Editorial: Challenges ahead for US, regardless of outcome

Whichever way the US election falls, it’s difficult to see an outcome that doesn’t result in an America more deeply divided than ever before.

Should Kamala Harris win, expect immediate chaos.

Donald Trump has given every indication that he will not accept a loss. He has already made allegations of voter fraud in Pennsylvania, the largest of the crucial swing states, laying the groundwork for a potential challenge should the count go against him.

It’s left the world bracing for more January 6-style upheaval, though authorities quietly fear the greater threat will come from lone wolf actors, rather than an organised uprising.

Would a president Harris possess the considerable strength of character and leadership skills required to quell civil unrest and heal resultant fractures should that scenario arise? Her performance to date would indicate she does not.

A second Trump presidency represents a greater unknown. Undoubtedly, he would be more emboldened and more unpredictable a second time around.

That would have immense ramifications for the entire world, including Australia.

Trump has already promised to impose enormous tariffs on goods from China, our largest trading partner. The flow-on effect to our own economy will be significant.

Even if Australia manages to escape direct assault from Trump’s isolationist America First economic agenda, as a country with an open economy, we can expect to suffer heavy consequences should other nations fire back with retaliatory tariffs, putting a harness on global free trade.

And of course, there’s the fact that Trump is an unabashed demagogue with authoritarian tendencies and little respect for rules and laws, who has made no secret of his plan to use the office of the president to punish his enemies.

It would be disingenuous however to present the candidates’ character flaws as comparable. Harris is an uninspiring option, and a poor communicator, occasionally bordering on incoherent. However, she operates within the realm of normality. The same can’t be said of Trump.

That Americans are on the verge of re-electing such a character says much about the current Biden administration and the Obama years that preceded the Trump intermission.

Over decades, the Democrats have failed the seize the moment in history to remake America for all Americans. It was that failure that sowed the seeds of discord which have since germinated into the noxious weed of Donald Trump.

Whatever the outcome, the US — a nation that for the past century has been a stabilising force in the world and the model of a successful democracy — faces significant division and volatility ahead.

The challenge for whoever triumphs will be to keep the nation united, for the good of the entire world. Neither have so far shown they are capable of doing so.