The American elections are on a razor's edge. My trip to Georgia showed how easily it could end in tragedy | Olivier Laughland

A few weeks ago, I found myself standing in the white marble atrium of the Georgia state Capitol building, watching a scene that encapsulated much of the presidential race. To my right: a group of election conspiracy theorists who still believe Donald Trump won in 2020. To my left, a group of voting rights activists, chanting an old spirituality popularized during the civil rights era.

They were here to watch last-minute efforts by far-right officials to change how votes will be counted next month. Many say the moves will sow doubt in this crucial swing state, creating chaos that could favor Trump.

A man wearing a Trump T-shirt had made his way through the voting rights group, most of whom were black, and smiled with satisfied amusement. Others began hanging pro-Trump flags behind them as police intervened. The mostly white conspiracy theorists pointed and laughed.

Can Kamala Harris defeat Trump's election in battleground Georgia? video

Isn't that a little disrespectful? I asked the laughing Trump supporter to my right.

I don't think you can tell me what you find disrespectful, she said contemptuously, chewing gum. I figure out what I want to do.

In a building dotted with relics of the past, from a plaque honoring Confederate Lieutenant William Ambrose Wright to a bronze statue of Martin Luther King, there was a keen sense of the precipice on which the country now finds itself and the prospect of a history that repeats itself. First, by re-electing Trump; second, by reinforcing the old anti-democratic values ​​that he has come to embody. This election has the potential to end in tragedy and farce simultaneously.

For the next six weeks, I'm going to the United States with filmmaker Tom Silverstone for our series Anywhere but Washington. It's not a question of predicting who will win a question that perpetually obsesses American cable news, but which remains unanswered until November 5. Polls indicate a relentlessly close race, not only in Georgia, but in all seven critical battleground states. Instead, we focus on the communities most at stake, the policy failures, and other forces driving the catastrophic spiral of polarization in American politics. And we will wonder if there is any hope of progress, whatever the outcome.

In Georgia, the hotbed of election denialism in 2020 and the site of Trump's failed efforts to pressure officials into getting him enough votes to overturn the result, the microcosms of the presidential election stretch far beyond the State Capitol building. In suburban Atlanta, I followed a race for the 48th Senate District, where a young Democrat, Ashwin Ramaswami, is running against incumbent Republican Shawn Still.

Ramaswami, a slim, bespectacled computer science graduate, is in the running to become the state's first Indian-American senator from Generation Z here. He was inspired to run, he said, after discovering that Still was charged with multiple crimes as part of an alleged plot to fraudulently seize the 2020 election for Trump. Stills' case is part of a broader election racketeering prosecution in Atlanta that saw him indicted alongside Trump and 17 others. (Trump and Still have pleaded not guilty.)

Oliver Laughland meets Ashwin Ramaswami, the Democratic State Senate candidate for Georgia's 48th District. Photograph: Tom Silverstone/The Guardian

The 25-year-old's parents beamed with pride as they discussed their sons' candidacy and told me they had emigrated to the United States from the same part of India as Kamala Harris' mother, Shyamala Gopalan . She will break the ceiling, says her mother, Kalyani. And Ashwin is one of them.

Georgia State Senator Shawn Still has been charged with seven felonies in connection with an alleged plot to fraudulently take over the 2020 election. Photograph: Fulton County Sheriff's Office/EPA

It was in this competitive race, located in rapidly diversifying neighborhoods, that I found my first kernel of hope and clarity. As he walked the streets, Ramaswami spoke with a young voter who was unaware that her state senator had been involved in an alleged criminal enterprise aimed at subverting democracy. She listened intently as Ramaswami gave his speech, which included smooth arguments in favor of gun control and abortion rights.

We need like-minded people our age to make a difference, she said. Everything must evolve. If we can evolve in our technology, why can't we evolve in our government?

Like many other Georgia Republican elected officials, Still did not respond to our requests for an interview. And so, in an effort to find more voices on the other side, we went to conservative-leaning Fayette County. Here we came upon a gargantuan bus, daubed with stars and stripes and a giant portrait of a smiling Trump.

The Trump Bus, as it's known, has been running around the state since 2015, when its owner, Danny Hamilton, was drawn into the Maga movement. It serves as a giant billboard and vast store of Trump-themed merchandise.

He showed me the goods. Much of it consisted of T-shirts, caps and flags, but also more sinister items, like a large Trump-branded knife. Most of it was imported from China. I asked if he was concerned about Trump's promise to impose significant tariffs on Chinese imports.

Ramaswami speaking to a young voter on the campaign trail. Photograph: Tom Silverstone/The Guardian

I'm a multi-millionaire, he said, revealing that it was all a personal passion project. I don't need this shit.

Although Trumpism is a multifaceted political movement, I have discovered that some of the most ardent billionaire supporters may have the least to lose in a high-stakes election.

Everyone gathered around the bus was well aware of the conspiracy lexicon of the Trump bubble. But discussions of the two recent assassination attempts against the former president have pushed the needle to a new level where radical Democrats are suspected of orchestrating the incidents.

Many of the fears expressed by both sides, namely widespread political violence, targeted assassinations and a drift toward autocratic rule, might have seemed ridiculous four years ago. But when I looked at the knife with Trump's face etched into the handle, it became clearer that they are more realistic now than at any time in recent history.

Oliver Laughland is the head of the Guardians' southern US bureau

Sources 1/ https://Google.com/ 2/ https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2024/oct/04/the-us-election-is-on-a-knife-edge-my-trip-to-georgia-showed-how-easily-it-could-end-in-tragedy The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article

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