Tag Archives: American presidential elections

Fṛm Đ Gardịn: Unless Joe Biden stands aside, the world must prepare for President Trump 2.0

 Illustration: Eleanor Shakespeare/The Guardian
Iḷstreśn: Eḷnr Śecspir/Ɖ Gardịn

Unls Jo Bîdn standz asd, ɖ wrld mst priper fr Prezidnt Trump 2.0

Transcription of a Guardian article of 29 September 2023

Ɖ prezidnt hz hd a gd run. Bt ɖ Deṃcrats mst ćūz a yungr canddet f Doṇld Trump z t b cept ǎt v ɖ Ẃît Hǎs

Timothy Garton Ash
Tiṃʈi Garton Aś

Frîde, 29 Sptmbr 2023

Jrñ ɖ tū munʈs I spent in ɖ YS ɖs sumr, I cept ascñ evri jrṇlist, acdemic n aṇlist I met wn simpl qsćn: “Hu wl b ɖ nxt prezidnt v ɖ Ynîtd Stets?” Ɖ rspons wz yẓ́li ɖ sem. Frst ɖr wz a dstñt hezteśn, ɖen ɖe sd “Wel, probbli Jo Bîdn, bt …”

Ẃt foloud ɖ “bt” wz a loñ list v cnsrnz, partli abt dīpr trendz bt mnli abt hǎ old n frel ɖ 80-yir-old prezidnt lcs. Ofn, ɖ convseśn endd wɖ mî inṭloktr seyñ it wd b betr f Bîdn std asd, t let a yungr canddet trn ɖ ejcard agnst ɖ 77-yir-old Doṇld Trump.

Bîdn hz bn a gd prezidnt v ɖ Ynîtd Stets. Olɖo ɖ rtrit fṛm Afgaṇstan wz ceotic, h dlt wɖ ɖ Covid pandemic wel n z hanḍlñ ɖ wor in Ycren ferli wel. H z prizîdñ ovr a rmarcbli vîbṛnt icoṇmi, wɖ Ny Dīl-stîl public spendñ axeḷretñ a grīn trnziśn n crietñ jobz. Bt f h stumblz – fizicli, mnṭli or p’liticli – jrñ ɖ gruwlñ maṛʈn ɖt z a YS preẓdnśl campen, n lets Trump bac in, ɖt’s ɖ onli ʈñ Bîdn wl b rmembrd fr.

In a rīsnt NBC poul, Trump n Bîdn wr nec-n-nec, scorñ 46% ć. Eniwn v a numbr v factrz unriletd t ɖ caṛctrz n pformnsz v ɖ tū canddets mt swñ sć a clos ilex́n. In ɖ cuntri’z hîppoḷrîzd mīdịinvîrnmnt, mni Rpublicn votrz simpli d’nt si ɖt ɖ icoṇmi z dwñ wel. AI wl ad t ɖ olrdi hî posbiḷti v misinḟmeśn, wɖ Vladīmir Pūtin srtnli īgr t tip ɖ scelz in fevr v Trump. Ʈrd canddet iniṣ́tivz, sć az ɖ wel-intnśnd sntrist iniṣ́tiv No Leblz n ɖ inṭlecćl acṭvist Cornél Wst’s pṛgresiv-invîrnmntlist campen, r lîcli t tec mor vots fṛm ɖ Deṃcrats ɖn fṛm ɖ Rpublicnz.

Most wuriyñli fr ɖ Deṃcrats, ɖr’z a trend v Blac, Hispanic n uɖr non-ẃît votrz śiftñ fṛm Deṃcrat t Rpublicn, n ispeṣ́li fṛm Bîdn t Trump. Ɖr r soṣ́lojicl n historicl xpḷneśnz fr ɖs, az wel az ɖ strenj apil v Trump himslf, bt ɖr’z litl dǎt ɖt Bîdn’z ej n frelti ple a rǒl.

In a rīsnt poul, ʈri ǎt v evri for Americnz sd Bîdn wz tù old fr a secnd trm – at ɖ end v ẃć h wd b 86. Onli haf ɖoz asct xprest ɖ sem cnsrn abt Trump. I spouc t for indivijlz hu hd sìn Bîdn at clos qortrz in rīsnt munʈs. Ɖe sd h wz mnṭli fîn, bt fizicli śowñ hiz ej. Wn comntd on ɖ we hiz vôs smtmz fedd t olmst inōḍbl at ɖ end v a sntns.

Ol ɖs wl b ruʈlisli xpozd in ɖ 24/7 mīdịcuṿrij v a preẓdnśl ilex́ncampen. A sngl fōl fṛm an ilex́nrali stej bî ɖ Rpublicn preẓdnśl canddet Bob Dǒl pleid a part in hiz dfit in 1996. N Dǒl wz a mir sprñćicn v 73, in a mor sdet mīdịinvîrnmnt.

Bîdn cmz wɖ wn uɖr lạbiḷti. Bcz v hiz ej, unyźl atnśn wl b foc̣st on hiz runñ mêt, hu me hv t step intu ɖ hot sīt. Bt ɖ vîsprezidnt, Kāṃla Haris, z nt a gret ilectṛl aset, n hardli cnvinsz az a poṣbl “līdr v ɖ fri wrld”. Dspt ɖ iniśl xîtmnt, ś hz sīmd marjinl t ɖ prezidnsi, hz an apruvl retñ lowr īvn ɖn Bîdn’z n hz md olmst no impact on ɖ wrldstej.

V cors, Trump hz hyj laybiḷtiz tù – abv ol, ɖ multipl lwsūts ɖt r tecñ mć v hiz tîm n campenfundñ. F Jac Smiʈ, ɖ proṣktr in ɖ sntṛl ces cnsrnñ poṣbl frōd in ɖ 2020 preẓdnśl ilex́n, z az ifctiv az sm ʈnc h z, Trump mt īvn b in prizn ẃn Americnz vot nxt Nvmbr. Yt, astoṇśñli t an ǎtsîdr, ɖr’z litl evidns ɖt ɖz proṣkśnz hv so far sirịsli damijd hiz ilex́nprospects.

Obvịsli, ɖr r olso riscs asośietd wɖ Bîdn stepñ asd at ɖs lêt stej. Sm obzrvrz xprest a cnsrn ɖt ɖ frajîl renbocọliśn v ɖ Deṃcratic parti cd ter itslf apart f set t fînd a ny canddet. A formr congresmn dis’grìd, pôntñ t ɖ diṣplinñ ifct v ɖ ʈret v Trump. Srtnli, ɖr r creḍbl cntndrz v a yungr jeṇreśn, sć az ɖ Pnṣlveńa guvnr, Joś Shapiro (hu wd ɖen b ɖ frst Juiś prezidnt), ɖ Miśign guvnr, Grećn Ẃitmr (hu wd ɖen b ɖ frst fīmel prezidnt), or Caḷforńa’z guvnr, Gavin Ńsm.

Nt onli wd ɖe trn ɖ ejcard agnst Trump; ɖe wd olso rjūvnet ɖ imij v ɖ YS in ɖ wrld. At ɖ momnt, ǎtsîdrz contmplet wɖ astoniśmnt ẃt lcs t s lîc a Breźńvît jeṛntocṛsi in Wośñtn. Bîdn, 80 gwñ on 81. Trump, 77. Ɖ Rpublicn Senit līdr, Mić MConl, 81, frizñ fr haf a minit lîc an old dsctop wɖ a bad inṭnet-cnx́n. Ɖ formr hǎșpīcr Nansi P’losi, runñ agn at ɖ ej v 83. Ɖ Caḷforńn Deṃcratic seṇtr Dîan Fînstîn rfyzñ t rtîr at 90. Riyli? Gv s a brec.

Wn ʈñ, hvr, z clir: ɖ onli prsn hu cn mc ɖs dsiźn z Bîdn, wɖ hiz wîf, Jil. F it’s t hapn, it wd b bst it hapnz fast, so yungr canddets cn dcler ɖmslvz, rêz sfiśnt fundz n orġnîz naśnl campenz, n ɖen wn v ɖm cn b s’lectd n ćūz a creḍbl runñmêt. “It mst b bfr Ʈancsgivñ,” wn loñtîm obzrvr v YS poḷtics xclemd. Ɖt’s les ɖn tū munʈs awe.

At ɖs pônt, sm Americn rīdrz mt b hufñ, “Hu’z ɖs Brit telñ s ẃt w òt t d?” Ol I wd se in rplî z: sori, bt it’s nt onli yr fyćr ɖt ɖs contest wl dsîd.

Ɖr’z a bunć v inṭrestñ ilex́nz cmñ p on ǎr sîd v ɖ Atlantic: a crūśl Pǒliś ilex́n nxt munʈ, ẃć me dtrmin ɖ fyćr v a frajîl dmocṛsi; Yṛpiyn-parḷmnt ilex́nz nxt Jūn, ẃć me si a śarp trn t ɖ popylist rît; a Britiś jenṛl ilex́n, ẃć me si ɖ post-Brexit YC rtrnñ t smʈñ vegli rzmḅlñ saṇti; phps īvn a Ycreńn preẓdnśl ilex́n. Nn v ɖz Yṛpiyn ilex́nz wl b az conṣqnśl fr Yṛp az ɖs Americn wn.

A secnd Trump prezidnsi wd b a dzastr fr ɖ YS. It wd olso b a ctastṛfi fr Ycren, an imrjnsi fr Yṛp n a crîsis v ɖ wst. F Bîdn steps asd nǎ, deṃcrats evrẃr wl onr him, ẃl ɖ YS Deṃcrats cn ćūz a yungr canddet t si of Trump – n phps īvn inspîr ɖ wrld agn wɖ a sns v Americn dîṇmizm.

Instroduction to Ñspel

"House by the Railroad," Edward Hopper, 1925