Why Donald Trump turn himself into a President?
Corolary of an alternative candidate
And yes… Here we are almost two years after the Trump’s election as the 45th President of the U.S., and definetly the most polemic one, the story about Trump race to the White House is intriguing, and by many ways, extreme –whether you admire him or hate him. Almost there is no middle ground when comes to presidential debates, Dunkeys and Elephants are struggling each other mouths’.
How to start and why did I decide to make a blog regarding the Donald, and actually it is because was the first time the U.S. election caught my attention almost 24/7… The race was dramatic and intriguing. In one side, the Democrats were eager and desperate to keep the White House after carrying two straight periods where the Economy got stagnated and was trying to revamp up. The Republican side never looked so diminished and emaciated – almost like a skull some dare to state, living a constant siege for the liberal media – NYTimes, Washington Post, CNBC, etc etc. It was the usual sketch: Media boosting the establishment-leaning Democratic candidate (Hillary) and at the same time bullying the entire variety of Red candidates, nothing new. The establishment republicans – those who have co-governed with democrats for so long – got plenty of critics coming from CNN, NYT and CNBC reporters, many journalists – where are those in this very moment? – defy the Red Party and asserted it was doomed.
Since the beginning, Trump’s candidature was completely ridiculed by the media, and sometimes by himself, but there was an strategy that from the time no one in the academia or the liberal intelligentsia could imagined: The first major takeover of a traditional Party in America, and it was leading by a populist, by someone with experience in red carpet not in political dynamics, for most of the analysts the race was going to be an easy test for the Blues.
Some economic background
Due to the fact of many factors, including a changing hegemony in the world order, the population in America, and specially the middle class, were extremely uncertain about their future, they were worried about his savings and their economic situation – losing ground every day with immigrant population seeking lower waged jobs. The principal worrying was the Economy and the fact that China is taking toll on the American dream.
Obama legacy were not capable of facing assertively the economic crisis in many dimensions, regarding the all-time-high public debt ceiling that America reached in the final days of Barack… And the collapse in the application of the Health Care Act – better known as ObamaCare.
The media tried to manipulate and focus the lights in another areas – such as immigrants’ rights, keeping Obamacare and the Russian election meddling – but they failed it, mainly because the people prioritized the complex macroeconomic situation about U.S. losing his starring place as Hegemon in the World (China still today is closer and closer in order to surpass him).
There were only two candidates that could comprehend the economic uncertainties deeply: Bernie Sanders from the left side and Donald Trump from the right side. Both candidates feel more comfortable in political rallies with countrymen than cocktails in Washington D.C. (the public enemy for the people in the countryside).
Undervalued for many, Trump could accomplish a major goal for being a Charismatic bravado guy who could entail some charisma with middle and lower class of the American society. In certain ways, it was the groundbreaking stage in America history, because the democratic system in U.S. was eschewed to maintain the ‘dangerous’ populist outside of the equation.
The Electoral College: The paradox that lead Trump towards the White House
Life is full of ironies, sometimes we’ve heard, and 2016 Election will be remembered as the year the U.S. democracy were put in a real test (not a successful one?) about the popular will and the real sentiment of the American citizens.
In many ways, the Electoral College were designed to keep check and balances between wealthier states and poorer ones, adding some electoral votes according to states with lower population share in order to give them the leverage need to bargain with the richer states (normally the most industrialized and cosmopolitan ones). For the wealthier the system works well if the status quo were not threated at all, the upper class got many deals with old school democrats and republicans, no big deal about it.
But with Trump and Sanders, at first glance, was different… Because both were charismatic strongman with an incredible rhetorical power against the ruling class and for the blue-collar population (the one who will decide this round).
The Electoral College system is quite complicated for people like me – non U.S. citizen – and I must admit I had to do a lot of research to understand it at first.
The system consists in 538 delegates who cast votes to decide the President and Vice-President of the United States. When voters go to the polls on Tuesday, they will be choosing which candidate receives their state’s electors. The candidate who receives a majority of electoral votes (270) wins the Presidency. The number 538 is the sum of the nation’s 435 Representatives, 100 Senators, and 3 electors given to the District of Columbia. The politics are complex but in sum you need 270 or more delegates to assure your post in the U.S. presidency.
Before that, you have a Republican and Democratic primaries to declare their respective nominees to the race. The race was critical for the presidency and until the end the media always try to boycott the Trump candidacy – without any accomplishment.
An outsider has arrived to the Party (and the White House)
And it was a marvelous journey through the Republic Candidature, Trump fight face-to-face with many professional politics and for the first time since Pat Buchanan, the Republican Party got four inner branches – the establishment moderates, the conservatives, the libertarians and the populist side. The GOP Primaries were complex and travel through the entire country: the northeastern industrial states, northwestern countryside, ‘wild west’ mid westerns, south westerns and southerners, every corner of the country got first an extensive inner fight between the republican and a posteriori fight between Hillary and Trump.
The debate between the candidates begins, but sooner than later the republican establishment understood the immense advantage the Donald had taken to the people, to the vernacular guy in every farmland, whose have been forgotten for many ages for the ruling American class – busy in enriching the coastline but no the inner states.
Trump and his charismatic power intend to create a loyal mass who felt betrayed for the R.I.N.O establishment and the deals obtained between them and Obama. That was his main support center and Trump never forgot it (not until this days). That mass we not paying attention to the liberal tabloids or the prestigious magazines, that people were just worried about reminiscing the old-fashioned glory of their land.
And that is why Trump – and his sort of reaganesque tone with “Make America First Again” – took the heart of so many people desperate to obtain something better and to restore the post second war era in the U.S.
Of course the liberal media got caught in a fight with him, and of course every debate were biased and most of the time Trump were ridiculed, but that media arrogance just sustain the popular effervescence surrounding Trump. The political incorrectness had arrived in politics and were not sanctioned for the “informal” rules that allegedly the American system has had.
But once again, a complete u-turn was orchestrated by Trump, and with the winning in the North Eastern states, he secures the republican nomination, defeating Kasich – a moderate - and Ted Cruz – a conservative one.
In the ongoing race, Trump vs Clinton was a so-desired duel for the liberal media, and the debates and the specialized analytics programs described an “incredible” performance for Hillary Clinton in every chance they face each other. Trump was doomed to lose, everybody says – NYTIMES posted 10% Trump winning chance just one hour earlier the booth ballots were closed across the states.
But then again, the mastery of Trump was acting rapidly, and with all odds against him the Donald works better, he rallied a record of political rallies across the north-eastern states to pledge blue-collar workers loyalty, mimicking the same strategy used for Reagan many years ago. And the Democrat and liberal media were so overconfident that they didn’t realize those relatively wealthy states would be in the blacklist for Santas’ 2016 trip.
It was a surprise for almost everyone, specially for Wisconsin, the state hasn’t casted a ballot for a republican candidate since the early 80’s, and Pennsylvania who was a state heavily covered by Barack Obama proselytist speeches.
Besides, the Electoral College works in Trump’s favour, while Clinton had a higher share of the popular vote than Trump, the Republican was able to take a series of key battleground states including Florida, Ohio and North Carolina, before stunningly carrying Pennsylvania, a state that had not backed a Republican for president since 1988.
Whether the country can realistically heal its deep political divisions now remains to be seen. Republicans maintained control of the Senate and limited their losses in the House, giving Trump a nominally friendly Congress when he took the oath of office on Jan. 20. The first deal? Undoing the major achievements of the Obama administration — or so he has promised, like he pledged to his support base for the entire campaing.
He struck a conciliatory note toward a rival who only weeks earlier he had threatened, to her face, to imprison if he were elected. “Hillary has worked very long and very hard over a long period of time,” Trump said, “and we owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country.”
Clinton, for her part, conceded to Trump in a phone call but did not address her supporters and timidly accept publicly her outstanding defeat – despite the entire ruling class support. Her campaign chairman sent them home before the race was called and the Democratic congress were full in tears.
In the speech of inauguration, as president elected, Trump stated to his opponents: “I am reaching out to you for your guidance and your help so we can work together and unify our great nation.”
Trump the charismatic and authentic outsider, his legends bemoans inciting love and hatred with parity worldwide, the one who defeat the entire political architecture, the one ridiculed by many but highlighted for others – still de 2020 presidential race is up to everything… it might be a Pandora Box again (?).
Note: I have studied the Trump case since the early 2016 and were extremely active in the US presidential campaign, in an academic level i have majored Political Science. I am making a political subjective essay, is not intended to express hate speech or violence. Is my personal assessment and just have the purpose to reflect some analysis based on facts.
Thanks for the kind support
