Well, there you have it!! Your Eyewitness – modest fella that he is – doesn’t like to boast and brigah!! But he gotta remind you, dear readers, that yesterday he did call the winner for the US presidential race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump!! As he said, “Writing this on Tuesday, your Eyewitness predicts that Trump’s gonna come out ahead in a nail-biting finish!!” As at the time of writing this on Wednesday morning, Trump had already passed the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency – having snatched 276 to Kamala’s 223 – with 39 more to be allocated.
Now a word about these “electoral votes” that constitute the “electoral college” that intermediates between the popular votes to actually select the President. This mediating device was formed – like the Senate – to guard against mob rule, that was so feared by the framers of the American Constitution. There’s first the popular vote – here with Trump getting 71 million as at Wednesday morning to Kamala’s 66 million – but as you can see, the electoral votes aren’t exactly proportional to the popular vote!! Each state gets as many electors as it has members of Congress (House and Senate – with the House roughly proportional to state population, but the Senate gets 2 from each state, regardless of their population!!). Including Washington, D.C.’s three electors, there are currently 538 electors. We should note that half of 538 is 269, but in 200+ years, they NEVER had anyone arguing that a rounding off was needed!!
Since your Eyewitness called the race, he’s still shaking his head over the establishment types – in the media or academia – going on as Reuters did, about Trump’s “stunning upset”!! One fella in another tabloid – billed as “W. Andy Knight, is Distinguished Professor of International Relations in the Political Science Department, University of Alberta, and past Chair of the Department. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC), former Director of the Institute of International Relations (IIR, UWI), and co-founder and the former head of the Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean (DAOC) – wrote on the same day I predicted Trump’s victory, “All signs point to a Harris victory”!! Your Eyewitness wonders whether the “signs” were tea leaves or chicken entrails!!
Fact of the matter is that – as your Eyewitness has been writing ad nauseam – due to self-inflicted wounds, America’s experiencing what Britain did after WWII: A changing of the World Order – accompanied by the manufacturing sector being degutted by an elite that made obscene profits by exporting their operations to China!! Americans want a strong leader who promises MAGA – to Make American Great Again!! And Trump marketed himself as capable of doing this!
But will he?? That depends on whether he can “drain the swamp” of Washington’s special interests!!
…with checks and balances
As noted, the Electoral College is a check on feared “mob rule” – generally, with the electors chosen by the winning party in the state – like in FPTP. A few states split the electors like in PR. Electors would meet in each state on Dec 17, casting one vote each for President and VP, and transmit these votes to the National Archivist and the President of the Senate in DC. Trump will then be sworn-in on Jan 20 next by their Chief Justice to become the 47th President.
Up till then, Biden would be a “lame duck” president who isn’t expected to make any radical initiatives from the status quo. Trump, on the other hand, would be putting together his team, forming the Executive Branch to initiate the changes he’s been advocating for the past two years.
The House and Senate have to authorise spending and approve appointees, so Trump’s life’s gonna be made much easier if the Republicans clinch the House – as they’ve already done with the Senate!!
…in Guyana
Meanwhile, in Guyana, we expect Trump would continue taking a strong interest in maintaining democracy here – as he did in 2020 when the PNC/AFC Opposition tried to stymie the voice of the people! Bring back Sara-Ann!!
