In Brits Abroad, a series from i, we’ll be hearing from Brits living all over America on what life amid the 2020 US election is actually like, how it compares to the UK and whether the result will make them reassess their lives across the pond.
In 28 days, we should know the result of the next election. We will know who the US president will be for the next four years – unless the result is contested, which the current president has suggested is a possibility if he loses.
I arrived in the US in 2015 when President Obama was in power. After an opportunity came up through my husband’s job, our family moved from Singapore to Mamaroneck, a coastal town in Westchester, a county north of New York City.
We live in a blue (democratic) state, although one in three residents here voted for Donald Trump in the last election. We picked Mamaroneck because we loved the idea of living by the water. It has good state schools, which was also important as we have two daughters, aged 12 and nine. It is a friendly community with a diverse population. We ski in the winter and go paddle boarding or kayaking in the summer.
My husband used to run a design agency, but because of the enormous impact of Covid-19 on the economy here, like so many others he lost his job. We have our Green Cards, so we won’t be forced to leave after 30 days, but it is a worrying time. I am a freelance writer and several outlets I write for have shut down.
We are not citizens so we cannot vote. Instead we have to sit on the sidelines and it’s frustrating. I’ve always voted Conservative in the UK. My grandmother was an active member of the Conservative Party, holding wine and cheese events for the locals to drum up membership. Here I align more with the Democrats as I disagree with many of the current government’s policies, including their position on guns and climate change. I am also pro-choice.
Even choosing to wear a mask depends on whether you vote red or blue
When the 2016 election campaign kicked off, I began paying more and more attention to the news. I found it bewildering that someone like Donald Trump, who seemed more like a badly-behaved reality TV star than a future president, could even have a shot at the presidency. It was a shock result that the polls got so wrong.
Since then it’s been a roller coaster ride. Moral values no longer seem to matter and the nation has grown increasingly divided, with everything from coronavirus to racial inequality politicised. Even choosing to wear a mask depends on whether you vote red or blue.
At first, I used to have news on in the background all day while I worked, but I found the more I listened the more depressed I became. I’d like to think none of this would be allowed to happen in a UK election and one person would never be given so much power.
The 2020 election campaign is in full swing. Unlike in the UK where campaign donations are capped, here it is a lot about how much money you raise. There’s so much mudslinging, lies, and mistruths, and I’m sure it will only get worse in the next few weeks. Because of the pandemic, there’s a chance people might not go out to vote. There have been accusations from Trump that mail-in votes will result in fraud. I also wonder how much interference there is from certain other countries.
My family and friends back home can’t believe what’s happening over here, although things don’t seem much better over there either. Most of our friends here are anti-Trump and those that aren’t tend to keep quiet. I know one or two Republicans who say they will vote for Trump regardless because either they refuse to vote for a Democrat or they are happy about the economy, or at least they were before Covid.
I am worried about the outcome of the election. My husband wants to stay here regardless, but I’m not sure I could stomach another four years of chaos. I am also not sure raising our kids here is the right thing for us to do if the Democrats lose the election.
Janine Clements is an writer and content marketer from the UK. She has travelled the globe, lived on four continents and is currently based in New York with her family. You can find her on Instagram @21stcenurymama and Twitter @BritMominNY.
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