The United States presidential election is approaching and the battle for the presidency is intensifying. This is evidenced by recent events, such as the attempted assassination of the Republican candidate Donald Trump, and now the withdrawal of the current US President and Democratic candidate Joe Biden from the re-election campaign. We asked two former Slovenian ambassadors to the USA, Dr Ernest Petrič and international relations specialist Tonet Kajzer, whether the withdrawal was expected, who is actually leading the Biden administration, and who will replace him.
Dr Ernest Petrič, Slovenia’s first ambassador to the political superpower country, stressed that the current social situation in the USA is very worrying. He believes that it also matters for Slovenia who will be the next leader and added that the USA is currently very divided, which is particularly worrying because it is a power that plays an important role in world affairs.
Petrič said that US President Joe Biden‘s withdrawal from the re-election campaign was expected. “I expected his exit, and I shared the opinion of those who said it was only a matter of time before it happened. He did what was right.” Diplomat Tone Kajzer, who said that it was more than obvious that the health of the incumbent President was deteriorating and after the first pre-election debate, it was more or less clear that he would not be able to defeat former President Donald Trump, shares the same opinion.
Who is actually running the Biden administration?
There are growing suggestions that because Biden is not up to the task of running the country, others are running the current administration from behind the scenes. Petrič believes that the US President has indeed been recently “influenced by all sorts of tendencies within the Democratic establishment, and he was no longer up to the job.” In addition, he said that Biden has some good colleagues, such as Antony Blinken, and also some others. “When I was the ambassador in Washington, Biden was very fond of Slovenia, one of the few US senators who felt that way; he was a member of the International Affairs Committee at the time, and he was also interested in the Balkan issue,” Petrič said of his positive experience with the current President.
Who will be the Democratic candidate in the elections? “I hope she doesn’t run”
Biden has endorsed US Vice President Kamala Harris as a candidate, and she has confirmed her intention to seek the party’s presidential nomination. “I hope she doesn’t run,” Petrič said. “She has remained completely anonymous as Vice-President, and my friends in America who are still in office have a similarly low opinion of her. However, it does matter, even to us, who runs the country”, he added, while pointing out that this has nothing to do with the fact that she is a woman, but instead that she is not fit for the job. “But it will be interesting to see who the Democrats decide to vote for.”
Meanwhile, Kajzer said that everything in the Democratic camp is pointing to panic. “They are far from being united around one candidate who should enter the election race.” Which is confirmed by the fact that Kamala has (still) not been endorsed by former President and close Biden associate Barack Obama. Kajzer estimated that Harris will not be the candidate, as the process of selecting Biden’s successor has now effectively begun. “We can, of course, expect a decision soon, most likely based on public opinion polls, on who could possibly beat Trump in the election.”
When talking to Petrič about his view of the social situation in the USA, he said that he believes – and also fears – that the American society will be even more divided after the elections and that it is facing a crisis ranging from the appetites of other superpowers (the Ukraine case) to major problems in sight (the Taiwan case). Kajzer also believes that the situation in the USA is and will continue to be uncertain until the autumn elections, which will be extremely decisive for the future of both the USA and the world. “Slovenia is a partner and ally of the USA, and it is in our best interest to deepen our partnership and alliance with the USA, regardless of who is its President, because we should be united by common values”, he added.
“In the time to come, it would be good to have a US President with a strong personality who would also contribute to this country starting to shake off this really deep divisiveness,” Petrič concluded.
A. G.
