As with most American general election campaigns, this year’s race for the White House has been long and tough. These contests always take the form of a game of snakes and ladders. One moment you think your side is going to win; the next, despair beckons. As the contest enters its final weeks, it is worth reflecting on the recent past and considering what the future might look like.
It was obvious to everybody except, seemingly, the Democratic Party and America’s liberal media establishment that Joe Biden was unfit to stand again. Years of disastrous foreign policy decisions, a rapidly growing debt mountain and the invasion of 10 million illegal migrants over the southern border have been clear for all to see. That The New York Times and CNN ignored his many failures is tantamount to a cover-up in the most powerful nation on earth — an astonishing idea.
It was in the face of this weakness that Donald Trump decided, for the first time in US electoral history, to accept a summer presidential debate. I am the first to say this was a mistake. Biden did so badly that he was driven out of the contest. Trump took a long time to adjust to that fact.
Kamala Harris enjoyed a brief political honeymoon when she was officially declared as Biden’s successor in August. Media approval of her scripted speeches was high and polls suggested a bounce in her favour. At some point, though, reality was always going to bite. The scrutiny she has endured in recent days at the hands of Bill Whitaker on NBC’s all-important 60 Minutes programme is a case in point. Her performance was abysmal.
Denne historien er fra October 17, 2024-utgaven av The London Standard.
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Denne historien er fra October 17, 2024-utgaven av The London Standard.
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