Donald Trump’s presidential hopes have been in meltdown in the last week. On Friday last week, a tape surfaced of Trump in 2005 preparing for a TV appearance by bragging about sexual assault. The tapes hit Trump hard as he was forced to ‘apologize’ describing it as ‘locker room talk’ in the second Presidential Debate with his opponent, Hillary Clinton. As of now, Trump’s poll numbers are falling like wildfire and he’s behind in key swing states like Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania- states he needs to win. His chances are dropping by the day as he finds himself engulfed in a conflict with his own party hierarchy who have been left no choice but to denounce him for his sexist comments. The release of those tapes have really boosted Hillary Clinton’s numbers and it’s looking more likely that she’ll emerge victorious on November 8th. It’s somewhat ironic that in all the criticism Trump has gotten from the Establishment in the past week, there’s been a convenient forgetting of the fact that he’s a creation of theirs.
The Republican Party have had ample opportunities to disavow Trump for over a year with his comments on Mexico, his proposed Muslim ban, his use of the Birther conspiracy to undermine President Obama of being a Muslim, etc. Despite all this, they stood by him. Trump is the unfiltered representation of Republican policies against women, racial minorities, religious minorities, immigrants, etc. which has helped him tap into supporters who share those views. The Republican Party since Richard Nixon have had the same thoughts as Trump but in more socially acceptable language in order not to appeal to its fringe supporters. That has helped Trump in becoming the nominee despite having the likes of Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Chris Christie as he is not perceived as being a part of of the Republican establishment and is clearly not bound to ‘political correctness’.
However, some of his supporters are bound by economic insecurity which helps in feeding the narrative of his representing the ‘American Dream’. They have suffered the most from Republican policies like tax cuts for the wealthy which have caused their standard of living to stagnate over the past decades. However, the Democrats should also take blame for Trump’s rise having gone to the right embracing neoliberal policies like deregulation and free trade agreements under both the Bill Clinton and Barack Obama administrations which have also bred a degree of Democrat complacency.
I would not hide the fact that I want Hillary Clinton to win but she is a very flawed politician and will continue these neoliberal policies. However, she will be pushed to the fire in order to appease Bernie Sanders and improve her image as she will be unpopular if she wins on November 8th and might be bound to the ideas put forward by Bernie Sanders as Bernie and Elizabeth Warren are likely to be key players in the Senate if it goes to the Democrats.
Trump’s candidacy was/is a joke. Now people aren’t laughing anymore as he could win if he could pull off a recovery (highly unlikely) at this juncture in the election. If another candidate in 2020 had the same thoughts as Trump but not a more controlled temperament, that candidate could win. The Republicans should accept Donald Trump as their creation and share in his shame but the Democrats should do better in being the party of Franklin Roosevelt. In summary, there’s room to do better.