Donald Trump came to use the line often at his campaign rallies. “Can you imagine if you lose to a guy like this?” he would say of Joe Biden. “It’s unbelievable.”
It’s not so unbelievable now. Despite record turnout, and a tighter than expected race, the US president’s blind faith in the power of positive thinking appears to have collided with the reality of a coronavirus pandemic, a chaotic campaign and the uprising of a democratic and Democratic resistance. He is the first incumbent to lose a bid for re-election since George H W Bush in 1992.
More successful incumbents have made elections about their challengers rather than themselves. But Trump could neither escape the pandemic and its economic fallout nor find a way to define Biden. With more than 225,000 Americans dead after contracting the virus, his closing rallies were held largely in midwestern states enduring record infections, hospitalisations and deaths.
The election was always going to be a referendum on Trump in general and his handling of the virus in particular.
As Trump shot himself in the foot almost daily with crass behaviour and denials of scientific reality, Biden was able to sit back and watch the implosion. His own campaign schedule was lighter, observed public health guidelines and was always sure to keep a laser focus on the pandemic.
In February, with the economy humming, Trump had some reasons to be confident of re-election. Having filed the paperwork to run on inauguration day, his re-election campaign had built a formidable war chest and data operation. He survived an impeachment trial that led some critics to accuse Democrats of overreach. The president stood in the White House and brandished a newspaper front page that declared “Trump acquitted” – but tectonic plates were shifting beneath his feet.
Source: Elections - theguardian.com
