All over in American elections?

After the traditional conventions of the two American parties to ratify nominations of two respective candidates, the battle line is not only drawn but a potential winner is also discernible. The conventions themselves were sharp contrasts partly because of the personalities of the two candidates and the conduct. Mid-south in Cleveland, Ohio, the convention of the Republicans, which held last week, was more of a one-man show for various reasons. The dominant figure was the party’s candidate, Donald Trump, not necessarily because of his showmanship and dictatorial tendencies but because he was one of the countable prominent party members, who attended the four-day carnival.
Quite unusually, – and an illustration of the lonely figure he is in the November elections – Donald Trump’s nomination convention was boycotted by prominent members of the Republican Party. Even host governor and Donald Trump’s close rival in the primary elections, John Kasich, stayed away throughout the convention. Another rival, Senator Ted Cruz, who narrowly lost the nomination to Donald Trump, attended the convention and attracted anxious attention with all hopes of supporting Donald Trump. Instead, Ted Cruz, in his speech, rehashed the ideals of the Republicans but deliberately failed to endorse Donald Trump. Senator Cruz advised party supporters to vote for their conscience. Completely absent were the family-like fun and glamour associated with party conventions every four years. Instead, on display were Donald Trump’s children and wife, Melania, in what turned out to be a disastrous outing. She was exposed to have plagiarised, virtually word for word, many sections of her speech from Michele Obama’s speech at the 2008 convention of the Democrats, where President Barack Obama was ratified, as his party’s presidential candidate.
In policy speeches and statements, Donald Trump, even after winning the primary elections,  acquired the status of a lone ranger and political demagogue in contradiction of his party’s age-long tradition and embarrassment of America’s foreign allies. According to the Trump doctrine, even on the home front, America is down and may be out. Hence, his appeal to his supporters to “Let’s make America great again.” With that emotive appeal, Donald Trump has had to run down anything American at home and abroad. The economy, the military, diplomatic ties with friendly nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) are all to be diminished in status. America might either withdraw from, or review its membership of World Trade Organisation (WTO). With undisguised hint of distancing from Western leaders, Donald Trump has warmed up to Russian leader, Vladimir Putin. Only lately, Donald Trump endorsed Russia’s suspected hacking of the outfits of rival Democrats and even rival candidate, Hilary Clinton. At that stage, Donald Trump’s political isolation became total.
A week later, the Democrats commenced their convention at which mincemeat was made of Donald Trump’s serial gaffe. The most striking feature was teamwork in which professionalism was at its best, especially in all aspects of the organisation. Held in Philadelphia, up north east of the country, priority was accorded to reconciliation with the party’s dark horse, who only narrowly lost the nomination, Senator Bernie Sanders. As a mark of the newly arranged unity, Sanders, even if with some resistance from his hard line supporters, eventually nominated Hilary Clinton, as the party’s candidate by acclamation. That set for every party member the task of healing all wounds for the demolition job on Donald trump. At the pivot of that unity, the only seeming snag was that the emerging Hilary Clinton was virtually infallible, as was Kwame Nkrumah in his days as Ghanaian leader or any of successive North Korean leader.
Even, outgoing President Barack Obama joined in the adulation when, in his speech at the convention, he said: “Nobody, not me or Bill (Clinton) is more qualified than Hilary Clinton for the job of American President.”  Well, in truth, none of Obama, Bill Clinton or John Kennedy ever served in White House cabinet, especially the powerful post of secretary of state before becoming president. However, Hilary Clinton needed the repair job. Even up to the eve of her party’s convention, Hilary Clinton was portrayed by critics and the media that she could not be trusted, by over sixty per cent of Americans, mean and calculating. To counter that reputation, a different picture of her was portrayed by almost every interest/pressure group in America to testify at the convention.  Widows, planned parenthood organisations, bereaved mothers whose sons were killed by the police, the disabled, war veterans, the police currently under siege of revenge assassins, various ethnic American minorities, etc.
By far, the most devastating critic of Donald Trump was ex-member of Republicans, ex-member of Democrats, three-term ex-mayor of New York and business tycoon, Michael Bloomberg. As a hopeful candidate in American presidential elections in November, Hilary Clinton’s task could not have been made easier. In carefully chosen language and well delivered like a state of the union message, Michael Bloomberg drew, as necessary, rapt attention broken by intermitent loud cheers, as he described Donald Trump as a risk, a con, a fraud, a demagogue and reckless fellow. America, according to Mayor Bloomberg, today needs a problem solver (Hilary Clinton) and not a bomb thrower.
By the time Hilary Clinton (introduced by her only child, Chelsea) delivered her acceptance speech last night, she obviously had been rehabilitated, especially by President Barack Obama, who, as an orator, was at his usual best, stealing the show, enjoying himself and drawing cheers as well as standing ovation notably, from among others, ex-President Clinton, the husband now set to return to White House behind his wife for official engagements.