Political scientist Dr Indira Rampersad: Kamala neglected middle ground voters

POLITICAL scientist Dr Indira Rampersad was not surprised by Donald Trump's win in the US presidential elections, saying Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign largely neglected America's "middle ground" voters.

"In my opinion, the way the campaign went, I wasn't surprised Trump won.

"I think Harris didn't appeal to the middle group, because she was appealing to the Democrats and she already had that. So she was speaking to the flock." Rampersad cited Harris' focus the abortion issue.

"Most of her rhetoric was pro-left and pro-liberal. She needed to play some centre cards and I don't think she did that well.

"I also think she went to town on the women's issues and that would only have appealed to women voters."

Rampersad said Harris had lost some Latino votes, white votes and black votes, which President Joe Biden had won in the 2020 elections. She said Harris decisively lost the battleground states which any candidate needs to win in order to reach the White House.

In American politics, certain states traditionally vote either Republican or Democrats and as such, are not enough for any one candidate to reach the magical 270 votes needed to win the presidency. So-called battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Nevada and Wisconsin – which can go either way – traditionally dictates who wins the elections.

"Trump played the cards the American people wanted to hear. He is a successful businessman, not popular but popular among his flock." Rampersad noted that amid Trump's win, the Republicans also won both the Senate and House of Representatives in the US Congress.

One big issue that TT and the wider Caribbean will closely watch is how Trump deals with immigrants, she said.

"If crime continues to escalate – it is TT, Jamaica, Bahamas and St Lucia now with this crime problem – there will be an influx to the US and how will he deal with it? That is one implication (of his victory).

"The second implication is the Dragon field deal. Trump is hard-line, hardcore, against socialism and Venezuela is socialist."

"So the whole Dragon gas deal, I think we have to watch that closely as it could be in jeopardy. I think this deal can be in jeopardy, because I am not sure you can deal with Trump."

With the US as TT's biggest economic partner, she said this country will now have to toe the Trump line.

She said while Trump must honour existing TT/US trade agreements, when they come up for renewal, she wonders how he will treat with them if TT remains in close ties with Venezuela and its government due to the Dragon gas deal.

In terms of global politics, Rampersad said the world – including the Caribbean – must pay close attention to how Trump and his government deals with geopolitical issues.

"How he deals with Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Palestine, this is going to be interesting. Having the US Congress under his control, what type of legislation will be passed with regard to those wars and conflicts in an already unstable world?"

Rampersad said a Trump presidency has global repercussions.

Asked if she feels Trump's second term as US President will be different from his first, given his recent utterances, Rampersad said, "I believe a leopard never changes his skin (spots). It will be more of the same."