On the Biden victory and the Trump loss

US President-elect Joe Biden deserves to be congratulated not only for winning but also for running a principled campaign. He lent credibility to his pitch that, contrary to his opponent, in running for the highest office in the land, he was after the good of the country rather than himself by following the public health experts’ guidelines on controlling the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic by observing and practicing them. He removed his mask only to speak before a microphone and, presumably, to eat. He proscribed large gatherings, refrained from shaking hands, and maintained a minimum prescribed distance from others in conversations and meetings. He asked everyone else to do the same. This conduct was not without risk as his not holding conventional, circus-like rallies might be construed as an inability to draw crowds and his observance of health measures a sign of physical vulnerability.

This was precisely what his opponent, the incumbent President Donald Trump accused him of during the campaign. Trump tried to duplicate his 2016 campaign by holding large rallies and rowdy caravans attended by supporters in close contact with each other and not wearing masks. He persecuted a social media company after its platform was used by an anti-Trump group to dissuade Trump supporters from attending a rally. He confused the public by appointing a task force consisting of reputable public health specialists while asking the public to “liberate” themselves from the doctors’ guidelines. Even when he himself caught Covid-19 and was saved by therapeutics still under experimentation, he continued his denial and attacks on science and its practitioners. His dutiful son-in-law was to announce with great pride that Trump had wrested control of the anti-Covid-19 campaign from the medical doctors. Never confused, of course, were the rabid Trump base, who would follow whatever Trump asked even if that landed them in the ditch.