Harris and Trump Chose Electoral Polarization

The U.S. vice presidential choices are aimed at entrenching dangerous bigotry and polarization.

Only 88 days remain until Election Day on Nov. 5, the nature of which, given the national and international environment, make it the most unpredictable in American history. Yet, there is enough time to allow for changes or for results based on traditional political logic. In the space of a few hours, the surprising decision of the Democratic presidential candidate allowed us to analyze her chances from a different perspective: keeping a Democratic president. For starters, both presidential candidates decided to bet on exacerbating the fight with two vice presidential running mates, one who is middle-aged and politically experienced and the other who is extremely young with little experience.

Both are unknown to most of the country and the international community. The Republican vice president nominee has the difficult task of breaking through and gaining the respect of his candidate, who is used to ruling like a king. This running mate has a surprisingly chameleon-like nature, having once been a staunch anti-Trumpist. His opponent is remarkable for being a solid defender of delicate and risky issues such as abortion, and his record shows him to be liberal, a term whose political meaning in the U.S. is the same as being a staunch leftist here in Guatemala. These two factors help sharpen the knives of political battle, as well as the fear of political violence, including an assassination attempt against the only “coup politician” in U.S. history.

Since Joe Biden withdrew from the race, Kamala Harris has risen in the polls. On Wednesday, The New York Times reported an average of the results of numerous serious polls, putting Harris at 51% and Donald Trump at 48%, suggesting a virtual tie, given a 3% margin of error. Everything indicates the election will not be the landslide Trump expects, but a very close race; however, there is still enough time for other changes. Trump discovered his mistake of constantly attacking Biden for being old, despite an age difference of only three years, and now he is the one who iis old and facing attack by the same weapons. That forced him to choose the younger J.D. Vance, even if the change is counterproductive because of his Vance’s arrogance.

Campaign developments mean that the remaining 88 days will involve more low blows and more dirt than usual. There appear to be no restraint, so it’s likely that the level of confrontation will deteriorate. Plus, although both Harris and Trump are politically experienced, they are inexperienced in high-stakes politics and are behaving like the sovereigns of their respective parties. As a result, the popular perception of the advantages of democracy, already forgotten and affected by corruption at all levels, has diminished. Almost out of desperation, votes go to autocrats.

From the perspective of a Guatemalan, neither candidate represents change. The idea of Trump as the good guy and Harris as the bad guy, or vice versa, is a joke. Guatemala, despite its history, does not grab the attention of larger countries, unless it annoys them for not taking America interests into account — but we never get attention or American friendship. The role we play best is that of spectators who are expected to applaud or jeer — the role Latin America has played for many years. Polarization in the U.S. will continue to be of little importance for the usual obvious reasons. As the old adage goes, “Every country gets the government it deserves.”