Three weeks to unenviable choice

With barely three weeks before polling, John Howard is not alone in believing, as he wrote in Inquirer on Saturday, that neither Kamala Harris nor Donald Trump is “up to the task (of being US president), involving, as it does, leadership of the free world”. No less disenchanted by both candidates is prominent Wall Street Journal columnist Daniel Henninger. He concluded on the weekend that in what is undoubtedly a vital election for the US, and the world it purports to lead, the campaign has “gone flat” and there are two reasons for it having done so – Ms Harris and Mr Trump.

“Kamala Harris is the equivalent of a fireworks display,” Henninger wrote. “One’s first reaction is: Wow, look at that! Then in a blink, it’s gone. Ms Harris always spikes on entry, but never quite delivers.” Of Mr Trump he wrote: “How much Trump can the country take? I’m not talking about the Democratic notion that Mr Trump is a ‘threat to democracy’. The more interesting question is whether the infinitely repeated image of the fellow in the white shirt, red tie, dark suit and blond hair simply has reached saturation with the public … One might have expected that two shocking assassination attempts would have boosted the former president, but it didn’t happen.” With polls in seven swing states virtually neck and neck, the two candidates “have gone flat amid a shaking world”, Henninger wrote: “The disorder in the Middle East and Ukraine should be presidential campaign issues. Neither really is.” That underlines Mr Howard’s point that neither candidate inspires much confidence when it comes to the role of the US as leader of the free world.

It may be, as opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said on the ABC on Sunday, that the Coalition’s position on Israel does not align with that of Ms Harris, who continues to demand a ceasefire despite President Joe Biden expressing support for Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon. No less concerning are Mr Trump’s isolationist views, especially on supporting Ukraine, and his inexplicable liking for Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un. The Middle East crisis and defending Ukraine’s sovereignty demand strong, coherent leadership.

Mr Howard is right when he says Australia’s Westminster system of parliamentary government is “clearly superior to the US presidential system (and) there is no way under a parliamentary system Harris or Trump would have been chosen by their respective parties to square off”. Neither inspires confidence.