The US presidential elections every four years is an event that is keenly watched by the whole world because the winner will personify the might of the US and will set the tone for its policies towards its allies as well as its antagonists. 

Unquestionably, it will also affect the Philippines because, like it or not, the reality is that we are inexorably linked to America in both our past and our future. Millions of Filipinos live and work in the US and provide our country the much-needed remittances that have become a bedrock of our economy. The US is our largest trading partner, and where the US economy goes, so does ours. And lest we forget, we also depend largely on the US to bolster our nation’s defense against foreign aggressors.

The protagonists for the 2024 presidential race are now firmly in place, and the stage is set for a repeat of the tumultuous 2020 faceoff between the liberals and the conservatives. That faceoff was practically a tie, with Democrat Joseph Biden winning 51.3 percent of the electoral votes versus Republican Donald Trump’s 46.9 percent. 

With his convincing triumph in the recent Super Tuesday primary elections, Trump has finally shut down Nikki Haley, his last stubborn remaining gadfly and severe critic, to become the uncontested Republican Party presidential nominee. While his erstwhile 2020 rival, incumbent US President Biden, breezed through the Democratic Party’s primaries without any challenge despite murmurings among the Democrats that he might be too old for the job.

What awaits the world then come November 2024? The Great American Divide has never been more apparent. If the early speeches of Biden and Trump after cementing their hold on their respective parties’ nominations are any indication, this election is fast shaping up to be another Gunfight at the OK Corral between two geriatrics ready to trade blows with each other with no holds barred. 

Eager to demonstrate he is no cognitively impaired tottering, stammering old man, speaking forcefully with his anger clearly rising as he spoke during his recent State of the Union address against Trump’s policies, Biden liberally cast himself as a defender of democracy akin to one of America’s greatest presidents, WWII President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who stood heroically against fascism.    

He threw the first punches and criticized Trump for his declaration to let Putin “do whatever the hell he wants” with Ukraine and the rest of the NATO allies and reminded people that Trump, during his term, threatened to pull out of the alliance because of what he believed was the uneven economic support of the allies. 

Biden also did not let people forget the unprecedented, undemocratic 6 January attempted takeover of the US Congress by Trump fanatics in a vain effort to reverse the election results. On the economic front, he took credit for stopping in its tracks the inflation surge he claimed to have been brought about by Trump’s massive tax cuts for big business and the wealthy. 

Indeed, amid lingering fears of a recession, the US economy has been surprisingly resilient. Unemployment is down, GDP is up, and new businesses and prospects for massive investments are on the rise, particularly in infrastructure, clean energy, and semiconductor chip manufacturing. 

Proving true to his liberalist ideals, Biden has a laundry list of pro-poor, pro-rights, anti-rich advocacies. He railed against the recent US Supreme Court decision by the Trump majority-appointed justices to overturn the hugely popular Roe vs Wade ruling that paved the way for the abortion rights of women and promises to restore it to law. 

On healthcare, he proposes price caps on critical medication and has made no bones about his commitment to continue with ObamaCare, which provides affordable healthcare to the poorest Americans that is set to expire next year, and which is strongly opposed by Trump. 

Then there is his promise to renew the expired Child Care Credit, which provides a subsidy to families with children, and his plans to condone federally funded student debts. He has also promised tax cuts in the personal income tax for earners making less than $400,000 annually. All these are to be funded by bigger tax bites on the wealthy and big businesses. 

On security and geopolitical conflicts, he is an advocate of tighter domestic gun control, supports Israel’s forceful response to Hamas, and has declared in no uncertain terms the US commitment to maintain and defend the peace in the South China Sea. 

Until next week… OBF!

(To be continued)