THE VIEW FROM RIZAL
The United States is currently holding its elections for the next President and Vice President of the world’s most powerful country. The electoral process, which began with early voting a few weeks ago, will culminate just barely a week from now. Next week, on Nov. 5 (Nov. 6 in the Philippines), the counting of the votes will begin and the rest of the world will watch with bated breath as results come in. Election experts and observers say this is one of – if not “the” – closest contest for the highest elective post in the US.
There are two main reasons why this particular US election has caught the world’s attention.
First, it could mark one of the most remarkable political comebacks in US political history – that is, if former president and Republican Party presidential candidate Donald Trump wins the election.
Second, it could mark a historic moment in US political history when the proverbial glass ceiling could finally be broken and Americans might elect the first-ever woman President of the United States (POTUS) – that is, if Vice President Kamala Harris, the candidate of the Democratic Party, wins the required 270 votes from the US electoral college.
Based on polls and voter surveys, American media have consistently reported that the election could go either way. It is a “dead heat,” pollsters say. Neither candidate has registered a lead beyond the so-called margin of error. According to them, this is one election that will not be over “until the very last vote is counted.”
If the former US president wins, that would be one truly remarkable political comeback. It can be recalled that Trump lost the 2019 elections, an exercise that was followed by one of the most tumultuous chapters in the history of American democracy – the siege of the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2020.
He has since then faced a host of legal suits, both related and unrelated to the incident at the US Capitol. He had been fingerprinted and had his mug shot taken. He has had to attend courtroom trials. It has baffled many observers how the former US President has continued to hold on to the loyalty of a large base of voters despite the negative publicity he has received during the past three-and-a-half years.
If the US Vice President wins, she will be making extraordinary history.
She would be ending the 182-year-old aspiration of American women to be elected POTUS. The journey began in 1847 when activist Lydia Maria Child received one vote in the convention of the Liberty Party.
Vice President Harris would also be the first woman of color to become POTUS. Only few women of color had dared to achieve this feat – Charlene Mitchell, the nominee of the US Communist Party in the 1968 elections won by the late Richard Nixon.
Another woman of color attempted to achieve the same feat in the 1972 elections – the late US Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, whose heroic effort to break the glass ceiling was made into a Netflix movie.
We recall that the closest to breaking the glass ceiling in US politics was former State Secretary and First Lady Hillary Clinton. She was officially the first-ever woman to be on the ballot in all US states. We all know, of course, that she lost the electoral college vote to Trump even if she had won the national vote.
Will Vice President Harris be the first woman and the first woman of color to be POTUS?
Whoever wins the US presidential elections next week, we wish the victor all the best and pray for his or her unqualified success in the fulfillment of the role of the powerful office of POTUS.
While the rest of the world can only watch this historical event from a distance, we feel that we all have a stake in the result of this election. The US plays – and continues to play – a vital role in geopolitics. The policies that will emanate from the next occupant of the Oval Office will have a significant impact on the unfolding events in various parts of the world.
The 2024 US presidential elections are taking place at a time when the situation in the Middle East is threatening to escalate, when there is much tension in Southeast Asia due to territorial issues hounding the region’s international waters, and, when the war in Ukraine appears to be far from a peaceful resolution.
We join the hope that the next US President will be able to use the vast power and influence of that office to inspire the leaders of the world to return their swords to their sheaths. Lasting, meaningful, and just peace remains our most important aspiration. The next POTUS can do much to help bring that about.
We wish our friends in the US all the best as they undertake this important democratic exercise.
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We wish to greet Iglesia ni Cristo’s Executive Minister Ka Eduardo V. Manalo as he celebrates his birthday tomorrow. We continue to pray for your good health and God’s continuous blessing as you lead our brethren in the country and around the globe.
(The author is the mayor of Antipolo City, former Rizal governor, DENR assistant secretary and LLDA general manager. Email: [email protected])