By now you’re likely to be blue in the face reading about the US presidential election result but hopefully, you won’t mind if I offer a few thoughts on what has been the most extraordinary election campaign in recent years. I was having dinner recently with nine people and we went round the table to see who everyone thought would win. Five plumped for Harris, five for Trump.
The remarkable thing was the group split along gender lines, with all the men saying Trump would win while the women backed Harris. I should add that all the men said they hoped the vice president would win, but their gut suggested otherwise. I’m not sure what sociologists would make of that but either way, the world woke early on Wednesday morning to the news that, despite the predictions of a close call, Trump had run away with the prize, winning the popular vote to top it all.
Court appearances, talk of eating dogs and ‘the late, great Hannibal Lecter’ and his penchant for camp retro pop (YMCA on a loop) make him the most unlikely holder of the office – and yet he became the second man in history to lose the office, only to gain it again. People have been trying to figure it all out. Is America afraid of electing a woman? Or was Harris a poor candidate with a weak message? Maybe Biden should’ve stepped down after his first term or earlier in his second? Are celebrity endorsements a negative for most working people who see rich and beautiful people as beyond aspiration? Did voters see mor.
