America lost — Joe Biden won, but his country didn’t.
Joe Biden won the presidency, and people can take comfort in that — or so you would think.
After Trump’s surprising upset in 2016, the Democratic party, its supporters and voters who were repelled by their President did everything they could to win in 2020.
They took back the House of Representatives in the 2018 midterm election, nominated an inoffensive moderate as the party’s nominee, and helped by the President’s astonishing incompetence in handling the coronavirus pandemic, led virtually in every poll in the so called swing states — states that decide the election — by a comfortable margin.
Yet, when the ballots were tabulated, it became clear that it had been mirage. Not only most Democratic Senatorial candidates in competitive states lost, Trump proved that polls were wrong again, over performing polls in virtually every swing state.
He carried Florida, a crucial battleground state by more than 3 points — much larger than his 1.2 point victory margin in 2016. Biden campaigned in Ohio and his Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris campaigned in Texas — both States were considered out of reach before, but polls suggested them to be competitive. They went for Trump by more than 5 points each.
Instead of a landslide, Biden squeaked out by carrying crucial battleground states in the Midwest such as Wisconsin and Pennsylvania by less than a point.
This election has defied every expectation. Despite his erratic behavior and astonishing incompetence which has cost the lives of more than 240,000 Americans, Mr. Trump received a bigger share of the vote than he did 4 years ago.
He made gains among Hispanic voters — the group of voters he demonized as criminals — and strengthened his grip on white working class voters in rural areas.
How did he gain more support? To answer this question, we need to identify what kind of politician he is.
Donald Trump, on surface, is a flamboyant political figure. He constantly posts unusual tweets, watches cable TV at 5 a.m. and calls himself a “stable genius.” But under the clownish appearance, he is something much sinister.
Mr. Trump is an authoritarian politician. He is, in some ways, comparable to famous authoritarians in history such as Benito Mussolini and Adolfo Hitler, but perhaps more so to authoritarians of our time like Victor Orban of Hungary and Recep Tyyip Erdogan of Turkey.
He has demonized ethnic minorities calling Mexicans “rapists” and expressing his wish to ban “Muslims from entering the United States.” This kind of dehumanization of ethnic minorities is a very common trait of an authoritarian politician.
He has spent 4 years trying to undermine democracy from baselessly accusing “3 million illegal immigrants” of voting illegally to refusing to accept his defeat.
He tried to pressure a foreign government to intervene in the election to damage his opponent, which he was impeached for, but acquitted by the Senate Republicans.
He fired career government officials for not pledging their “personal loyalty,” pardoned his political ally who was convicted of a felony, and called for arrest of his political enemies.
These are all behaviors of an authoritarian politician, not a president of a democratic nation. His behaviors are more in line with Nicolas Maduro’s than with Emmanuel Macron’s.
Does this mean America is indistinguishable to Venezuela? No. The United States has much stronger institutions than the ones in Venezuela. But the past 4 years proved that the institutions aren’t strong enough when the executive branch is run by an authoritarian and one of the two major parties actively assist that President from the legislative branch.
The Republican party has not only turned a blind eye, but actively assisted its leader in the White House. Trump has been buoyed by his appointees like Attorney General William Barr and Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Chad Wolf, as well as elected representatives such as Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell.
The endorsement from the elected Republicans like Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, Senator Ted Cruz, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are helping Trump’s effort to undermine the results of the election indicates that authoritarianism isn’t just about Mr. Trump, but it’s about the Republican party.
The Republican party has failed to win the popular vote in 7 of the last 8 Presidential elections. Since Bill Clinton’s victory in 1992, only one Republican, George W. Bush, won the popular vote when he was re-elected in 2004.
Likewise in Congress, the party has failed to capture the popular vote. The rural bias of the Senate has enabled the party to keep its grip in the Senate despite receiving fewer votes than the opposition party.
The systematic advantage of the electoral system in favor of the Republican party, naturally moved the party to govern without receiving the majority fo the vote through means such as gerrymandering and rejecting statehood of Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico.
Donald J. Trump failed to win the election despite the electoral college advantage in his favor, but the Republican party’s strong performance in competitive Senate races has all but handed the party the chamber.
Joseph R. Biden will be walking into a hostile political environment with the Senate Republicans having little incentive to give him any wins. If Mr. Biden, who is 78, fails to steer the country to the right course, the Republican party will be in a favorable position to win back the White House.
Mr. Trump’s strong support with the Republican base all but ensures that whoever succeeds him will need his blessings and some Republicans are already trying to position themselves to be the successor.
The next authoritarian in America will likely be more competent and more effective than the one America had. Will American voters be able to reject him? There’s little reason to think they will.
