Barring a last-minute surprise, it seems it is going to be Joe Biden versus Donald Trump in the November presidential poll. Ever since Biden won the Super Tuesday primaries, his fortunes have been on the upswing, leaving his main rival Bernie Sanders behind in the delegate-count, and netting endorsements of contenders who dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination. For the 77-year-old former vice president who served under Barack Obama, sewing up the Democratic nomination may be easier than enlisting the support of the youth constituency of the 78-year-old Sanders. While Sanders is no revolutionary, he has the aspirational youth rooting for him thanks to his unrelenting assault on the big business-driven Washington establishment. He appeals to voters dreaming a bright future, but also, at the same time, repels the well-entrenched members of the old order. His winning streak in the early primaries seems to have caused the Democratic establishment to coalesce around Biden, an old hand who can be relied upon not to upset the apple cart. However, once the former Veep has sewn up the nomination at the party convention in July, he will face a tougher challenge in Trump whose below-the-belt tactics will acquire an uglier edge. Already Trump is questioning Biden’s mental acuity, suggesting he suffers from lapses of memory. Given Biden’s age, it may not be such a failing, but what most people find really unacceptable is Trump’s abuse of the presidential office, attacks on institutions, disrespect for old and reliable US allies, and generally his approach to reduce politics to the level of the gutter, or even lower. No other president has lowered the bar for public decency in living memory than this former, and not-so-successful, real estate magnate. The job of rescuing America from another four years of Terrible Trump would now, most likely, lie with Biden. Maybe then Prime Minister Modi can plan a Namaste Biden extravaganza in the Motera Stadium.
