At the time of writing this piece, Donald Trump had clearly won the presidential elections in the United States of America. It was not just his resounding victory that surprised many but the fact that this time around, Trump will be much more powerful than during his last presidency. Republicans have won the Senate and it seems like the House may also go to them. This is what a clean sweep looks like. In his victory speech, Trump said he achieved a victory “the US has never seen” and that “America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate.”
When the Americans wake up today, they will do so knowing that this vote will have long-term repercussions for the US and maybe the world as well. But whose fault is this? Who is responsible? Of course, there are multiple factors such as the US economy, inflation, immigration and so on. But there is no denying that while the Americans have mostly voted on local issues, this time, some international issues like the war in Gaza did have an impact as well. This is why Trump thanked Black and Latino voters, Asian American and Muslim voters, and union workers and called it a “historic realignment”. Who would have thought after his last presidency that these demographic groups would be voting for him in 2024? But it has happened. And a lot of people did predict this. For the world, some things will definitely change under a Trump presidency, but most policies will remain more of the same. However, there will be a lot of changes for Americans and their domestic policies. And this is what will hit them hard.
This is time for the Democrats to introspect and learn a lesson from their mistakes. Why could the Democrats not see that their presidential candidate was not the right candidate? It took a disastrous presidential debate with Trump for the Democrats to realise that Joe Biden was no competition for Trump and, finally, after much haggling, he was replaced by Kamala Harris because there was no other candidate by that time. The last time the Democrats lost to Trump, the ‘establishment’ within the party had ignored Bernie Sanders and, this time around, they did not listen to reason for the longest time.
When you ignore the younger generation, when you try to silence your voters, when you dismiss your voters’ genuine grievances, when you mock your voters’ world view, when you ignore a genocide — nay, when you fund a genocide — and when you blame everyone under the sun except yourselves, you are bound to lose. If the Democrats continue to blame everything and everyone other than themselves, then it will be difficult for them to recover from this loss. If your entire campaign is that the other side is evil so vote for us, then that is no campaign at all.
There is a lesson here for political parties and politicians across the globe: do not be complacent. Do not take your voters and supporters for granted. Listen to what your supporters are telling you. Yes, if there is a populist on the other side with a cult following, it will have an impact and it is sometimes difficult to fight the ‘populist wave’ but if your voters are not coming out to vote for you on election day, then find out why and address the issue. When your traditional voters change sides, see why they did. When you are unable to resonate with the new generation of potential voters, then learn and understand why.
This is not rocket science. All you have to do is let go of your egos. Let go of your set views. Just listen, absorb and understand. This is not just about a populist opponent. It is also about acknowledging your own weaknesses — that arrogance played a part, that trumpeting against an opponent is not a solution to problems on the ground. We do not know what the future has in store for the world but let there be sanity and maturity and, more importantly, an end to wars. A ceasefire in Gaza. And peace.
Mehmal Sarfraz is a journalist based in Lahore; mehmal.s@gmail.com
