Election 2020: A nation in crisis faces a critical moment in history
CNNCNN — Presidential candidates always hype the coming election as the most important in our lifetimes. Four more years would give Trump more time to turn the government to the pursuit of his own personal goals.Trump’s complaints, for instance, that Attorney General William Barr – who has appeared to pursue the President’s political priorities since taking office – is insufficiently attuned to his wishes hint at a future government staffed purely by his acolytes. Biden’s election would also represent the culmination of a winding political journey that first reached Washington when Richard Nixon was president, and has encompassed all the momentous events of the past half century, from Watergate to 9/11 and the Great Recession to the rise of America’s first Black President. Biden has large support from female voters, many of whom were alienated by Trump’s presidency and clumsy campaign trail appeals to “suburban housewives.” And if Biden captures the Oval Office, it will mean a sickened and mourning America would also have turned to a man whose reputation for integrity and compassion for the grief-stricken was forged in a lifetime of personal tragedy at a moment when more than a quarter of a million citizens are likely to have died from the virus by the time of his inauguration. Just as Trump’s presidency could come to be seen as a blip on American history, Biden would also face questions about the long-term sustainability of his presidency.