Anti-Trump protests a display of ‘too much, too late’ energy

Millions of anti-Trump protesters across various cities give hope that Americans are alive to the threat of racist, intolerant, right-wing extremism in their country.

But on reflection, it amounts to no more than a puny, ineffective display of too much, too late.

The numbers have, indeed, been impressive, the noises loudly and clearly resonating across the United States and beyond, but to no avail because the Americans made their choice solidly and unequivocally at the ballot box.

You may hate him and what he stands for.

You may fear that he comes across as a dangerous, polarising, demagogue who will further divide the people and provoke internal and external conflicts.

You may reckon that he does not have the moral and ethical standing to sit in the White House.

You may also argue that he does not have the proper mandate because he clearly lost the popular vote to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

All that is neither here nor there. Mr Donald J. Trump won the US presidential election, was duly sworn-in, and is now legitimate occupant of the most powerful office in the world.

Yes, go on and marching and screaming yourself silly, but while at it, ask yourself one fundamental question: where was I when Trump was elected?

The answer is that by not bothering to vote, you voted for Mr Trump.

EVERY VOTE COUNTS
The election result was not so much about Mr Trump winning, but about Mrs Clinton losing.

A good number of her presumed supporters did not bother to troop to the polling stations, opting to relax at home, tend to their daily routines, or go out on premature celebrations.

Those are the people who want certain electoral outcome, but will not bother themselves with going to cast a ballot because they think that their one vote doesn’t matter, or that the votes of others will do.

When you don’t bother to vote, you have no recourse when the result goes the way you did not want or anticipate.

You voluntarily cede the moral ground to express rage at the outcome; or to complain about the direction the country is going under the stewardship of a president not of your choosing.

That is the dilemma for millions of Americans right now who might have voted for Mrs Clinton at the opinion polls, but did not bother to get off their backsides on the day that really mattered.

And it could be our dilemma a few months down the road when our own election results come in, and the whole nation erupts in either cheers or jeers.

Kenyans, unlike Americans, vote in big numbers.

We love our democracy and take nothing for granted.

We vote in such big numbers that suspicion of vote padding is legitimately raised when unnatural turnouts of 80 per cent and more are recorded across various constituencies.

Every vote counts, but still there are sizeable numbers who do not bother to register as voters, let alone cast their ballots.

GO VOTE
Those who forfeit their right to vote and to elect leaders of their choice also forfeit their right to participate in the continuing democratic process.

They will have no right to ask questions when the election goes against their preferred candidate.

Neither will they have the right to ask questions of a government elected that turns out not to meet their expectations.

That will be the privilege for those now busy registering as voters, and those who will actually cast their ballots on August 8.

So let us remember, exercise your right to vote at the ballot box, and not on the streets after the fact.

And as for the political parties and candidates right now whipping their supporters to register as voters, that is the way to go.

President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto, on the one side, and Opposition chiefs led by Mr Raila Odinga, on the other side, are busy on increasingly frenzied voter-registration drives.

They know that victory is hinged on how committed their supporters will be beyond the noises at the political rallies.

They should all be planning to win by getting out the vote, and by selling superior policies, programmes and prescriptions beyond ethnic mobilisation.

They should not waste their energies planning to protest after the polls.

Email: [email protected] Twitter: @MachariaGaitho