Nagging headache from America

Today, Americans across the fifty states are going to the polls to elect Barrack Obama’s successor and forty-fifth American president to preside over the affairs of the people for the next four years.  This race is between two  major contenders  Hillary Rodham Clinton, a Democrat and Donald Trump, a Republican.

The election has generated interests all over the world because one of the candidates, Donald Trump, who is the Republican torch bearer has displayed a temperament that has made many including Barrack Obama to conclude that he does not have what it takes to be in the oval office. This because of his racist views, hatred for Muslims,demeaning posture about women and lack of public speaking etiquette.

Secondly, Clinton’s victory tomorrow will make  her the first American female president and wife of a former American President, Bill Clinton. This is why the election is of strategic importance for advocates of women empowerment around the world.

The major issues in this election are the economy and immigration. Today, America has over fourteen million undocumented people or what some called illegal Immigrants. President Obama as part of his campaign promises in 2012 had started a process of giving them a pathway to citizenship through an amnesty program, but the Republicans in the congress frustrated the move.

Thus, respite can only come for these group of people if the Democrats take over the congress and Hilary Clinton floors Trump by Wednesday. This partly accounts for why there is large turnout of Hispanics in states that allow early voting. They constitute a major voting block in America today because of their population and more than half of these undocumented people are Hispanics.

The consolation of American allies and Americans scared of a Trump presidency is that he is going into the election without the support of major stakeholders in the Republican party.

For those who have forgotten, Mitt Romney, the billionaire businessman and Republican standard bearer who ran against Obama in 2012 followed the same pattern by asking illegal immigrants to self deport or he will deport them as soon as he is elected.  But, their children who have realized their parents’ American dream  deported him from the American political space for life using their votes. Trump is likely heading that way because his own views on immigration are far more extreme than any other known Republican in the country’s history.

As a result, the campaigns and adverts on both sides have been personality based and lacking in issues. With both sides trying to outdo each other by name calling and describing the other person as a misfit for the White House. The victims of this dirty campaigns are the Americans across the fifty states  who are now more divided than they were fifty years ago.

In fact, those who were part of the Civil Rights  Movement are grinning  in their graves, because someone believes the best way to move America forward in 2016 is to chase away immigrants.  His reasons are that they do not share their values and are taking over their jobs. The biggest contradiction from this election is that Donald Trump is a son of an immigrant and his wife, Melania, and a plagiarist is an immigrant. Yet, he wants to chase immigrants from America.

For some of our African brothers, who are American citizens and Nigerians in particular, they have been having sleepless nights  in the last few weeks because a Trump presidency means they will be out of job as some of their colleagues have been threatening them that once Trump wins, they have to go back to where they came from .This is why immigrants in America like Hispanics, African Americans, Arabs and other ethnic groups see this election as a decisive moment for them.

As of this morning, over thirty two million of them have voted using mail in ballots in some states and others are waiting to cast their votes today to send a message to Donald Trump and his fellow racists. Their message is  that America is now more diverse than ever and anyone willing to get the mandate of Americans must recognize this diversity, see it a strength and not weakness.

Based on opinion polls , Hillary Clinton stands a better chance of winning the elections as her programs are more inclusive and promises to be a continuation of the Barrack Obama  people oriented administration. She needs  to win these states Florida, Ohio North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia to solidify  270  Electoral college votes.

The way the American elections works  is that the candidate  who wins the electoral college and not popular votes becomes President. In 2012, President Barrack Obama proved bookmakers wrong by winning both Electoral College and popular votes despite the fact his Republican counterpart outspent him in campaign funds twice.

However, Trump has said that he will not accept the results except he wins. This has heightened fears of possible outbreak of violence as some white supremacists groups have vowed to monitor the election to avoid rigging. This has further portrayed Trump as someone who has no respect for American democracy.  Surprisingly, the system is so designed that rigging is almost impossible as you can only  vote where you live and cases of voter intimidation have been established against Trump supporters in some states leading to a court pronouncement.

Another issue that is on the ballot in fives states namely Massachusetts, Maine, California, Nevada and Arizona is the legalization of Indian hemp (wee wee) which Americans call Marijuana. In these states, should those in support carry the day, anyone above 21 can buy Indian hemp legally and can plant it in his house. I know many Nigerians will wonder the thinking behind this kind of law, but that is the beauty of American democracy or what some call American exceptionalism. This is because it is insane for anyone to think of legalizing the sale of Indian hemp, looking at the growing youth population especially in a place like Nigeria. The only exception could be those who need it on medical grounds.

I am on my knees praying that Hillary Clinton gets to the Oval office by majority votes and electoral college because that is the America I want my three year old son and other Immigrants  to live in, where race or religion does not matter, but one’s character and believe in American  values of diversity as a source of strength.

One thing is however certain, Donald Trump and his fellow racists will make noise after their loss which will fizzle out after a while. The country has a mechanism for dealing with such. Some people from the  state of Texas threatened to secede from the United States of America in 2012 after Mitt Romney lost, but that agitation has since fizzled out.

However, the first two years will be difficult for Clinton as she will be saddled with  the onerous task of  healing the wounds and uniting  the nation once again. The journey will be smoother if her party takes over both Senate and House of Representatives.

Lawal, can be reached through [email protected] Twitter.AbdulRafiu19