By: Dr. Metod Berlec
We have just witnessed an extremely important U.S. presidential election. Contrary to public opinion polls, which showed a tight race between the Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, the latter won decisively. The newly elected President of the United States, Donald Trump, not only won in traditionally Republican states but also in all seven of the swing states, such as Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. In total, he received 312 electoral votes, while Harris received 226 electoral votes.
Let us remember, in the U.S., the president is elected indirectly through the Electoral College. Voters in each state and in the District of Columbia (the capital, Washington) vote in general elections for electors who will be authorised to participate in the presidential election. The second article of the U.S. Constitution stipulates how many electors each state can have. The Electoral College is a form of indirect election, in contrast to the direct elections used to elect members of the U.S. Congress. Since 1964, there have been 538 electors in all presidential elections. Every four years, the candidate who wins most of the Electoral College votes (270 votes) is elected president; this does not necessarily mean that the candidate who wins most of the popular vote across the country becomes president. In the past, it has often happened that the president of the world’s most powerful country was someone who did not win most of the popular vote but won most of the electoral votes. For example, in 2016, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton received 65,853,625 votes nationwide, while Republican candidate Donald Trump received 62,985,106 votes. However, since Clinton won only 232 electoral votes (20 states plus DC), while Trump won 306 (30 states), the latter was elected. This time, Trump, in addition to winning a large majority of electoral votes, also won most of the popular vote, receiving over 75 million votes, while Harris received almost 72 million votes. The Republicans also won a majority in Congress – both in the Senate and the House of Representatives – which will allow them to govern comfortably.
Of course, the question arises as to why Harris was so decisively defeated and why Trump won so convincingly. Undoubtedly, he was able to listen to the needs, desires, and fears of ordinary people. First and foremost, he promised to increase the prosperity of all citizens, to work in their interest, not the interest of the elites and the Washington establishment, to drain the political “swamp” in Washington, and to destroy the “deep state”. He persistently promised to oppose the globalisation trends that harm ordinary American citizens. In other words, he promised to bring back the jobs that had been lost due to globalisation and moved to Asia. If the legendary American president Ronald Reagan often used the phrase “Let’s make America great again” in his 1980 presidential campaign, Trump effectively approached American voters with a practically identical slogan, “Make America Great Again”, promising a return to the “old glory” or a new “golden age”. These voters felt justified in their belief that the ruling Democratic government was too focused on the world and not enough on domestic issues. Moreover, they were bothered by the dominant media push of the so-called woke ideology. This ideology emphasises alleged racial prejudice and discrimination, which is claimed to be deeply rooted in American society. It also includes ideas from the American left, such as identity politics and social justice, for example, “white privilege and reparations for slavery for African Americans”. Among the most well-known woke movements are the distorted LGBT movement and the racist Black Lives Matter movement. Trump, on the other hand, did not emphasise the interests of various supposedly marginalised minorities but rather the interests of all Americans.
Trump’s victory is also the result of his ability to turn the abuse of the American judiciary and legal system, namely politically motivated court cases against him, into his advantage. He was constantly targeted by liberal and left-wing American media, who demonised and vilified him. He became a victim, a fighter against the “deep state”. This was especially true after he miraculously survived an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania in early July. With the support of successful businessman and billionaire Elon Musk and his X network, he gained an important ally who, like Trump, symbolises the modern American success story. When will we have our own success story? Undoubtedly, it will be when most of the Slovenian electorate wakes up!