No Message, No Party: reflecting on the wild (and long) 2020 elections.

We know the United States of America to be “the land of the free and home of the brave”. Nothing is clearer than the Star-Spangled Banner on what the US are all about. It takes us to a place full of opportunities that was built on the dream of starting anew.

This dream went to become the world’s foremost economic power and a country revered like no other. The impact that the American lifestyle has in the rest of the world is as easy to spot as having Mc Donald’s or Starbucks in your city. Therefore, what happens in the US is sure to influence everyone all around the world.

Due to this, the President of the United States is seen as the world’s leading political figure and the Presidential Elections are one of the most important events every 4 years. “With great respect comes great responsibility”, the saying goes.

Back in 2016, everyone was thunderstruck when Donald J. Trump defeated Hillary Clinton to become the 44th President of the United States. What could’ve prompted Trump, a New York businessman with no tangible experience in politics, to jump ahead of Clinton, the previous administration’s Secretary of State and one of the most recognizable faces in Washington D.C.?

Sure, there are a number of external factors, such as the FBI investigation on the emails or the Russian interference, that are still unclear to which degree have influenced the outcome of the elections. Maybe Clinton thought it was a done deal, maybe she should’ve campaigned harder in the swing states. We’ll never know. However, we can be sure of one thing: Trump managed to create a powerful movement out of his message.

It’s not my place to agree or disagree with his message, but there is no doubt that “Make America Great Again” was all the talk leading up to the 2016 elections. Following the message’s logic, Trump would be the guiding light for anyone dissatisfied with the current status and the crusader that would put the American economy on pre-2008 levels.

However, most people did not get swept out of their feet by taking this into account. They were bewitched by a simple, strong and moving slogan that was tailor-made to their hyper-patriotic hearts. Having a constant spotlight around Trump, only made the transmission vehicle more effective. The attention on every move he made was an additional opportunity for him to spread his message and combine it with polarizing (and not necessarily truthful) statements that made him the topic of conversation all day, every day. A complete masterclass on how to be the loudest voice in the room.

It would be reasonable to expect that this movement got stronger with Trump spending the last four years at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and “MAGA” becoming a staple when discussing American politics.

Somehow, it didn’t.

Former Vice-President Joe Biden just won the elections and is the new President-Elect. The powerful message that once prompted Trump to break Midwest’s Blue Wall was replaced by a never-ending stream of confusing attacks, highlighted by calling his opponent “Sleepy Joe” on some nights and the mastermind of a global conspiracy on others.

The lack of a defined mission has been clear for a while now. The Trump campaign wanted to “Make America Great Again” once more, despite having had four years to fulfill that very same promise made in 2016. It was not able to reinvent itself and left a big margin for critical thinking:

• After all, why would this time be any different?
• Why should the people that switched sides due to his message, find it appealing once again if the country is still in need to be great again?

You’re now probably thinking “wait a minute, Trump’s total vote count was remarkable”. Sure, he surpassed President’s Obama previous record of 69 million votes by approximately 1 million, however, Biden was even better. He shattered the rankings with an impressive 75 million vote count and still managed to obtain a 4 million difference in the popular tally.

More than anything, these elections were an important reminder on the importance of exercising our democratic rights. In a deeply polarized society, whilst in the midst of a global pandemic, the turnout was the biggest in history. We’ve waited four days to find who carried Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina due to razor-thin margins in some of these states. Imagine how different the outcome could’ve been if people lost faith in their voice and thought their vote didn’t matter?

For me, that’s the key takeaway of this week: despite all the noise, democracy stands and will stand, tall.