Divided States of America

The Bush camp has disillusioned the two coasts which provide economic impetus in America, writes Binay Kumar.

So, after all the din of campaigning, the pronunciations and the predictions, and after 9/11, Afghanistan and Iraq, Bush is firmly back in his chair as the 'leader of the free world'; indeed this time around he might find it more comfortable, with the cushion of a clear mandate, both in terms of popular and electoral college votes, to help him on his way. Kerry will no doubt return to the Capitol, albeit without much comfort, for here again the flag that flies high is that of the Republican right; the incumbent minority leader is history, and the future looks positively conservative, with both the Senate and the House under tight Republican control.

What can we now expect from the second term of Bush Presidency? As The Guardian noted very grimly, "Mr Bush faces a clear choice at home. He can treat his mandate as a blank cheque to govern in the interests of the conservative (and for conservative read, in many cases, anti-black) voters who backed him in such numbers - shaping a conservative majority on the Supreme Court, waging war on legal abortion, amending the constitution to prevent gay marriage, unpicking affirmative action, limiting and marginalising dissent still further, flirting with the notion of declaring the USA an explicitly Christian, English-speaking nation, seeking in all things to construct the conservative Republican hegemony for which Karl Rove has long dreamed and schemed."

We cannot just look at the next four years and shut our eyes to years beyond 2008. Some of the opportunities that the next four years offer this president will shape many of the key directions that America will take in the next 25years, if not more. For example, the Supreme Court is soon to open up for new appointments. The judiciary is the federal ombudsman, and Bush is likely to use his new-found political strength to shift its perspective as far right as possible.

Three of the nine Supreme Court justices are expected to vacate their chairs in the next four years. Chief justice William Rehnquist, an 80-year-old Nixon appointee, is old and frail and looking at retirement. Two of his colleagues have also indicated an interest in stepping down. The President has already made his preference clear by holding up Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia as models in the current body; both are amongst the most conservative jurists in recent history.

The fact is that although he has returned with a resounding victory this time, Bush has actually done more to divide the country in one term than any president since the two world wars. Despite the popular majority of nearly four million votes, Bush's victory has caused more anguish in the ranks of the polity than what is usually left behind in the aftermath of an election. The Bush camp’s habit of wearing its religion on its sleeve has angered and disillusioned the two coasts which provide the economic impetus in America.

Beyond its borders, we know how much the administration’s policies have alienated the wider world. The last four years have so damaged US credibility that the most powerful nation in the world is the most hated.

His victory comes at a time when the Palestinian leadership looks like it is heading for a crisis, and Iraq is at crossroads flung as it is on a daily basis between hopes of freedom and democracy, and, God forbid, total anarchy and disintegration. On the strength of Bush’s victory last night, Fallujah needs to brace itself; Tehran should tread carefully.