Key Highlights

• Biden Presented to the American People as the antithesis to Combative Trumpism – and emerged the victor
• Joe Biden ran a relaxed and sturdy campaign in glaring contrast to the Trump
• Joe Biden had characterized his campaign for the White House as a “battle for the soul of the nation” against Donald Trump, a president he said threatened the very foundation of American democracy.
• He was not a rising star, a barrier breaker, or an anti-establishment outsider. Nor was he pledging to shake up Washington or lead a political revolution. But Biden knew why he was running.
• Biden offered America a timeout, a cooling-off period to reset after four dizzying years of bare-knuckled Trumpism.

The 2020 United States presidential elections were the 59^th quadrennial presidential election which was held on Tuesday, November 3^rd, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and U.S senator from California Kamala Harris defeated the Republican ticket of incumbent President Donald Trump and vice president Mike Pence. This was the first elections since 1992 in which an incumbent president failed to win re-election to a second term. Biden received more than 75 million votes, the most votes ever cast for a presidential candidate in American elections, beating Barack Obama's record of 69.5 million votes from 2008 as well as Donald Trump in 2016.

Joe Biden had characterized his campaign for the White House as a “battle for the soul of the the nation” against Donald Trump, a president he said threatened the very foundation of American democracy.

Now, four years after Americans elected a real estate developer-turned reality TV star with no political experience, they have elected a former US senator and vice-president with nearly 50 years of political experience.

Democrats agonized and strategized over how to beat a candidate as unconventional and unpredictable as Trump. The answer, Biden showed, was a completely conventional and predictable campaign.

Democrat Presidential Candidate waves to his supporters at a campaign rally in Atlanta, Georgia (Photo Courtesy)

The central issue of the election included the public health and economic impact of the ongoing covid-19 pandemic that has killed more than 227,000 Americans, economic turmoil, civil unrest in reaction to the police killing of George Floyd and others, the death of supreme court justice, a briefly hospitalized president – the race remained remarkably stable towards the end, and polling correctly predicted a Biden victory, though by a narrower margin than anticipated.

He was not a rising star, a barrier breaker, or an anti-establishment outsider. Nor was he pledging to shake up Washington or lead a political revolution. But Biden knew why he was running.

“Look, I am running because Trump is the president and I think our democracy is at stake, for real,” Biden told reporters in July. “And what seems to be the case is many Americans – those who don’t like me and those who do – view me as the antithesis of Trump and I believe that I am.”

Despite Biden securing the Democratic nomination over his closest rival, Senator Bernie Sanders in a competitive primary that featured the largest field of presidential candidates for any political party in the modern era of American politics.

Biden maintained a relatively low profile, a slow and steady approach meant to demonstrate that he was a serious, sober leader who listened to the “docs” and followed the science. He operated a mostly digital campaign before eventually returning to the physical trail.

The election saw a record number of ballots cast early and by mail, due to many states relaxing restrictions on mail-in voting in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of a large number of mail-in ballots, some swing states saw delays in counting and reporting, leading to major news outlets not projecting a winner as earlier anticipated. Careful not to repeat the mistakes of 2016, Biden lavished attention on the trio of rust belt states that swung for Trump in 2016: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. But he also seized opportunities to expand the electoral landscape, winning a remarkable upset in the Republican bastion of Arizona.

But even as Democratic enthusiasm propelled a wave of early voting and his opponent barnstormed the swing states with big rallies that flouted public health guidelines, Biden stayed the course. He continued to hold small events with few guests and a contingent of reporters.

Trump relentlessly mocked this strategy, accusing Biden of dwelling in his basement after waving “a white flag on life”. Asked about the remark, Biden called his opponent “pathetic”.

Many Democrats feared that a lack of enthusiasm would imperil Biden’s candidacy. According to an October Pew poll, 63% of Biden supporters said their choice was more a vote against Trump than for Biden. In contrast, 71% of Trump supporters said they were voting for the president.

But his supporters were already motivated. Pent-up anger that was built throughout Trump’s presidency – from the Women’s March to the #MeToo movement and the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests – crested on election night. A coalition of young people, voters of color, and white suburban women aligned to seal Trump’s fate.

Biden courted Republicans and moderates and won the support of the Ohio governor and former presidential candidate John Kasich, former Arizona senator Jeff Flake and Cindy McCain, the widow of the Arizona senator John McCain. He assailed Trump for governing only for his base of loyalists and to be “an American president”.

Biden offered America a timeout, a cooling-off period to reset after four dizzying years of bare-knuckled Trumpism.

That was Barack Obama’s pitch when he returned to the campaign trail last month on behalf of his former vice-president. Obama imagined a future when voters didn’t have to think about the president’s latest tweet or insult. They wouldn’t have to think about the president at all.

“With Joe and Kamala at the helm, you’re not going to have to think about the crazy things they said every day,” Obama said. “And that’s worth a lot.”

(Author) Victor Otieno Onyango

NEWA/003

BOM Teacher at Isibania Boys High School