Donald Trump as President? 2016 will test USA's founding spirit
Election year has arrived. In 2016, United States of America will vote to elect its 45th president. The race for Barack Obama's successor in the Oval Office will culminate on November 8, but it will set in motion from February onwards. Presidential hopefuls are geared up to battle it out in presidential primaries to become their respective party's nominees.No matter what results Iowa and New Hampshire throw up (the former goes to polls on February 1 while the latter will follow suit on February 9), the likely outcomes are bound to make voters question the conceptual notions of the United States.
If trends are to be believed, billionaire tycoon Donald Trump might well emerge as the frontrunner among the Republicans. Trump's campaign rhetoric has not only enabled him to draw conservative voters to his election rallies, but also attracted constant media glare which has kept him in the headlines for more time than what most expected.
For the liberal American voter whose idea of America revolves around liberty and freedom Trump is a nightmare. Here is a candidate who has openly called for barring Muslims from entering the United States till the "country's representatives can figure out what is going on." Trump's Islamophobia has turned him into an object of appeal for myopic voters who find him echoing their own parochial views about groups like Muslims and Mexicans. On the other hand, the liberal American detests him for such invective rhetoric. Such voters loathe Trump for the misogyny he exhibited by targeting Hillary Clinton when she supposedly indulged in the "disgusting" act of using a bathroom in the middle of a democratic debate in December last year.
They view Trump much like the illusion of Imran Khan. Despite his tall claims of popularity, Imran Khan was far from becoming the prime minister of Pakistan during the 2013 General Elections. The election which led to the first successful democratic transition in Pakistan's history saw Imran's party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) win only 35 seats. The tsunami which Imran repeatedly spoke of during the campaign trail was never really triggered. Instead, it was former prime minister Nawaz Sharif who stormed back to power by wiping out all competition on the ground.
Liberal America constantly reaffirms its faith in American democracy by proclaiming that Donald Trump will never become the president of the United States. Owing to his previous avatar as a cricketer, Imran Khan manages fair amount of media coverage in Pakistan but has so far not been able to convert that popularity into votes during elections. Similar yardsticks may well be applied to Trump.
Some might argue that since Trump is a television personality and a professional at delivering provocative statements, he will forever manage media limelight but there is a very limited scope of him standing a real chance in the presidential elections because he simply doesn't possess the ability to win votes. However, a victory for Trump in the upcoming primaries might set the alarm bells ringing for liberal Americans. In such a scenario, they will be forced to think whether America of the 21st century is truly a land of the free or a conservative nation where anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric can catapult one to the highest office of the land in Washington.
74-year-old Bernie Sanders is another surprise frontrunner in the presidential primaries. Unlike Trump, Sanders' campaign hardly attracted media attention. But Sanders' popularity soared as he repeatedly spoke out against income inequality. His campaign rewrote the record books by raising funds from over 2.5 million donations.
But for many Americans, Bernie too (like Trump) is unelectable. Why? Because he calls himself a "democratic socialist" who has claimed that CEOs of large multinational corporations will not like him and Wall Street is going to like him even less. In a country where the top one per cent is said to be making more money than the bottom 99 percent, taxing the super rich harshly may well sound like a legitimate idea. But what private enterprise loving Americans hate about Bernie is his socialist tag.
After all, at the end of the day, it is supposedly the competitive spirit unleashed by capitalistic forces which has brought wealth to several Americans. Forbes Global 2000 or Fortune 500 companies' lists would not have had such a huge American presence if the United States government had come in the way of their entrepreneurs. The other side might say that because the US government didn't do much about regulating private firms, big companies presided over and built an unjust financial empire which facilitated improper distribution of wealth.
But how many Americans really believe in the latter argument? That number will determine Bernie's presidential bid. However, for others, Bernie's early lead in Iowa and New Hampshire would mean the United States drifting away from the influence of capitalism into a new era of democratic socialism and viewed as suspicious and inconsistent with the great American dream premised on flourishing private enterprises.
Let's now talk about two candidates who have not had the kind of impact which they were expected to make during the primaries. Hillary Clinton wasn't even supposed to be pushed this hard to clinch the democratic nomination but unfortunately for the Clinton camp, she is. On the other hand, Jeb Bush is failing to brush aside the label of a "low energy candidate" and portray himself as presidential material.
Electoral politics is dramatic because its outcome is often bizarre. There is a possibility that Iowa and New Hampshire might reward Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush during the Democratic and Republican primaries, respectively. But that is likely going to result in another set of voters questioning the foundation of American democracy.
Hillary and Jeb have had had considerable success as politicians. While Hillary has previously served as secretary of state and senator from New York, Jeb was the governor of Florida. But can Americans forget their surnames? Hillary is the wife of former US president Bill Clinton while Jeb is the son of George HW Bush and brother of George W Bush, both former US presidents.
People in India might have become accustomed to family or dynasty politics in a democratic set up (Nehru Gandhi family at the Centre, Abdullahs and Muftis in Kashmir, Badals in Punjab, Yadavs in Uttar Pradesh and Thackerays in Maharashtra), but are Americans prepared for the same? A Bush-Clinton combat is bound to mar the notion of making it big in America where even a B-grade Hollywood actor like Ronal Reagan could become president and so could an Afro-American like Barack Obama.
But the simultaneous rise of Hillary and Jeb (only if it happens so) is bound to lend credence to the necessity of being privileged to gain political power. Hence, the question that will arise is: In today's America can anyone become the president or are you required to possess a fashionable last name like Clinton or Bush?
The primary scene will not be clear till at least Super Tuesday on March 1, the day when the highest number of American states will vote to choose delegates to the national convention who will eventually nominate the Democratic and Republican Party's presidential candidates. But what is certain is that a triumph for Trump, Bernie, Hillary or Jeb is sure to infuriate some Americans and challenge their conception of religious freedom, economic liberty and political opportunity in the United States. The real challenge, however, would kickstart from January next year when the new president will take over the reins of the Oval Office.
The 45th president would hopefully bring over 300 million Americans from various backgrounds (religion, race, sex, ethnicity and sexual orientation) together to give the American economy a fresh impetus, stability and provide new shape to the country's foreign policy.