The negative impact of President Trump on US democracy needed to be spelled out in your editorial (The Guardian view on the US elections: a nation dangerously divided, 4 November). But it’s the language used that concerns me. How can the US possibly be described as the “world’s leading democracy”?
It fails to provide voters with a choice from a range of candidates, to allow them to select a candidate who represents them. The first-past-the-post voting system needs to be replaced with a proportional system to allow multi-party democracy. The enormous sums of money spent on campaigning need to be capped to allow candidates with limited resources to stand. The toxic use of social media with micro-targeting based on psychological profiling needs sorting out.
So we need an adjective to describe a country, like the US or the UK, that calls itself a democracy but abjectly fails. Suggestions?
Tim Williamson
Bath
• President Trump’s reaction to the developing result of the election (Could Trump really settle US election result in the supreme court?, 4 November) reminds me of an exchange with Sophie, aged three, while playing a ball game with me. Sophie (indignantly): “Grandma, you’re not playing by the rule.” Grandma: “What rule is that, Sophie?” Sophie (firmly): “I win!” Perhaps if the president had had more exposure to his Hebridean grandmother at the same age, he would have learned the same lesson as Sophie did years ago.
Pam MacLeod
Truro, Cornwall
• Owen Jones appears to lay the blame for the Democratic failure to achieve a blue wave on the centrist or moderate “establishment” of the party (Even if Biden wins, the world will pay the price for the Democrats’ failures, theguardian.com, 5 November). In reality, the results give the lie to the notion that the Democrats faltered because they weren’t progressive enough.
Trump made substantial inroads with Latino voters in the key state of Florida because the increasing prominence of figures such as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez allowed Republicans to play to their visceral fears of Cuban and Venezuelan-style socialism. Given that the unapologetically moderate Biden also won more votes that any presidential candidate in US history, it seems evident that the road to electoral success does not run through the most leftward fringes of the Democrats.
Daniel Peacock
Manchester
• It is hard to disagree with Herbert Munk (Letters, 3 November) that the US electoral college is not fit for purpose, but abolishing it will be problematic. Apart from the bill of rights, there have been only 17 amendments to the constitution since 1789. It requires agreement by two-thirds of both houses of Congress and ratification by three-quarters of the 50 states. Demographic trends suggest the Democrats will continue to have the advantage in the popular vote, so it would need Republican turkeys to vote for Thanksgiving.
Dr Howard Mason
Manchester
• Despite the increasing polarisation of US society, it is worth pointing out that on some social issues Americans remain more radical than us in Europe. Witness the decision by five states on Tuesday to legalise the possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal and medical use. Such a decision in the UK would lead to outrage and hysteria.
Chris Entwistle
Tiptree, Essex
