There’s an American joke from a far less politically correct era that has a peculiar resonance today: “We select our beauty queens for their views on world peace, and we elect our Presidents for how they look on TV.” In the debate this morning (last night, in America) between incumbent Joe Biden and challenger Donald Trump — senior citizens, both of them — it was not a question of who looked better but rather, who appeared worse. And unfortunately, for the Democrats, there was a clear loser. Of course, the ability to perform for television wasn’t always so central to who would lead the US. Most Americans do not and did not know if Abraham Lincoln’s arm quivered in private, or if George Washington had a mild stammer. In fact, Franklin D Roosevelt was re-elected even after polio caused him to use a wheelchair — he was propped up using leg braces for public appearances. It was with the charismatic Democrat John F Kennedy in 1960 that screen presence began to become a necessary condition to be a contender for the White House. The handsome star outshone the old warhorse, then Vice-President Richard Nixon in the first televised debate. Nixon, huffing and sweaty, was no match for suave Kennedy. Thirty years later, in 1980, B-movie actor Republican nominee Ronald Reagen pulled off an upset for the other side, with a rakish smirk and one-word answers against the more mild-mannered Jimmy Carter. Trump, of course, is made for and by television. He is a disruptor and often doubles down on falsehoods. Yet, at 78, with enough people looking for a reason not to vote for Trump, the debate was Biden’s to lose. And lose he did — in so spectacular a fashion that reports are already emerging about how the Democratic Party may replace him on the ticket. Biden struggled, often in the 90-minutes, to sound lucid. His manner and mannerisms were of an 81-year-old whose years have caught up with him. However, are a lack of pageantry and screen presence (for Biden) and boorishness (for Trump) the only reasons there appears to be despondency among Americans regarding the upcoming election? Likely not. Because the old White Man show — even with Trump in the mix — isn’t just bad politics. It’s also just boring TV, with two men too out of touch. It’s not about their age. It’s about perspective. The US is still a relatively young country, with a vibrant economy — the largest in the world. It is at the forefront of technology. Its diversity and political freedom have meant that questions of identity, immigration, reproductive rights are fundamental to the political debate. But there’s one major flaw. The US polity — whose cleavages are both informed by and determine the fault lines in its society — is limited by a two-party system. Unlike in India — and most European democracies — this means that consensus happens not at the level of the legislature, but the political parties. Both sides tend to be pushed to extremes in the primaries, catering to their base. That’s one reason why a president must be someone who can speak to a broad swath of society, and take people who disagree with him along. Donald Trump, of course, broke that system — denying its very legitimacy. He does not speak to the liberal youth — he demonises them. Along with migrants and minorities of every stripe. Biden is known for “reaching across the aisle” in US politics. But he is ill-equipped to do so with a Trump-led Republican Party, which relies not on making things work but breaking them. His feebleness, in that sense, only underscores the fact that even in the realm of ideas, his time is done. He cannot speak to the young, and just doesn’t present the virility that middle-aged Americans want to see — vicariously — in their leader. On the other hand, millennial leaders like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speak to the woke and the young — but have limited appeal beyond that, as of now. One of the likely successors to Biden as a leader of the Democratic Party and possible presidential candidate is Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. She is 52, has won both the state House and Senate in a swing state, and has stood by the strict Covid protocols she put in place during the pandemic. She said in an interview with The New York Times last week that 2028 should have a Gen X president (not coincidentally, her generation). Perhaps she’s right. But is she good enough on TV? Citation source
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