So that's it then. November's race for the White House is going to be between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, between the political usurper who was never supposed to be there and the machine politician who always was. And this difference will surely set the text for the presidential election. It will be a battle between the Washington establishment and upstart politics. In other circumstances, this could have been an inspiring fight with the long-overdue cleansing of US politics at stake. Unfortunately, neither presumptive candidate can inspire anything but concern, most especially for the Arab world. Trump is a bigot. He may not drink alcohol but his path to the nomination was strewn with the ignorant invective of a barroom braggart. His sinister threat to Muslims firmly established his racist credentials, already displayed in his disparagement of Hispanics. His outrageous remarks about women may have caused roars of approval from male chauvinist rednecks but they were unforgivably rude. His assault on journalists, which on occasion meant Trump toughs physically ejecting reporters from his meetings, may have seemed like justice for an arrogant bunch of political correspondents, but they nevertheless struck at the heart American press freedom. Throughout his campaign, the blowhard Trump has displayed astonishing political insensitivity. Yet against all predictions, he is about to be crowned the Republican nominee for the White House race. Maybe it is indeed true that Trump is a very smart man who has succeeded by saying the things that stupid people want to hear. In this respect he is, after all, a typical politician. But politicians do not come more typical than Hillary Clinton, who represents pretty well everything that is wrong with the American political system. Clinton has a proven record of equivocation and has been caught out seriously embroidering her record. She has been condemned for changing her views on a range of subjects such as abortion. Such attacks might be unfair. Politicians who are prepared to change their mind after reviewing an issue can be seen to demonstrate humility and honesty. Unfortunately, Clinton's policy flip-flopping has been dictated by the audience she is addressing. And she lied about landing under sniper fire when she visited Kosovo as Secretary of State. What is so amazing is that there is an extensive video record to prove such falsehoods and convenient trimming of public policy. That Clinton seems not to recognize how easily she can be exposed demonstrates what could be seen as a haughty contempt, not only for the truth but also for the little people she wants to vote for her. Given the paralysis produced by bitterly partisan politics on Capitol Hill, US voters are rightly dismayed with their legislators and the serpentine system that keeps the dubious political establishment in place. Clinton is the child of that establishment. Trump is the angry outsider. The choice for US electors in November is going to be between more of the same or, depending on their point of view, the dangers or excitement of an unproven player who has burst into the political ring promising to change the way America does politics. Thus, given the despair felt by voters at the failures of their leaders, not least the charismatic but underperforming President Barack Obama, it seems perfectly possible that Donald Trump will move into the Oval Office next January and assume leadership of the world's most powerful nation.
