He’s not a Republican phenomenon. He’s part of a troubling global movement toward populism and nationalism.
Donald Trump speaks to guests gathered for a rally on July 25, 2015 in Oskaloosa, Iowa.To understand the rise of Donald Trump, you’d do well not to fixate on the fact that he’s running under the Republican banner. During Thursday night’s Fox News debate, Trump made it clear that failing to secure the GOP nomination wouldn’t stop him from exploring an independent candidacy. And honestly, he’d be crazy not to. Trump is very far from a Republican regular. He represents an entirely different phenomenon, one that bears little resemblance to garden-variety American conservatism. That’s why Republicans shouldn’t fool themselves into believing that one lackluster debate performance will send him packing.
Go to almost any European democracy and you will find that the parties of the center-right and center-left that have dominated the political scene since the Second World War are losing ground to new political movements. What these movements have in common is that they manage to blend populism and nationalism into a potent anti-establishment brew. One of the first political figures to perfect this brand of politics was the very Trumpian Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian media tycoon who rose to power as part of a coalition of right-of-center parties in the mid-1990s, and who has been in and out of power ever since, dodging corruption charges and worse all the while. More recently, the miserable state of Europe’s economies has fueled the rise of dozens of other parties. Britain’s Labour Party has been devastated by the rise not only of the leftist Scottish National Party, but also by UKIP, a movement of the right that has been growing at Labour’s expense by campaigning against mass immigration, and by largely abandoning what had been its more libertarian line on the welfare state. UKIP’s leader, Nigel Farage, has a penchant for bombast that endears him his working-class base, which might sound familiar to you.
The Danish People’s Party went from the far-right fringe to become Denmark’s second-largest party by combining anti-immigration sentiment with a commitment to protecting social programs that serve native Danes. In neighboring Sweden, the Sweden Democrats are trying to pull off a similar feat, which is challenging in light of the party’s neofascist roots. France’s National Front has been a major player for decades, yet under its current leader, Marine Le Pen, is on the verge of a major electoral breakthrough, despite near-constant infighting. The most successful populist movements in southern Europe—Podemos in Spain, the Five Star Movement in Italy, and Syriza in Greece—are generally on the left rather than the right, yet they’re just as aggressively anti-establishment as their right-wing counterparts.
So what does any of this have to do with Trump? As a political outsider, Trump has the freedom to say or do almost anything. While every other Republican on stage Thursday night made an effort to demonstrate their conservative bona fides, justifying this or that heresy by invoking the Bill of Rights or the memory of the sainted Ronald Reagan, Trump had no compunction about breaking with ideological orthodoxy. When asked about his past support for a Canadian-style single-payer health system, Trump didn’t back down. Instead of repudiating his past position, or apologizing for it, he said that “as far as single-payer, it works in Canada. It works incredibly well in Scotland.
It could have worked in a different age, which is the age you’re talking about here.” Why didn’t Trump reverse himself? It could be that he recognizes that there are many GOP voters who are just as passionate about defending Medicare as they are about protecting America’s borders, and that the prospect of Medicare-for-all might not faze them. Or it could be that he realizes that the forces that have pushed him to the top of the GOP primary fight are far bigger than just the Republican Party, and he need not toe the line to keep his candidacy alive.
Bear Klein Said:
State bet and then what you are willing to lose. I didn’t call you any names. 😛
rsklaroff Said:
If he was “brainwashed” he’s to stupid to be President.
@ rsklaroff:
Maybe some do not accept his position.
However in a general election he is very electable in a way that only a couple of the current Republicans are. People in the end need to factor that in. The perfect candidate to the
right side of the spectrum on the republican/conservative side probably would not win a general election.
Republicans need to win two out of the following three states Florida (Rubio would be the favorite in a general election), Ohio or Pennsylvania.
Rubio has never discounted the goals of the Gang of Eight; indeed, reminiscent of George Romney, he claims he was brainwashed by [here, “should have mistrusted”] Schumer.
Bear Klein Said:
When it comes to insults, Trump, trumps Yamit82 !!!
yamit82 Said:
You emerged from your cave in order to make [ you should excuse the expression] a ” ham handed” joke ?
@ yamit82: What were your political predictions and excuses why Yachad did not make the threshold? As usual you are good at insults and not analysis.
That is probably why you like Trump, two masters of name calling.
How much you want to bet?
@ rsklaroff:
http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2015/04/13/3644830/11-million-problems-and-a-path-to-citizenship-aint-one/
patience….
@ Bear Klein:
You a peddling common talking head Bon Ton talking points what passes for common political wisdom…. You will lose again and your track record should have rendered you humble by now since wisdom and discernment are evidently beyond you. Trump will Trump haaaa!!
Marco is also for amnesty…problematic.
It’s too early to flip-over-the-cards.
The pro Israel candidate people should seriously start considering is Marco Rubio. https://www.facebook.com/Rubio4President2016
@ yamit82:Yes Yamit I want to bet that Trump will not be the Republican nominee.
A change in demeanor and coming out with substantive policy positions is his only chance. Can a Zebra change his stripes?
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsmax-Tv/newt-gingrich-donald-trump-substance-big/2015/08/11/id/669643/
If Trump were somehow to be the Republican nominee almost any Democrat would win as Trump will not get any Latino votes (or no more than 10%).
martin Said:
I agree Martin: Trump all the way….It’s his to lose and he ain’t a loser. The losers are those who oppose him. 🙂
Although I quibble with the final conclusions [ignoring Cruz], note the results of a shake-out [absent Trump]:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-five-plausible-gop-candidates-1439333581
Ted Belman Said:
Yes ignore it. It means nothing today…
rsklaroff Said:
Trump will Trump all opponents 😛
Bear Klein Said:
Wanna bet? LOL
Trump numbers are half of what they were. Still on top but he peaked and 55% who saw the debates say they no longer support him. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/
He will not be the Republican nominee. When the field narrows in a few months, the voters will consolidate on another Republican canidate.
He will drop as policies emerge…such as funding Planned Parenthood.
Trump has been a liberal democrat all his life. Do we ignote that.
Listen to this.
@ zionlover:
Have you ever considered, that in times of societal stress, people change their opinions about public policy with greater frequency than you would consider to be normal? I think Trump’s popularity is increasing because he thinks and talks like an average, everyday citizen. He communicates directly to us. Like him, people like me do not trust government for much of anything, and we tend to trust politicians even less than the policies they scheme up and enforce.
Liberal Jews — and I never have been that kind of Jew — tend to respond to the world and its great events as if they were participating in some sort of debating society. Not for no reason do Israeli debating teams win prizes in such contests around Europe. But the real world is geared to operate as a perpetual struggle for power, not for justice, not for human rights, and assuredly, not for tikun haOlam, which, in any case, is an unachievable goal.
What a lot of us are looking for around here is not more political blather, but hard, swift, and thorough action.
That means action to stop any and all illegal immigration, including rounding up the illegals and expelling them, seeing to it that as long as they are still on our side of the border, they will have no rights whatsoever to employment, social welfare, education, voting rights, or anything else denied to foreigners who committed a crime crossing our borders illegally.
That also means stopping the imbalance of US trade that shuts down manufacturing plants all around this country, so that Americans lose their formerly stable jobs and are compelled to purchase everyday products manufactured in countries such as China.
There’s another factor at work here. An increasing number of Americans have no interest in turning this republic into another principate such as that of the Roman Empire, by putting into the White House the children, brothers, or cousins of former presidents. Rather than voting either for Hillary Clinton or Jeb Bush, I would almost prefer to sit out the election. Many of us, including folks like me, want fresh faces who have risen to prominence without having to make secret deals with the moneybags who control government here at every level. Trump is a fresh, and refreshing, face and personality, who thinks our thoughts, shares our dreams, and is not afraid to speak his mind.
And that kind of personality is never afraid to change his policies to suit the needs of the hour.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
He will sink as specifics emerge
I’m still surprised Trump polls so well. He changes opinions with the wind. For example, he said he would shut down the government to defund Planned Parenthood. Now he says he’s open to funding the good aspects of PP. Of course, we know PP will use the money the way they wish. Does he really care about the country or does he just want attention?
Trump is the monster created by corporatist Republicans who control the party. When you relentlessly deceive and betray your voters on behalf of the Fortune 500, a populist revolt will inevitably occur. Trump is merely a vehicle for the widespread discontent of the rank and file. Should he falter, conservatives will find another vehicle with which to oppose the establishment.
If the GOP really wants the rebellion to disappear, it must stop lavishing its voters with contempt…and that ain’t going to happen.
I’m really surprised that Trump is still high in the polls. Could he be a Democratic plant?
People who dislike Trump appreciate his candor but resent his tendency to “shoot from the lip.”
@ ArnoldHarris:
I must say I don’t understand why otherwise intelligent people – both here in Israpundit, and in general – can’t grasp this simple and obvious point.
Watch Bloomberg
I see no evidence that any of the crowd of regular Republican presidential wannabes have dented Donald Trump’s continued dominance of the polls. He is ahead of Cruz by 4 to 1, and he even beats Jeb Bush in Bush’s home state of Florida. What is happening is that Trump is capturing not only the Republican base but also is attracting large numbers of people who rarely vote at all, because they don’t trust politics and politicians. These are the kind of Americans who respect those who say exactly what’s on their minds, with neither political correctness nor bullshit. It has been a very long time since the USA witnessed such a phenomenon in the run-up to a presidential election. For sure, the hidden hands that control the Republican Party hate and fear Trump. But the more they show this hate and fear, the stronger he becomes.
Meanwhile, on the Democratic Party side of the process, voters who think Hilary Clinton is honest and trustworthy are now outnumbered by those who consider her dishonest and untrustworthy. The possibility that she won’t be the Democrat candidate for the presidency grows, along with growing interest in drafting Joe Biden for a presidential campaign run, both loom stronger.
I welcome all this.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
The key-point, here, is to ensure Cruz is the POTUS-candidate; he will choose the optimal Veep based upon his strong intellect…and I doubt it will be Carly. Actually, based upon what I’ve read/heard, the best option from among the competitors may be Jindal [says all the right things, governor, Indian, ethical, intellectual, articulate, likable, etc.].
I agree with Bear Klein about Trump and rsklaroff that Cruz is the real deal. Though I did not like the way the moderators acted toward Trump as well as other candidates during the debate, Trump had a choice about how to act and he acted like a five year old during and after the debate. He is not presidential. Most importantly, I don’t think we can trust Trump. How do we know he will not go back to his liberal ideas? How do we know he will really implement things like a border wall with Mexico? He even admitted during the debate that he donates to people to gain favors from them. Who will he donate to next? I am truly surprised at how he is still high in the polls. Cruz is honest, says what he thinks, has strong principles and does not insult everyone. I’m afraid Trump will doom us one way or the other.
Regarding Cruz, the goal was simply to capture what some may view as levity.
Regarding Carly:
Carly Fiorina: Islamic Civilization was “Greatest in the World”
http://freedomoutpost.com/2015/06/carly-fiorina-islamic-civilization-was-greatest-in-the-world/#K5IP3lSH4l8vKgPu.99
Carly Fiorina stood with Republican Establishment AGAINST CRUZ in 2013 government shutdown
http://therightscoop.com/carly-fiorina-stood-with-republican-establishment-against-cruz-in-2013-government-shutdown/
Carly Fiorina is open to legal status for adult illegal immigrants, citizenship for their kids
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jun/15/carly-fiorina-open-legal-status-adult-illegal-immi/
@ rsklaroff:
There are about a quarter-million machine guns registered by the US Treasury Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. I should know, because, because for many years I helped organize and run submachine gun matches around southern Wisconsin, and I got certified as a gunrange safety officer for automatic weapons, and competed in these matches with my own firearms.
So I found Cruz’s video childish and misleading. Many of these particular firearms are expensive collector’s items, and the last thing the owner of any one of them would want to do is to ruin the blued or military parkerized finish with red-hot bacon grease., to say nothing of this stuff catching fire if it dripped up to the barrel muzzle.
RSK, maybe I’m mistaken here, but I cannot seriously imagine you as a gun owner and regular shooter. If you had tried a stunt such as shown in your video, and had done so in any match officiated by gunrange safety officers certified for automatic weapons firing, any one of us would have told you to unload, re-case your firearm, and try your stunts elsewhere.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
Will provide hyperlink in a few hours to piece that annotated speech while she ran HP.
@ Ted Belman:
Ted, perhaps you should take a look at Gates of Vienna (page down) to see a little more about Fiorina. She has given some “interesting” speeches, as rsklaroff implies.
Carly has problematic positions that are not easily defensible…supporting amnesty, opposing Cruz’s effort to stop ObamaCare, and praising Islamic supremacy. She is the default candidate for wall street if Jeb! falls and Christie, Rubio and Kasich falter.
@ babushka:Thanks. I like Cruz and Fiorina. Nice to see they are doing well.
I was charmed. A lot of people were charmed. A whole lotta people:
http://www.pdf.investintech.com/preview/33f7458c-3ec9-11e5-9555-002590d31986/index.html
I like Cruz, and I like his positions. As many a soldier of the kind I used to know would have said: “He can drink from my canteen any day.”
But right now, he’s only in the nether regions of the polls for all 17 Republican candidates. And there’s no indication he’s about to climb aboard the up-bound escalator.
Donald Trump is the one candidate who is expressing some of the most deeply-embedded thoughts of average Americans, few of whom trust professional politicians to do more than make promises which somehow never materialize into action. Lot’s of folks in Israel are beginning to view the politicians there in the same light. But over here, everything is starting to remind historians of the crack-up of the Roman Empire after the neighboring tribesmen in from northern Europe broke through their defenses late in the 4th century. Many of us want to ditch political correctness and just get the job done right.
Does he come across tough and brutal? Sure he does. But the conditions this country and much of the civilized world faces is beginning to look a hell of a lot tougher, more brutal, and threatening to everybody. So Trump looks better every day.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
Cruz has the positions, the stature, the personality, and the experience; nothing posted on this page alters this conclusion.
Even if Donald fell flat on his face–which the chattering classes at MSNBC would like to report gleefully – that’s OK. He still has my vote, and many others. Just take the trouble to read the thread of comments on many sites supporting Donald–and there are many!
If I was Donald I would tell all MSNBC smart alecks: ” Surrender? I have just begun to Fight! ”
To get elected all Donald has to do is (1) leave Social Security alone but weed out all those who are not qualified, there’s a lot of savings to be mined there (2) Pick up on Huckabee’s Consumption Tax idea and disband the IRS–the National Debt will be paid off and the economy will ignite. (3) Build the wall–very high! And anyone who comes must speak English or no drivers license –no tower of Babble here – or we set up schools to teach English to newcomers we welcome here. (4) Rebuild the military to the best in the world–we got some people out there who want to kill us–just let em’ try! ( 5) Yes, keep Obamacare!! But improve, revise, and alter it to make it a system all of us would agree is the best health care system in the world–for Citizens only! ( 6) Limit all foreign aid, if any is necessary, to only friends and supporters, but only with two-thirds Congressional Approval –Congress is not a potted plant! — and ( 7) let the world take care of itself. We have enough to do to quickly repair the damage done to this Nation in the past 8 years to Make America Great.
@ ArnoldHarris:
Me too, and I’m not American. Neither am I particularly “nuanced” in my thinking.
And in view of what the above “Canary Mission” is attempting to do, a little Jewish fascism thrown into the mix may make our ideologically hidebound enemies a little less cavalier in their approach.
First, Trump does NOT “suit me fine”; recall his attack on Pamela Geller…which he failed to rescind when gently queried on its intensity [and incorrectness], noting his allegedly-favorable view of Speech Freedom.
Second, Ted Cruz is sufficiently able to express levity without losing a presidential mien.
Making Machine-Gun Bacon with Ted Cruz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaZGaJrd3x8
Donald Trump suits me fine. Just as I have been an unapologetic Jewish nationalist for about the past 50+ years, I have served the cause of the nationalist USA since I was an 18 year old when I joined the US Army Reserves right after high school in 1952. Does Trump portend some sort of American fascism? Probably not. But Jew though I am by birth and inclination, I never have been a liberal of any kind, and Jewish fascism wouldn’t bother me any more than it would have bothered Ze’ev Jabotinsky, Avraham Stern, Yisrael Eldad, or the great Rav Meir Kahane.
But back to Trump. He speaks directly into the ears and souls of Americans who no longer trust the political elites of either major political party. He speaks directly into MY soul. Do I want to stop illegal border crossing into this country? You can bet all your asses I do. And to accomplish that, I would not build a wall. I would station the United States army on that border, with a 1000-yard zone of death; plowed, sown with explosive mines, interlocking fields of machine-gun fire, trained vicious dogs, and backed by US soldiers given lawful orders to kill. Nobody and nothing living would cross that border except at official points of entry, and then only with visas issued by any duly-authorized consulate of the USA.
As for the millions of illegals already in this country, I would collect them all — men, women, and children — and expel them with nothing more than a promise to allow them to return but only with a duly-authorized US entrance visa. But without that, I would provide them no social, medical, educational, employment or other services, an they would have no right either vehicle licenses or the right to vote in any election in the United States.
And in case any of you are wondering about such questions, all this is precisely the kind of would want for the Jewish nation in Israel.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
@ rsklaroff:
Remains to be seen. Rubio shot himself in the foot in signing McCain’s letter. Cruz is smart but has no charisma.
But then again if McCain got the nomination 7 years ago, anyone can get it.
He will sink, particularly noting the departure of his Campaign Strategist, Roger Stone; Cruz will capture the populism [because, unlike the Huckster, he isn’t a big-spender] and mobilize it with patriots [who aren’t blind-nationalists] and become #45.
As opposed to what? Elitism and Globalism?