I woke up this morning to this headline: “BIDEN WINS.” He had managed to rally up to 284 electoral votes this early morning, crossing the Rubicon threshold of 270 to win.
He also (thus far) won the popular vote with more than 74.8 million as compared to Trump at 70.6m, in a record turnout of 160 million.
But rubicon, why? Because Biden will be the most watched elected leader of the Free World after inheriting a bitterly divided country, one plagued with a global pandemic that has taken more than 220,000 lives and 9m infected, and an economy completely embattled.
Biden said: “In the face of unprecedented obstacles, a record number of Americans voted. Proving once again, that democracy beats deep in the heart of America.”
So, once he crosses that line, his presidential battles are all cut out for him. It is an irrevocable decision with the burden of a nation on his aged shoulders.
Mind you, at 78 (in two weeks), middle class Joe will be America’s 46th president. The oldest in US history. But why stop there, right? Historic also for this newly elected leader is his feisty co-pilot Kamala Harris. She will be his vice president. That’s a historical first too - a lady vice.
What’s more, she’s not white. That’s another first, that is, America’s first African-American vice president. Kamala is also the first person of South Asian descent to hold the second highest office in the US. That’s a lot of shared firsts between Joe and Harris.
And I will not be surprised that, should the Biden’s presidency lasts only a term due to his age, you can then expect Harris Kamala to make history again by becoming the First African American Female President.
Here is what Harris tweeted: “This election is about so much more than Joe Biden or me. It’s about the soul of America and our willingness to fight for it. We have a lot of work ahead of us. Let’s get started.”
Well, this is however a bad start (or end) for the incumbent Trump, who was playing golf when he heard the news. But, not surprisingly, Trump is not taking this lying or sitting down. With a belly bloated with lots of huffs and puffs, Trump is going to blow the White House away from team Biden-Kamala.
He has repeatedly told his ardent supporters about this subversive plan. Bottomline is this: if he wins, it is legal. If he loses, it is not. That strategy is undoubtedly a win-win for him, and with that, he is taking the alleged election fraud all the way up to the Supreme Court, hoping that justices Neil, Brett and Amy will be considering his earnest plea favourably.
So, after all’s said and written, it has been a hell of a ride for the Americans the past four confounding years. And you won’t be faulted should you ask yourself this, “Where have all of it gone to?”
In any event, Trump will be Trump, and to give credit where credit is due, he did reshape the judiciary, reform the criminal justice system and the tax code, and create jobs before Covid, amongst other things.
But now, as the American people enters a new Biden-Kamala season, a saner season (if I may say it), I pray for healing for a broken nation, torn by racial, social and political divisions.
Honestly, I do not see any point today in casting any moral judgment on Trump. He is what he is, but democracy has nevertheless made her stand loud and clear. In other words, the people have chosen, and the majority have spoken. It is therefore time to move on, march forward and close the gap. It is time to be peacemakers, not warmongers. It is also time to heal wounds, not open them.
And I know Trump will not go quietly into the night - recall he is who he is? He will no doubt stand defiant, making all kinds of allegations against the democratic process, and against the will and resolve of the majority. But that is to be expected. That is just a part and parcel of the democratic process too, which had its start in the 2016 victory and ended in today’s defeat.
Team Biden-Harris will just have to deal with it, on top of managing a largely jaded and weakened nation. No doubt the remnants of Trumpism will still echo in the chambers of the White House. It comes as a lurking shadow reminding Biden and Harris that there will over time be backlashes (that is, a redux Trump-like victory in 2024 or thereafter) should they take the privilege of power accorded by the electoral vote for granted by neglecting the poor in favour of the rich and powerful.
Let me end with the president elect.
Joe Biden first entered into the political fray in 1972, at only 29. But, “one month later, tragedy struck: His wife Neilia and their one-year-old daughter Naomi were killed in a car crash as they were out Christmas shopping.”
“Mr Biden’s two sons were severely injured but survived, only for the eldest, Beau, to succumb to cancer four decades later, in 2015.”
The current President-elect is one who is diametrically different from his incumbent. While Trump is born with a golden spoon in his mouth, Biden came from middle class. While Trump inherited a fortune, Biden made do with what he had, building from scratch.
While Trump had close to zero political experience, Biden had more than forty years of experience. And while Trump lived in unimaginable luxury, building and bankrupting businesses and defrauding students attending his university, Biden still grieves over the loss of loved ones, the most recent being his own son, Beau.
The differences between them is indeed stark. And I would like to think that one of them leads from the heart, humbled by the many soul-searching circumstances he had to confront, and the other leads from the heap of wealth and self-adulated intellect he stood upon and couldn’t stop boasting about.
At this point, I am reminded of what Harry Truman once said and I call it the Truman’s humility test. Here is the test.
“The President hears a hundred voices telling him that he is the greatest man in the world. He must listen carefully indeed to hear the one voice that tells him he is not.”
For Trump, there is no doubt in his mind that he is the greatest president in American history, save maybe for Abraham Lincoln. The voices he chose to hear had effectively drown out the one voice he needed to hear.
But for Biden, his background compels him to always listen to the voice that matters most, and that is the voice of humility. For me, that is the pivotal hallmark of a true leader; for a leader is always a servant to and for his people, and a shepherd to and for his sheep.
As such, he is defined by his humility, and that is what ultimately makes him great. He is therefore not defined by self-perceived greatness, which makes him delusional and complacent.
And if the character of a nation depends on the character of her leader, then with Biden, I foresee not just the experience of political office he will bring to the White House, but also the experience of a broken and contrite spirit, one that can more deeply and enduringly relate to, touch and heal the broken soul of a nation.
Thank you democracy, you are back!
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