Versione Italiana – Translation by Paul Rosenberg
The unexpected vote, which may make the difference, can come from a family that is solidly devoted to the cult of Trump, specifically from the wife who, without telling her husband, votes for Kamala Harris and then confides in him that she voted for their polenta-colored darling. In many women’s restrooms, you can find flyers stuck on the paper towel dispenser that read like this: “If your partner is MAGA, it’s completely okay for you to vote for Kamala and tell him you voted for Trump. It wouldn’t be the first time you had to fake something, right?”
In a video released by the Democrats which has infuriated the right, Julia Roberts encourages voters to decide in their own interest alone in the secrecy of the ballot box, “where women still have the right to choose, you can vote however you want, and no one will ever know”.
The surprise that has emerged from the very last part of the electoral race is the significant shift of parts of the female electorate from the conservative camp towards the Democratic candidate, which also seems to be confirmed by the polls in a “red” state like Iowa, where Harris’s overtaking of Trump was fueled by right-wing voters. Kamala already enjoys the support of the majority of the female vote: now the tacit support of many right-wing voters is added.
Beyond any contingent political and geopolitical reasoning about the consequences of the vote, it is confirmed that the prevailing fact of today’s Election Day lies in the emblematic value of a candidate who finds herself representing the rights and dignity of women which has now been called into question, indeed put in danger by a champion of machismo and white supremacy, a shameless spokesperson for the worst misogyny, and leader of a political movement that is sweeping away acquired rights in several states, first and foremost reproductive rights. In ten states there will also be referendums aimed at protecting or restoring the right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. These referendums could contribute to moving precious votes in the swing states from Trump to Harris. In a competition where even a few thousand votes can be decisive, this dynamic could hold bitter surprises in store for Trump.
Among the great variety of novelties, many of them disturbing, that today’s vote presents, the gender challenge has taken on a prominent narrative force, even if the possible election of Kamala Harris would certainly not be unprecedented. Her defeat, however, produced by the election of a character like Trump for the second time, after defeating Hillary Clinton in 2016, would be a wound with profound and lasting consequences for America and for the world.
On the other hand, the election could end without either of these scenarios coming to pass, but rather with a third scenario, a tie that does not assign a majority of the 538 electors to either of the two contenders. This would set a process involving both chambers of Congress in motion, at the end of which Trump would have a greater chance of winning.
This would be a nightmare movie, which could also present itself – should the defeat of Trump be narrow – in the form of a series of disputes and appeals in various states, a situation for which the Trump campaign has equipped itself, setting aside a specific fund of ninety million dollars for post-election legal battles. This challenge has been foretold in the most recent rallies, where the trope of illegitimate votes and various election frauds has been one of the leitmotifs. These have been repeated and amplified by his buddy Elon Musk, with a flurry of posts on his platform X that feed all sorts of conspiratorial theories about the election. The Trump-Musk tandem, which is the de facto presidential ticket, with the support of the recently released from prison Steve Bannon, has in the last hours aimed at an unchecked crescendo of the “strategy of fear” that has characterized the right wing of Make America Great Again since its birth, with the goal of transforming the silent majority into the scared majority. See Musk’s mafia-style warning on X: “If Trump is NOT elected, it will be the last election”, a post that has been viewed 103 million times and reposted 180,000 times. The sinister sound of preparations for an insurrection.
There is no thought of a new attack on Capitol Hill in the style of January 6, 2021. That would be impossible. Biden will remain the White House until January 20. Washington is on alert, and states have prepared meticulous plans to combat possible attempts at insurrection. What is more likely is a series of assaults and attacks on state houses in Republican states where Trump and MAGA protests will be more determined, leading to widespread chaos, more dangerous than a single attack on the heart of the federal capital.
Fear, anger, division, hatred, fake news. Weapons of mass mobilization that will unleash their firepower on today’s Election Day, determining the choice of the new president and the new majorities in the Senate and the House of Representatives. An offensive that will prove to be a winning strategy only if Trump is actually in tune with the prevailing sentiments of the electorate: but is he really? According to Michael Moore, “Trump is toast. The majority of Americans do not want this divisiveness, they don’t want the threat of violence”.
The filmmaker from Flint is optimistic about the outcome of the vote and boasts that he has the pulse of his Michigan, one of the key states in today’s vote. In the past he has been anything but gentle with Democrats and he was right. If he is proven wrong by the results, however, it will be because not even the most sensitive and attentive part of the American democratic world, which he is an expression of, truly understands the today’s real America. And this would make a Donald Trump victory of even more dramatic.
L’articolo The Unexpected Vote proviene da ytali..
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