Daily Times

The US elections for president are a long drawn out and relatively convoluted process. Before the actual elections take place, first the nominees of the two major political parties have to be chosen. This happens through a process that involves every state through a caucus(do not ask me to explain that) or a primary election. Based upon these elections delegates from every state are awarded to candidates contesting those elections. Whichever candidate finally gets a majority of delegates will go on to become the nominee.Sometime around the middle of this year both major political parties will have selected the nominee that will contest the general elections to be held in November. This of course does not mean that only two people will be contesting the election for the presidency of the US. The total number of candidates could run into the dozens but most of them will not even be on most state ballots come November. Complicated stuff that. But, for all practical purposes, the general elections will choose between the nominee of the Republican Party and the Democratic Party.

The first step in this process happened on Monday earlier this week. Caucuses were held in the state of Iowa. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton eked out a slim victory over her opponent Bernie Sanders. The election on the Republican side was much more interesting. Donald Trump had been leading the polls and was expected to win. Unfortunately for him, he came out second to Ted Cruz. My readers might remember that Trump is the person who wants to ban the entry of non-citizen Muslims into the US. Trump is remarkably devoid of any sense of propriety and is notorious for saying things that are quite unacceptable. After having lost the Iowa election Trump did what few expected him to do. He insisted that the election was ‘rigged’ by Cruz and so it should be held again. Reminded me of somebody in our part of the world.

The three people to watch on the Republican side at the present time are Donald Trump, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. On the Democratic side, the most likely nominee is Hillary Clinton but then many thought the same eight years ago. So, at this time, any predictions are premature but over the next few monhs as different states vote, the picture will become much clearer. Whatever happens, one thing is clear: within the Republican Party there is a tremendous anti-establishment sentiment and for this reason two anti-establishment candidates, Cruz and Trump, are at this time finding support among more than 50 percent of the Republicans. However, the polls suggesting this support are early and, as the states vote, the situation might change rapidly. However, for American Muslims, the fact that Trump lost in Iowa has made him a bit less intimidating and has also decreased somewhat the chance that he could go on and become president. As far as the Latin Americans, including recent immigrants to the US, are concerned, even though both Rubio and Cruz are of Cuban origin, few immigrant groups, if any, are enamoured of either of them. On the Democratic side, Senator Bernie Sanders is giving Hillary Clinton a tough fight but he does not have the charisma of an Obama to win out in this primary process.

On both sides of the political divide — the left and the right- there seems to be an abiding sense of gloom and anger at the ‘establishment’. Ordinary people are finding life difficult. However, it is ‘white’ Americans who seem to be most under pressure. Recent reports have suggested that mortality rates among middle-aged white Americans is higher than members of other races in the US as well as comparable cohorts in other countries. This increase in mortality is being blamed on prescription drug addiction and drug overdoses as well as suicides. It is not my intention to dwell on this subject but clearly it is tied in to the popularity of outlier politicians like Sanders and Trump. It is, however, quite strange that the US economy is recovering, the employment rate is low and the US is generally at peace, and yet the American people seem to be angry with their government as well as their political leadership. Much of this anger and anguish is possibly due to the pro-Republican media that persistently dwells only on things that are not going well.

As far as most ethnic and religious minorities are concerned, a president from the Democratic Party and a Senate being controlled by the Democrats is very important. The entire House of Representatives and one third of the Senate is also up for re-election. The popularity of the presidential candidate can greatly influence the results in the rest of the ticket all the way down to the state and county elections. Most American Muslims will probably support the Democratic candidates though the very well to do as always will find a reason to support Republicans for ‘pocket book’ reasons.

Many American Muslims were happy to see Obama as president even though he was not a Muslim but was descended on his father’s side from Muslims and had a typically Muslim middle name. Sadly, instead of making Muslims more acceptable in the US, he had quite the opposite effect. Whatever the end result of having a person with the middle name Hussein as president might be at least nobody now asks me how I pronounce my last name. What Obama could have done for Muslims, Sanders might do for socialists. Even though he might not make socialism popular again, at least by claiming to be a ‘democratic socialist’ (whatever that might be), Sanders has made the idea of socialism almost acceptable in US politics. And that, in the ultimate analysis, is the problem with Sanders’ ability to get elected. Americans are not quite ready for a socialist president.

The author is a former editor of the Journal of Association of Pakistani descent Physicians
of North America (APPNA)