Chunk 28: Joseph of Pennsylvania.

Barring some highly unexpected turn of events, Donald Trump isn’t going to be reelected president of the United States.

Note that I said “barring” with a capital ‘B”, because perhaps his best chance to win is to let his Attorney General, William Barr, try to fight the outcome in court. The annoying thing about courts is that they require this funny thing called evidence, and so far - despite all his endless obfuscating - Trump has been unable to offer any evidence of voter fraud, mail-in or otherwise.

So, what if Biden wins? What happens then? Because as delighted as many people will be to see the back of Trump, this won’t be a situation like when Richard Nixon resigned. America’s “long, national nightmare” will not be over. You just know Trump is going to be a sore loser; he’s been a sore winner for almost four years.

Covid 19 will still, most likely, be raging across the land, millions will remain unemployed and civil discourse the new norm, with disaffected Trump voters perhaps adding to the chaos. In other words, an absolutely enormous mess.

Isn’t this generally the point people begin praying for divine inspiration?

You could argue they got that with Barack Obama back in 2008. A cool, clever young Senator/constitutional law professor, married to a Harvard trained lawyer with two pretty daughters. On top of that, the first African American President, elected in the middle of another crisis while promising “hope” and “change”. Made to order, right?

It was a lot to live up to. But being loved - worshipped, almost - by so many on one side of America’s political spectrum only outraged those on the other, who made it their mission to be against whatever Obama was for. In fact, you could argue - as many have - that Trump was voted in as a direct response his predecessor.

So, now faced with even bigger challenges, and in arguably an even more torrid political climate, how does Biden hope to succeed?

Well, were it me, the first speech I would write would be to clearly spell out that he’s just an ordinary man in an extraordinary time. He’s Joseph of Pennsylvania, not Jesus of Nazareth. I’d pop that messianic bubble immediately.

Why? Because despite any of his campaign rhetoric, Biden is no miracle worker, and while the pressure will be on from Americans looking for an immediate saviour to their predicament, the same problems that existed the day before the election will exist the day after. Worse still, Biden will have the added burden of Trump and the Fox crowd regularly chipping in from the cheap seats, telling everyone how much better everything was before.

Joe Biden will have a hell of a job in front of him, one that absolutely no one should envy. He claims to be a deeply religious man, so if he needs inspiration, maybe he could take a look at Joseph of Arimathea. He was the guy who took Jesus down off the cross and prepared his body for burial in the tomb. Right now, being associated with anything that rises from the dead would be handy.