US Elections: Anxiety reigns

WASHINGTON. Anxiety, anguish if you will. It is uncertainty, and even fear.

For many Americans, Tuesday’s elections are both a threat and a promise. And less than 48 hours before the formal day arrives, the most serious predictions claim that no one has any idea what will happen. The feeling of uncertainty is almost palpable in Washington, where in addition to the fears generated by the electoral environment, there are also, according to The Washington Post, concerns about the possibility that countries such as Russia, China, Iran or North Korea will try to take advantage of what is expected to be a polarized post-election period.

But the fear refers to what will happen after the election.

Washington, a Democratic city where the memory of the January 6, 2021 coup is present and the possibility of a victory by Republican Donald Trump feels like a disaster in the making.

Republicans describe the US capital as “a swamp” that must be “cleaned up,” and press reports announce mass layoffs of federal government employees. “I can’t finish explaining it to you,” says Daisy, a psychologist by profession living in Washington.

There is concern about what could happen in the event of a very close vote, as is expected, and reactions of violence feared and even already expressed by the Republican candidate, in the event of his defeat. A poll released on October 16 reported that 23% of Republicans who support Trump said that if he loses he should ignore the results and “do whatever is necessary to take office.” Twelve percent of Democrats think candidate Kamala Harris should do the same.

The Republican and his supporters are prepared to allege fraud in the election, “with unsubstantiated lawsuits and polls from right-wing groups that, according to analysts, would be exaggerating his popularity and could be used by Trump to claim that only cheating prevented him from returning to the White House,” according to The Guardian.

The concern is heightened by warnings about possible terrorist acts, on the rise in recent years and particularly by right-wing groups, although in the current campaign only Trump has been the target of an armed attack.

But The Hill assured that it is not only about the presidential elections but about all those votes that are very competitive, even in congressional races.

“It’s the same thing he tried in 2020,” said Senator John Fetterman, Democrat from Pennsylvania, a swing state, recalling that four years ago the trap was run by Republicans “who made their dead mothers vote for Donald Trump.”

It is a fear that was already reflected last Thursday in some shops and restaurants near the White House or Congress with the windows covered by wooden panels, as if they were waiting for a storm, but this one not caused by nature but by human intolerance and polarization.

But it is also a fear for election day, the threats around it and what they mean for the future of this country.

“An increasing number of wealthy Americans are making plans to leave the country in the face of tomorrow’s elections, and many fear political and social unrest regardless of who wins, according to immigration lawyers,” said CNBC.

But they are not just wealthy Americans, but middle class or people who can work remotely outside the United States.

Content originally published in spanish in El Heraldo de México.