The recent debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, broadcast on Tuesday night, gives us an opportunity to understand the evil that is weighing down democracies. A divided America is now counting on only a handful of undecided voters to be decided.
Following the debate, media experts were unanimous: Kamala Harris won hands down. The Democratic candidate knew how to attack, use her broad smile without overdoing it, and destabilize her opponent, betrayed by the expression on her face and the pursing of her lips. The undecideds witnessed an epic battle.
From Donald Trump, they heard worrying words. Promises of plans that he would implement to redress the economy, offer better health care at a lower cost, talk to the belligerents in the Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Hamas conflicts in order to avoid the apocalypse and, above all, take concrete steps to stem the flow of migration, responsible, in the Republican’s opinion, for all the excesses.
From Kamala Harris, they heard words justifying her past and attacking that of her opponent. Heartfelt cries about principles, justice, rights and the singular essence of her identity, the one that alone brings true change to the country. From the moderators’ questions anticipating the future, nothing emerged, ripostes replacing answers.
In the end, undecided voters are faced with a candidate whose future offers behaviors to be feared and a candidate who does not seem to have decided what hers will be. Form has buried substance. Everything must be arbitrated according to the impressions left by the affects, nothing can be decided between the fragments of ideas springing from the battle of words.
We have been treated to a debate that produces food for skepticism and cynicism. Politicians disappoint. Undecided voters will abstain, having no reason to show up at the polls.
All the democratic evil is there. Citizens are disconnecting from politics. Voter turnout has been declining for many years. In the United States, but also here and elsewhere in the world. This is particularly true among young people, who will have to live with the decisions made by elected officials. It is not surprising then that the general measured perception of the usefulness of governments is increasingly negative!
What politicians really are is no longer important compared to what they now appear to be. May the best man win! Their only victory is the victory of emptiness.