The world held its breath during the week of the US election, a defining moment for history, and a legacy many hope to continue - a result ensuing the first black and female vice president and a democratic leader to follow Obama. Yet is this election, and the October New Zealand election result reminiscent of a shift to worldwide left-wing politics, or were these liberal candidates simply seen as the ‘better of two evils’?
One of the crucial factors in forming the opinions of the electorate this year has undoubtedly revolved around governmental management of the coronavirus pandemic. Indeed, former President Trump was criticised hugely for his control over COVID-19 across America. One cannot help but wonder if the result would have swung the other way had the pandemic not occurred; in late October, Associated Press polls revealed trust for former President Trump’s handling of the pandemic was at a mere 16%, down from 23% in April. In the same report, only ‘social media’ as a coronavirus news source, was less trusted. Following Trump’s hospital admission of three days, White House chief-of-staff Mark Meadows told Fox News that “we were real concerned” due to the President’s “fever” and a rapid drop in “blood oxygen level”. However, Donald Trump, always the intrepid survivor, pulled through, painting himself as “immune” and the seemingly nonchalant recipient of a “cure”.
Alternatively, Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand was seen as having astutely dealt with the pandemic, persisting in a science-led approach, mobilising collective effort and striving to give equal attention to lives and livelihoods, so that even at its peak, New Zealand only had 89 cases a day. One of New Zealand's top epidemiologists, Professor Michael Baker, told the BBC that New Zealand’s isolated location and relatively low population density was only a minor benefit; “The countries I'm more perplexed about are the UK, as well as Europe and North America. We normally look to them for our leadership in public health”.
Although the Labour party of New Zealand won a landslide vote of 49%, with the opposition national party on just 27%, it is vital to acknowledge that Ardern had been Labour leader of a coalition since 2017, marking the result as a clear contrast to the US to-and-fro, Democrat-Republican voting style, as demonstrated in the Trump vs Biden contest. This doesn’t necessarily devalue Ardern’s win in any way, however; The United States are known to base their voting intention heavily on the candidates involved, generating a more personal, slightly less party-centred political battle.
Ardern’s first 30 seconds of her address to the nation following the victory were in fluent Maori (the language of New Zealand’s indgenous people), demonstrating a unification and embrace of diversity, regardless of voting intention. This provides a maxim redolent of Joe Biden’s promise preliminary to the result: “we are campaigning as Democrats. But I will govern as an American. I will work as hard for those who didn’t vote for me as for those who did”. Indeed, Biden will have to offer something to the 70 million devout Trump voters, who were anticipating four more years of constant Twitter presence, tabloidised context-less quotation and widely comprehendable promises; Trump appealed to many because he was seen as an angrily patriotic ‘businessman’ of ‘law and order’, someone who can ‘get things done’, historically traits acknowledged as those of a dictator. Ironically, it is this great ‘businessman’, famous for having hosted the American Apprentice, owing $400 million to banks and is (at time of writing) being investigated by the City, and the State, of New York for tax fraud. In several rallies Donald Trump was also quoted as to having admitted his desire to “leave the country” following defeat. This image of a crawling-away criminal leaving the mess of a split country behind was rife on social media during the aftermath of the election; forgiveness for the last four years may take significant time and significant reform.
Two more major factors in deciding the presidency were race, and the environment crisis. Joe Biden pledged early on that he would rejoin the Paris climate agreement on his “first day in office”, a marked contrast to Donald Trump’s repeated science-shunning (“... it will get colder, just you see… actually I don’t trust the science”). The appalling death of George Floyd in Minnesota on the 25th May provoked what many headlined the most substantial civil rights movement since the 1960s, with an estimated half a million people joining protests in 550 states. Shockwaves rebounded across the rest of the globe, and it became a landmark movement, triggered further by the shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin and others during protests.
President Trump’s reaction was to acknowledge the ‘disgrace’ of the atrocity, but then to note how “more white” people die at the hands of police than black people in the USA. This, and the deeply ingrained systemic racism so rife in America for so many years resulted in a huge sweep of BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people) approval for rival Joe Biden; according to polling data analysis by the AP and Tufts University, of Black voters under 30, 88% voted for Biden and only 9% voted for Trump. Of course there were other strong groups fighting for a solid stance against the President, with both women, other ethnic minorities and the LGBTQ+ community rising in arms.
We are therefore brought back to our initial question: do the examples of recent politics give us reason to believe we may be entering a shift to the left? Despite the unprecedented events of this year turning the tables, there have been two pivotal elections, each securing a left-wing, libertarian leader who has become a symbol of change for the marginalised, each promising reform. The world has been shaken this year, and despite the right’s accusations of sociliast tyranny, it seems the most prevalent demagogues of the current political landscape are on the far-right-wing, and people are viewing that as the largest threat. With the coming-of-age of a new generation of voters, perhaps there is still hope for a greener, equal consensus and a move away from divisive party politics. 2020 has given the world a lot to learn, and hurled challenge after challenge at the human race and environment, with the image of a hunted and lost right-wing echoed in the mingling fireworks and cheers resounding from cities across America during the night of the 7th November.
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