Salute voters: Hate doesn’t pay, a lesson from America’s midterms

The American voters have redeemed themselves.

When President Donald Trump was voted back to power for the second time, the world was shocked. Few expected him to win. Everyone recalled what he did on January 6, 2021, when he refused to accept the election results that brought Joe Biden into office. His open defiance of the Constitution and a literal call to arms to his supporters to storm the Capitol, where Vice President Mike Pence was to validate the election results, were unprecedented. The shocking scenes of violence by Trump’s supporters were a sad commentary on America, the mother of all democracies. So, when he returned to the White House, liberals across the world thrashed the American voter.

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The mid-term results have turned that narrative on its head. The American voter has shown that the country’s democratic instincts are alive and kicking, and that neither status, race, colour, nor religion matters when the electorate decides to deliver its verdict.

Trump labels El-Sayed ‘jihadi’

The Republican campaign against Democrat Abdul El-Sayed was particularly vicious. Trump himself called him a “jihadi”, a radical Communist and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. His Republican rival, Mike Rogers, a former special FBI agent and a long-time politician, was a hate-monger as far as El-Sayed was concerned. He was liberally funded, according to one estimate, by USD 30 million from the American Jewish lobby to keep El-Sayed out.

El-Sayed has publicly called out Israel’s policies under Benjamin Netanyahu and accused Israel of genocide in Gaza. A last-minute endorsement by his fellow Democrat Haley Stevens sent shock waves through the Democratic establishment, which had favoured Stevens in the primary. El-Sayed had narrowly defeated her. However, he sailed through confidently. “We know America is big enough for all of us,” he said in his victory speech.

Love thy neighbour, not hate thy neighbour

President Trump’s Grand Old Party, which he shaped into his own brand, could not sustain itself even in a traditional Republican bastion like Texas. Democrat Gina Hinojosa will now be the first Latino to become governor of Texas. She is the first Democrat to win the state’s governorship since Ann Richards in 1990. Hinojosa defeated the sitting Republican governor, Greg Abbott, who was endorsed by the President himself. Trump, however, criticised him after he lost, saying he was a RINO, meaning a Republican in Name Only.

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James Talarico will be the first Democratic Senator to win from Texas since 1988. After his victory, Talarico said, “We just showed that a politics of division is no match for a politics of love.” His campaign was all about getting people together to solve real problems faced by voters. Near the lectern where he spoke, huge placards carried the words “Love Thy Neighbour”. He said in his speech, “Tired of being told to hate each other.”

Talarico’s opponent, Ken Paxton, the Republican state attorney general, was naturally endorsed by Trump and bankrolled by Elon Musk, the world’s richest man. Musk threw in millions of dollars to get Paxton over the finish line. But all the money in the world did not move voters, who gave a resounding thumbs down to the high-profile Republican. Musk is particularly invested in Texas, having moved much of his business to the state.

America’s diversity

Another upset for Trump was South Carolina rejecting him. Here, Darlene Graham, sister of recently deceased senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch Trump and Israel loyalist, was defeated. The senator was one of the most prominent defenders of Israel and Netanyahu. Trump personally requested Darlene to contest her brother's seat.

Also read: Trump admits Iran war cost Republicans midterm votes, says he would do it again

The diversity of America was also reflected in these elections. Despite the Islamophobia sweeping across the US, especially as Republicans made it a point to scare voters, at least seven Muslim Democrats won seats in Congress. Native American women also made their mark, with Deb Haaland becoming the first to be elected governor of New Mexico, while Peggy Flanagan won a Senate seat from Minnesota.

Indian-Americans won big, with Pramila Jayapal, Ami Bera, Ro Khanna and Suhas Subramanyam re-elected to the House. Pia Dandiya made her debut with a win in a Congressional seat in Florida, while Jyot Singh won a seat in the Georgia State House. Josh Kaul won as Wisconsin Attorney General, Aruna Miller won a second term as Maryland Lieutenant Governor, and Nithya Raman, a Democratic Socialist, won as Los Angeles mayor, among others.

The mid-term verdict is a reminder that, for all the deep divisions in the country, the politics of hate and exclusion cannot speak for all of America. The country’s democratic instincts remain alive and kicking, and so does its embrace of all who enter. There is a lesson too for countries like India: the politics of hate brings diminishing returns.