Just over five months are left until the elections on November 5 and the election campaign is becoming increasingly tough.
Donald Trump consistently scolds Joe Biden, and the latter practically responds in the same way – both sides do not shy away from the rudeness in their expressions. The essence of the campaign was recently described by the Washington Post newspaper, noting that “the ability of our leaders to translate the will of the people into a reasonable policy looks shaky”. Ordinary Americans do not trust the government: “Congress is historically unpopular, with more than 80% of voters disapproving of its work; for the first time in decades of polling, Americans hold more negative views of the Supreme Court and opinion polls regularly report general dissatisfaction with the choice of president”.
Where’s the US headed?
According to the press, the American consumer is increasingly annoyed by inflation; prices in the US remain very high and inflation has reached 20% since Joe Biden came to power.
The majority of Americans are characterised by pessimistic sentiments. Recent polls show that 59% of respondents consider the country to be in decline and 66% believe that the country needs a strong leader to “yank the country away from the rich and powerful”.
Two major issues divide the American public the most. The first one is the widening inequality gap between rich and poor. The press does not often report about this, but it worries many ordinary people. The rich want to maintain their positions: four American states (Arkansas, Idaho, South Dakota, Iowa) have already passed a law prohibiting local government from adopting basic income programmes, its goal being to ensure a constant level of financial security for all people, regardless of work. Attempts are currently underway to introduce the same ban in the state of Texas.
Racism remains another acute problem. Until now, “only for whites” appears in job advertisements. The Washington Post wrote on May 27 about the ingrained fear that immigrants could change America’s ethnic composition, identity and balance of political power, and this fear “haunts white people in the United States”. According to the last US census, total population is estimated at 335 million people of whom 204 million are categorised as white. All this is happening amidst other escalating problems in America, particularly the proliferation of narcotics. Latest data shows that, for the first time in history, cannabis has overtaken alcohol as a daily drug for Americans.
More and more Americans are dissatisfied with Washington’s policy
Americans are not satisfied with foreign policy either. According to the Pew Research Center, 73% of respondents said that protecting the country from terrorist attacks should be a top priority. Other urgent objectives should be to reduce illegal flows of drug into the United States (64%) and to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (63%). Support for Ukraine is important for 37% of Democrats, and only 12% of Republicans consider it necessary. The attitude towards supporting Israel differs; 39% of Republicans and only 8% of Democrats support it. Most Americans are concerned about the rise in crime in the country. Although the murder rate in most cities has decreased slightly compared to the pandemic period, “crimes against property, carjackings and burglaries are on the rise, which reinforces the sense of lawlessness that is spreading on social networks and on local online forums”.
The recent congress of the Libertarian Party (it received 1% of the vote in the last election) resulted in the election of Chase Oliver as its candidate for president, who actively advocated for stopping US military aid to Ukraine and putting an end to the war between Hamas and Israel. The delegates present rejected both Donald Trump and Robert Kennedy Jr. as their candidates after they each held speeches in front of them.
The mainstream media in America mostly support the Democrats, often attacking Donald Trump and talking in detail about all four of his criminal trials. At the same time, even the New York Times, which is deeply loyal to the current American president, is publishing more and more materials criticising Joe Biden, reproaching him for “failing the Middle East and damaging America’s moral authority”. The May 24 issue of the newspaper noted that Biden’s failure in Gaza “made the United States complicit in the deaths of civilians, including starvation of children. This has undermined our position in Ukraine, has not helped Israel destroy Hamas, return hostages or improve long-term security, and that could reduce Biden’s chances of winning key states like Michigan”.
“Without any clear post-conflict plan for the Gaza Strip or the West Bank, Biden’s Middle East policy is falling apart”.
As Al Jazeera’s website noted on May 25, Israel’s continuing its genocide in the Gaza Strip is pushing American society to its brink. University students are challenging the political establishment on campuses across the country.
It is noteworthy that the activities of the so-called ‘People’s Forum’, which includes members like Neville Singam and his wife, Jody Evans, characterized by the press as millionaire Marxists, are becoming increasingly popular among young people. They provide aid to pro-Palestinian demonstrations and distribute materials claiming that the American system choses money over a person’s life.
Vladimir Mashin, Candidate of Historical Sciences, political observer, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”