Tag Archives: Donald Trump

Bernie And Donald Busting Up The Status Quo

The 2016 presidential race is shaping up to be one for the history books. Both the Republicans and the Democrats are all fired up and excited about busting up the status quo, with Donald Trump on one side and Bernie Sanders on the other. This, despite attempts by the establishment to make sure that neither a Trump presidency nor a Sanders presidency will ever see the light of day. Although the overall look and feel of the Trump and Sanders campaigns couldn’t be more different, the general sentiment that is fueling them is pretty much the same.

There is a feeling on both sides of the aisle that the mainstream candidates do not speak for the people, but rather for corporate and special interests. Both Sanders and Trump can say whatever they want to say without fear of alienating big-money donors. The same cannot be said for Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton. Although she has not directly accepted money from the oil and fossil fuel industry, she has accepted money from people who work for the industry, and foundations linked to Clinton have accepted large donations from corporations like Exxon Mobil and Chevron. With this in mind, is it any wonder why Hillary has flip-flopped on issues such as fracking?

Shortly before the Iowa caucuses, Clinton attended a fundraiser at the headquarters of pro-fracking advocate and major fossil fuel industry contributor Franklin Square Capital Partners. This should come as no surprise to anyone, though. Rubbing noses with corporate interests is nothing new to Hillary Clinton, nor is it any coincidence that she was in favor of bailing out Wall Street and the big banks, and three of the top contributors to her campaign just so happen to be Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Lehman Brothers and the like.

The rise of Bernie Sanders on the left and Donald Trump on the right is the collective voice of the American people saying, “Enough, already.” However, it seems as though Trump supporters aren’t so much against their candidate taking money from special interests. For them it is much more visceral, a sense that something has gone wrong in America and that Trump, with his faux working-man appeal, can “make America great again.” How he is going to do that (other than deporting immigrants and building a wall to keep Mexicans out) is unclear, but it doesn’t matter. Trump is the voice of the angry white mob who are fed up after eight years of Barack Obama.

One thing holds true for both Republicans and Democrats, and that is that neither party is going to make it easy for a Trump or Sanders presidency to happen. The anti-Trump sentiment is palpable in the GOP, with most of the establishment rallying around Ted Cruz. As for Sanders, while he may be shaping up to be the more popular candidate, the Democrats have an army of superdelegates who support Hillary Clinton. These superdelegates are not elected in primaries, but are appointed by party heads and usually support whichever candidate the establishment deems more electable. In the end, it’s going to take a massive turnout by Democrats for Sanders to win the nomination. Trump, on the other hand, is becoming more and more of a shoo-in every day. However, once he clinches the nomination, will Trump’s brash behavior be a bane or a boon in the general election? At this point the 2016 political betting odds tell us that the primary wont be much of an issue for Trump but his odds go down a great bit in the general election.

Donald Trump: The Politics Of Rage

trump150It keeps on happening. A little-known billionaire businessman by the name of Trump continues to dominate the GOP field in most of the primaries so far. With each win, Donald Trump’s betting odds get better and better. He has pulled off what was once thought to be impossible: becoming the Republican front-runner for the 2016 presidential race. He won seven of the eleven states on Super Tuesday. Combined with his early wins in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, he now has a total of 316 delegates. Not too far behind him is Ted Cruz, who has 226 delegates. Still, Trump is all set to win the GOP nomination to be the next POTUS.

The Republicans have done a good job shooting themselves in the foot this election season, first by underestimating Trump and the dissatisfaction of voters with the GOP establishment, and secondly by adopting “winner-take-all” rules in 15 states, which account for 36 percent of Republican delegates. When these rules were adopted, Trump was still thought of as a novelty by most in the GOP. Take Florida, for example. If Trump wins the Sunshine State, he will get all of Florida’s 99 delegates. Republicans have a reason to be scared. They would rather not have such a polarizing figure representing their party, and therein lies the problem.

Many conservatives do not trust any of the mainstream candidates vying for the nomination. They are fed up with business as usual, and Trump’s popularity is primarily the voice of angry white people who feel left behind in an ever-diversifying America. Trump resonates particularly in Southern states, where his brash rhetoric is a mark of toughness and authenticity in a region where people often feel looked down on by elitist liberals in Washington, Hollywood, and many northern states. However, when former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke gives you his endorsement, it’s probably a good time to take a step back and reconsider your priorities.

Of course, in the culture of instant gratification, the loudest and brashest usually have the spotlight. Donald Trump certainly fits that mold. His is a sort of reality-TV politics that has reached its apotheosis in this three-ring circus passing for a presidential race. Insults upon insults, bullying tactics, below-the-belt blows…this is nothing new in American culture, but the Trump/Rubio/Cruz slugfest takes the cake. It is as if angry white people have gotten so fed up with Obama’s effete, soft-spoken demeanor that they now want the complete opposite. It’s not quite the same as wanting to have a beer with George W. Bush. It’s more like wanting a spokesman for everything you would like to say, but would probably get beaten up if you actually said it. Call it the politics of white rage.

The bigger question, though, is whether Trump can actually win against Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. Trump’s supporters are a very specific faction of the Republican Party. Many Republicans have said they will not vote for him if he gets the GOP nomination. This may be one of the factors in the way the political betting odds for the 2016 presidential election are trending towards Secretary Clinton winning it all. Democrats, on the other hand, are expected to rally around whoever is nominated, be it Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. At this point, the Democrats can just sit back and watch as The Donald shoots his mouth off until he’s red in the face, all sound and fury, signifying nothing.