The US election will be a tipping point for democracy.
The next few days will test whether the vision of the revolutionary generation of American patriots will prevail or be extinguished.
Donald Trump’s refusal to accept election results, filing lawsuits to stop votes being counted, alleging ballot fraud, encouraging protesters to intimidate election officials and falsely claiming victory are not just the threats of flailing candidate. They are a last-ditch attempt to thwart the will of the people.
Joe Biden is on the cusp of claiming the presidency in a remarkable election victory.
Biden has achieved more votes than any other presidential candidate in American history.
The former vice-president’s margin over Trump is about four million votes, and could be as large as five or seven million. This is an extraordinary result.
The rustbelt states of Michigan and Wisconsin have voted for Biden by larger margins than Trump won them four years ago. Biden could also win Pennsylvania, where he has reduced Trump’s margin. He has picked up the sunbelt state of Arizona, will likely hold Nevada and could win in Georgia. This would represent a rewriting of the electoral map for Democrats.
While the US remains bitterly divided into red and blue tribes, and bringing the country together will be an enormous challenge, the more immediate threat is the maintenance of democracy and a peaceful transfer of power.
Trump is doing what he said he would do. He declared the election “rigged” and threatened to challenge the result. This is Trump the authoritarian refusing to accept the voters’ verdict.
It plunges the US into uncharted waters. No other president has ever acted so recklessly or petulantly before.
The suggestion that votes should not be counted is anathema to anybody who values free and fair elections. The US has always counted votes after election day, as we do in Australia. There is no credible evidence of ballot fraud. Trump’s efforts to stop votes being counted are particularly despicable.
The founding generation, as I have written, would not be surprised that a demagogue was elected president but they would be appalled by Trump’s autocratic instincts. George Washington led a revolutionary army to victory so that Americans could be free to choose their own government. Trump is challenging this democratic value.
The Enlightenment generation, though flawed, cherished the electoral process and always accepted the outcome. Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison fought politics as tough as anybody today but they upheld the democratic values of the republic they created.
The transfer of power is a sacred American tradition. Trump did not wait until the votes were counted or certified before claiming victory. Biden, in contrast, said all votes must be counted but he was confident of winning.
The best result for American democracy is that Biden wins more states than he needs to reach 270 electoral college votes and therefore Trump’s legal challenges will not matter. Democracy is on the ballot. We should all hope that it prevails.
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