to ensure law and order in mostly Democrat-controlled cities targeted by Black Lives Matter protesters will win significant support. Mr Biden emphasised the issue of racism but said little about law and order in his acceptance speech a week ago. Mr Trump’s attacks on Mr Biden over China — “Biden’s agenda is Made in China, mine is Made in the USA” — could also draw waverers out to vote. The contrast between Mr Trump’s vision of a promising future for the US and Mr Biden’s of a nation in deep trouble is stark. Mr Trump accepted his nomination “with a heart full of gratitude and boundless optimism”, pleading “a new spirit of unity’’ that could be realised only “through love of our great country”. At no time, as he said, have voters faced a clearer choice between two visions, two philosophies or two agendas: “At the Democrat National Convention, Joe Biden and his party repeatedly assailed America as a land of racial, economic and social injustice. I ask you a simple question: how can the Democrat Party ask to lead our country when it spends so much time tearing down our country … they see a wicked nation that must be punished for its sins.” America, he said, “is not a land cloaked in darkness”, in a reference to Mr Biden’s claim that the US was in “a season of darkness”. Mr Trump’s challenge now is to convince voters that despite the tumult of the past four years, his agenda will be better for his nation than that of Mr Biden and his allies on the Democratic Party’s left.