A political earthquake is a natural social event that happens when the whole political crust suddenly releases pent-up energy, causing the entire American political ground to shake. This has happened in America because severe political stresses that built up during the last 8 years have exceeded the strength of the solid rocks that keep our politics stable. The released stresses are causing the politics to break along the left-wing Progressive or Liberal Democratic Party and the right wing Conservative Republican Party fault lines.....CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE
This earthquake has released massive political energy in the form of seismic social waves which are now fast travelling through the political landscape causing the shaking. You may or may not feel the shaking political ground depending on how far you are from this quake’s epicenter. Even if you are in Zambia 7,600 Miles or 12,000Kms away, you will eventually feel the tremors from this political earthquake. What caused this political earthquake? How did it start? What are the consequences?
When Republican Party candidate Donald Trump narrowly won the presidency in 2016 while the Democratic Candidate Hillary Clinton lost but won the popular vote by 3 million, there was shock, fear, anxiety and tension all over the country. Trump was clearly seen as a poor candidate. During the next 8 years, Trump behaved and conducted himself in the most provocative and unusual way everyday saying terrible divisive things, breaking norms, committing crimes, and advocating bad policies. Among other terrible things too many to mention, there were two impeachments of Trump, he instigated the January 6 insurrection in which Trump supporters violently broke into the United States Congressional Capital, and he has 34 criminal court convictions as a felon, the political tensions rose between Democrats and Trump supporters who call themselves Make America Great Again or MAGA Republicans.
Democrats and President Biden were sure they could beat Trump again at the polls just as they had done in 2020 winning with 7 million popular votes. The Trump and Biden debate on June 27, 2024 changed the political landscape. President Biden performed very badly. All these events that happened over the last 8 years built the stress and tensions in the country. The massive political earthquake happened on July 24, 2024 when President Biden withdrew his candidacy and endorsed a black woman Vice-President Kamala Harris.
Within a matter of minutes, hours, and days, numerous internet groups formed on their own on zoom on the internet in support of the Harris campaign. That Sunday 44,000 Black women raised $1.6 million dollars on zoom to support the Harris campaign. Later that week 7,500 Latinas joined two calls, and more than 9,000 women were on zoom for South Asian women. White women constitute the largest voting block that met on Zoom in support of Harris with 164,000 participants. The biggest shocker is that 70,000 members of the Republican Party opposition who have switched and now want to support Harris Democratic Party candidate met online. This would have been unthinkable a month ago.
These political aftershocks are continuing as you read this. After Harris chose Tim Walz as Vice-President running mate, the pair took a trip through 5 United States crucial political swing states addressing massive rowdy rallies. The Harris-Walz campaign says 12,000 people attended rallies in Philadelphia, 12,000 in Wisconsin, 15,000 in Detroit in Michigan, 15,000 Arizona and 12,000 in Nevada.
The consequence of this political earthquake is that everything negative that Americans knew, felt and believed the last 8 years is being turned upside. Many opposition party Republicans are now coming out to openly support Democratic party Harris without fear of the intimidation and threats of violence from Trump MAGA supporters. There was a feeling of despair, misery, frustration, and a dark cloud hanging over the whole nation because Trump MAGA Republicans had spread, and instigated so much hate, name calling and fear in the nation. Through project 2025, Trump and MAGA Republicans were threatening to impose autocracy or dictatorship and end democracy in America if Trump won the election in November. This sent chills of fear among most Americans.
During one of the massive rallies with 15,000 people, Harris and Walz said that Trump and his Vice-Presidential running mate JD Vance and MAGA Republicans “had robbed the country of joy!!!!!” The electric crowd roared with joy. Harris and Walz Democratic candidates have unleashed joy again in the country. The chant at the rallies has been: “We are not going back!!!” Aftershocks of the political earthquake that the Democratic Party has ignited will continue at the party’s political convention next week in Chicago.
Since I have been living here in America for the last 47 years since 1977, I never saw a political earthquake. I was a foot soldier or cadre and campaigned for President Obama in 2008. That was very historic as Obama was the first Black President. Nothing compares to what I am experiencing in the political excitement around Kamala Harris’ political campaign.
If Vice-President Kamala Harris wins the election this November, she will be the first woman, Black woman, and Asian-American woman to be President of the United States. In Zambia we would call her colored. She will be the most powerful woman in the world and the Commander-in-Chief of the most powerful country in the world , the United States of America.
She will command the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, United States Navy, United States Air Force, United States Space Force and the United States Coast Guard. Her Presidency will have a huge impact in the 195 countries of the world. There are too many countries in the world where women are powerful political leaders. But women in those countries are told that they cannot be President of the country because they are women. But this will change that. Will Zambia be one of the countries that will have a woman as President? There are only 79 days until election day.
By Mwizenge S. Tembo, Ph. D.
Emeritus Professor of Sociology
