The Biggies of the Century in the Arena

Op-Ed

Here goes a good piece of cheering news for Georgia: it is not only us who wax passionate before elections, but others too, including the States. On the surface, there are only two running couples there, Republican and Democratic, who are aspiring to grab the helm on November 3rd. Factually, there are more than 1200 presidential wannabes in America who have filed to run for office, including 324 Democratic, 164 Republican, 65 Libertarian and 23 Green Party candidates. Of these impressive but facetious numbers, there are only four notable aspirants of presidency: Republican Donald Trump, Democrat Joe Biden, Libertarian Jo Jorgensen and the Green Party frontrunner Howie Hawkins. Notables are only those who have proved to the Federal Election Commission that they have sufficient resource and a big enough network to make the ballot. The case with the elected USA president is a little different: Donald Trump filed for re-election on January 20, 2017, the day of his inauguration. There is a solid list of presidential contenders who have reconsidered their desire to become POTUS and have withdrawn from the presidential race. We know how the future is: it might have a surprise of any extent in store for us, so why not try?

There is another imperative that many of us might not be aware of, and that is one of the provisions of the American Constitution, saying that the American president is not elected by a popular vote but by the Electoral College, comprising a set of exactly 538 electors matching the number of 100 senators, plus 435 representatives and 3 voters from Washington DC, so only 270 electors’ support is sufficient to elect the president of the most powerful nation of the world even when clenched in the tentacles of the dreadful pandemic.

The third theme that might also sooth us the Georgians might be the first presidential debate in the United States between the major candidates President Donald Trump and Vice-President Joe Biden, which took place on September 29 at the Samson Pavilion of the Health Education Campus in Cleveland, Ohio. The well-known American TV personality Chris Wallace of Fox News moderated the debate, although a little timorously. The continuation of the political TV serial, which happens to be the upcoming two presidential debates, is scheduled to occur on October 15 and October 22. Hopefully, the corona-infected American President still makes it, but rumor has it that people no longer desire to see the sequel of the show. The debate between the vice-presidential candidates Mike Pence and Kamala Harris is programmed to take place on October 7. The first debate was sponsored and organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates and broadcast by C-SPAN2 and CNN.

Frankly, it was fun to watch, and I have several reasons to say this. First of all, it was an utterly entertaining wrestle between the two goliaths on the planet’s political carpet, which leaves not even a child indifferent to watch, although it went in a chaotic flow-of-consciousness literary style. After all, it seriously matters who steps into the most influential political post in the world just in a month’s time. Secondly, this presidential verbal jousting under the famous ‘union-and-the-constitution-forever’ slogan, reminding of national glory, serves as a perfect lesson in American politics, which determines a lot in the current world affairs. And finally, and most importantly, the acrimonious clash between Don and Joe reminds us of rancorous disputes between our local politicians who interrupt each other all the time, manifesting mutual anger, and doing their worst to overpower the opponent, using not the most attractive tongue to describe one another. It was so amazing that the biggies like Trump and Biden in the arena looked like Georgia’s not-as-important political dudes when they find themselves in the middle of something like presidential debates in America. All humans are created equal, aren’t they?

By Nugzar B. Ruhadze

The first presidential debate involving Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden. Source: dnaindia.com