America deserves better than Trump or Biden – could Ron DeSantis be the answer?
Towards the end of his book “How Democracy Ends”, David Runciman declared that: “American democracy will survive the Presidency of Donald Trump.” That was in 2018, and there was a hint of whistling to keep up the author’s spirits. He might be more relaxed now. Until the midterms, it appeared that Trump had a vice-like grip on the Republican Party: vice being the appropriate word. Up to then, he seemed to be an indispensable election-winner, so a lot of people who did not approve of him concealed their feelings. Now that some bizarre Trumpinista candidates have ensured that the Democrats held on to the Senate while the Republican majority in the House will be lower than it should have been, the mystique has gone.
Ron DeSantis, who had an outstanding victory, is suddenly well-placed. Meanwhile Trump, alarmed by a rival’s progress, has reacted with puerile insults, bawling like an over-tired four-year-old. In response, It should be easy for DeSantis to sound dignified, as long as he remembers the advice given by Governor Arthur Fenstenmaker, a character based on Lyndon B. Johnson in that superb Texan novel, “The Gay Place.” A young politician facing a tough re-election race against a clawing and spitting character from the political gutter asks whether he should reply in kind. “No, son”, says the Governor. “You never want to get into a pissing contest with a polecat.” Governor DeSantis should leave President Polecat to do his worst which, to be fair to him, he always does.
Trump is an awful creature. Although it may be too much to expect every president to be a shining light upon a Hill, the US deserved better than a blow-fly upon a dung-hill. Yet but for Covid, Trump would almost certainly have won a second term. Moreover, if that had happened, and for all his defects of character, he would probably have been a less bad President than Joe Biden. A second-term Trump would not have pumped money into an overheating economy. He would have been more effective on immigration. Above all, although he too was committed to leaving Afghanistan, he might have changed what for a better word must be called his mind. If he had persevered, there would not have been the same humiliating scuttle that led Putin to draw some wrong conclusions.
Like Nixon before him, Trump could have used unpredictability to his advantage. In his case, it would have been genuine. Imagine, well before Ukraine, you are on Putin’s staff in the Kremlin. You identify a piece of low-hanging fruit in Latvia and suggest that Russia snaffles it. Putin asks how Trump would respond. An honest answer would be that we do not know. He might say: “Where the f***’s Latvia and why should I care?” Or it might be: “Hey: remember that Latvian chick in the last Miss World? That was one nice piece of ass. Tell them to send her as Ambassador?” Or, finally: “How dare they. Bring me the nuclear codes.” (One hopes that such an order would not have been obeyed.)
But unpredictability is hardly a sufficient qualification for the White House. America deserves better: much better. The thought of Biden or Trump as master of the ultimate deterrent freezes the blood. To find Biden tolerable, you have to sentimentalise senescence. Trump gives sleaze a bad name. Meanwhile America is more divided than it has been since the Civil War. It is still a strong and wealthy nation, yet in the midst of power and prosperity, Americans may also be more discontented than they have ever been. The Great Republic urgently needs a president who can deploy two slogans to make Americans feel good about themselves and their country. The first is E Pluribus Unum. The second, an equivalent of Roosevelt’s “We have nothing to fear except fear itself.”
It is never easy to identify a successful American presidential candidate two years out, but the world is now scrutinising DeSantis. It almost seems as if the presidency is already his to lose. Let us hope that he emerges as a unifier.
As for the Democrats, they have two problems. First, almost everyone else can see that it would be absurd for Joe Biden to run again, yet the President himself seems to differ. Could he be displaced? Second, if he has to leave office early, Kamala Harris becomes President – and an absolute electoral liability. So could a black woman be sacked from the ticket? Seems unlikely. A lot of Democrats are now relieved and rejoicing. They had better enjoy it while it lasts. Equal numbers of Republicans are now wallowing in vexation. But if they can fix a boot firmly on Trump’s throat, their prospects for 2024 look encouraging.
Even if David Runciman’s title is excessively alarmist, democracy is not in an heroic phase. We live where motley is worn. But somehow, it stumbles on. In bad times as in good, Winston Churchill remains its most persuasive theorist: “Democracy is the worst system of government – except for all the others.”
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