I am fascinated and appalled by US politics at the moment, especially the hype, the rhetoric and the public display of politics writ large. It makes me grateful and a tad smug about our system of democracy, our compulsory voting, our lack of razzle dazzle campaigning and our independent electoral commission. We are indeed fortunate.
But it made me think, what does the average 20-year-old American, who is not legally able to drink alcohol, but can vote, think about the choices he or she face today? How do they react to the promises and focuses of their two major parties?
Up until the other day, the faces of both the major parties were old, white men, and one still is. I do not say that with prejudice but with fact.
Time to go
One is 78 and the other will turn 82 come election day. By any standards they should be sitting on the couch at home with a rug over their knees or at least going for gentle strolls along the beach hand in hand with their loved one or a dog on a leash. They are old enough to be the grandparents of today’s young voter, if not their great grandparents at a pinch. My grandchildren may love me but I am sure I am redundant in most of their thinking about the world. No doubt they see my attitudes as old fashioned and old hat.
One of the party leaders is overweight, obsessed with eating burgers, yet evidently decries alcohol. Not exactly a shining example of fitness and personal care happening there, let alone care for the future of the planet. The other, now, is a woman and a woman of colour, of Caribbean and Indian background. She represents what a good multi-cultural society can be and is a testament to the generations of hard-working migrants who are the backbone of the vast majority of the country.
One is obsessed with tanning products; his orange, glowing skin (but white around the eyes) matching his dyed hair, is a boon to cartoonists the world over. The other is youngish, stylish, favouring tailored pant suits and decorous tones. She moves with grace and style and is an enthusiastic cook of evidently roast chicken. Who knew?
One tells whoppers all the time, believing if you say a lie often enough then people will begin to believe it is the truth. He also has a penchant for female sex workers, despite being married and believes his wealth and power will seduce any woman. The other is happily married, is a stepmom and is called “Momala”, a nice reference to merging roles.
Bizarre antics
One party leader’s sometimes incoherent babble and bizarre antics have led people around the world to see him as the Emperor in the fairy tale, The Emperor’s New Clothes – a gullible king, led by a conman to believe he was wearing the latest and best fashion, when he was actually stark naked. This party leader is also surrounded by yes men as in the fairy tale. History imitating art? The other speaks accurately most of the time, was a staunch support for President Biden in her role as vice president for four years and was an Attorney General of California. She is one mean prosecutor.
So, what did and will young voters in the US make of these presidential offerings? Surely, up until the other day, they must have lamented the quality of the choices on offer. Surely, they must have wondered why there are no other excellent candidates out there to represent them. Maybe they were planning to stay away from the voting booths. But now, will they come out in droves? What a race to the White House!
And what about here in Australia? Give me Albo and Dutton any day and the down to earth concept of “does it pass the pub test?” to attempt to keep our politicians in line. Seems to be working so far. Fingers crossed.
What are your feelings towards US politicians? Do you prefer our Aussie leaders? Let us know in the comments.
Also read: How ethical are our politicians?
You’re not the only one… I’m an American, I’ve lived with my Aussie husband in Western Australia for 15 years. My father-in-law is very interested in the US politics *sigh*
Right now, I’m horrified. I’m worried for my family and friends there, most of whom are *not* repuglicans. I wish so much that I could bring them all here 🙁 I’m afraid of what will happen if that monster gets into the White House again. Some of my relatives and friends are LGBT, and I’m more afraid for them than any of the others! Some of my family and friends are “mutlicultured” (That bloody hyphenated ethnicity/American drives me insane btw).
I am also on SSDI (Social Security Disability Income) and he’s made threats to that as well! I don’t understand why he didn’t just get sent to jail to await the rest of his trials.
I’m just done…
US politics is so ridiculous, it is like watching a never-ending episode of SouthPark.
US politics is entirely money based and that money from donors buys influence.
Same happens here but to a much lesser extent.
In the US the winning side gets to appoint judges who then interpret the law according to what that party wants.
Here such behaviour would be seen as utterly corrupt but in the US it is normal.
The US also plays personalities first and politics second.
This time around they had two fossils vying to be POTUS but now only one remains.
IMO the collective intelligence of US voters is low but I hope it is not low enough to put the orange fossil back into office.
who wrote this one sided crap. What America does definately not need is that cackling idiot who has let 10 million people, many disreputable, into the country!
Tood, That “let 10 million people, many disreputable, into the country” has been debunked time and time again.
It refers to the Number of Illegal Migrants who have entered the US from Mexico, been detained and then Sent Back to Mexico”,
IE: they have NOT remained in the US.
The rhetoric in the United States is appalling. It seems to have trickled down from those at the top, right through to the general public; such that ugly dialogue and hateful behaviour is becoming the norm. But it seems to have started here too…the AI generated video put out by the Labor Party of a dancing Peter Dutton is a form of mockery and disrespect…and is totally fake. Same goes for the Liberal video of the dancing Queensland Premier. We need to nip this sort of thing in the bud, so that we can maintain a relatively civil discourse and respectful environment.
And all compulsory voting does is ensure ill-informed, disinterested, incompetent people have a say in who governs, increasing the chances of incompetent people in government. It’s stupid!
Fully agree!
The population of the US is 333 million as of 2022, I doubt they’d even notice another 10 million. And you don’t need compulsory voting to be ill-informed, disinterested and/or incompetent. If you haven’t realised it yet, democracy is on the line in this election.
There is little difference between the two parties here and in the US – all are funded by large business interests and play to the tune of the same masters. Democracy is just a show to make us feel we have a say in things. Eric Li put it nicely when he said the difference between the West and China is that in the West politicians change but policies remain the same, in China politicians stay the same but policies change. In China politics rules money, in the West it’s the other way round. The only true democracy is Switzerland, a very special country which has a system of public referendums held four times a year. Any citizen can collect 100k signatures and the issue is voted on and the outcome binding. Also, voting should never be compulsory, this is agaiinst the spirit of a democracy and lowers the standard of our politics.
This seems to be a very one sided version of the two candidates. You have the big villan on one side and the lovely down to earth woman who has a heart of gold. Let’s not be fooled, to get anywhere in politics you have to be as hard as a rock in America. I personally wouldn’t vote for either one of them. In regards to our system, get rid of preferential voting – it should be first past the post, which is what the majority of that electorate has dictated.