It is a sequel very few Americans may wish to see as Mr Joe Biden announced his decision to run for US President again and will, in all probability, face his predecessor Mr Donald Trump in a geriatric contest that will be put to vote on November 5, 2024. If Mr Biden, at 82, wins he would beat his own record for the oldest President to be sworn in since he won in 2020 with a thumping majority, which, of course, Mr Trump refused to accept, leading to a bizarre sequence of events culminating in an insurrection at Capitol Hill.
A polarised America must choose between an ageing incumbent who, however, has performed exceptionally in a few areas like rebuilding from the pandemic, keeping allies united to keep Russia’s Mr Putin’s war effort at bay in Ukraine and standing up for the free world and human rights. Given the health and cognitive implications as he runs for the highest elected office of the free world, Mr Biden needs a strong Vice-President. Whether he has one in Ms Kamala Harris, the first Black and first person of Indian origin to be on the ticket is arguable.
The dangers of a vengeful Mr Trump occupying the White House again after a colourful, contentious and hugely controversial four years from January 2017 should be clear to right-thinking people. The most dangerous among his core supporters, essentially from Middle America and mostly white, were seen taking a hand in the attack on democratic institutions and a clean and fair election process without which real democracy cannot exist as well as a violent coup attempt at the heart of Washington’s revered symbols of a free country.
Is ‘Biden versus Trump’ a Hobson’s choice? That is a worry enough to rattle the world way beyond Washington and the United States as the 2020 contestants may go head-to-head again in an election that has the potential to shake the foundation that is keeping things together in the world’s largest economy as well as its most powerful military. There are reasons to believe that the world, including a politically split US, would be better off if Mr Joe Biden were to remain in the White House. But that is for Americans to deliberate and decide.
