On United States’ Presidential Election
In my article, HILLARY FOR AMERICA AND THE LIMITS OF PROPAGANDA, I concluded among other things, that: “It is true that the GOP is on course to win the 2016 election as a result of its recent success in the mid-term elections, though this is not in any way watertight. Failing to win the presidential election will be its greatest undoing. The tactless use of propaganda by its handlers to which Hillary Clinton, if her strategists are working properly, can take advantage of to become the first woman president of the United States.”
There are two reasons for my conclusion. First, not minding the success of the Republicans(GOP) at the mid-term congressional elections in 2014, it appears the Republican National Committee(RNC) is yet to agree on many things-one of being the recently-proposed Iranian Nuclear peace deal, requiring the approval of the Congress, for which the Republicans now play a major role. GOP’s reputation is not helped further with the recent statement credited to one if its Presidential aspirants, Scott Walker who said on the latest Iranian peace deal on his “Day One” as US President. How better can it get?
My second reason for the conclusion was because of the uncoordinated activities of the RNC’s aspirants themselves. Just recently the RNC had to take on one of its candidates, Donald Trump, over his unguarded, clumsy and infantile attacks against the Mexicans (Hispanics) some days after his decision to run for President. In fact the drama surrounding his declaration will pass for an Academy Award in Hollywood!
While it looks almost certain that the Democrats are enjoying a rare in-house unity, with former Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, looking set to fly the party’s flag in the 2016 election, the GOP appeared to be in disarray. Just recently, Trump has come down heavy on GOP’s former Presidential flag bearer Senator John McCain, questioning his status as War hero, a below-the-belt statement if you ask me, how divided can a party be with even the White House coming, some say its maverick, to the defence of the war veteran. McCain is no friend of the Democrats, though. As far as some of us are concerned, real estate mogul, Trump, is a self-promoting reality show or a showbiz celebrity competitor. No one except his most fanatical supporters or “Trumpees” think he stands any chance as far as the US Presidency is concerned. The best he can do is the recent poll (monitored by Washington Post recently) which puts in in “commanding lead” for the GOP’s ticket!
If there is anything I know about the US presidential election, it is almost like a case of “lose the poll and win the election”. If the experience of John Dewey and Harry Truman (1948) or the 1936 Literary Digest disaster seems remote, (except for those born recently) perhaps few remember the cases of Al Gore and Bush (2000) or those pollsters that made Mitt Romney thought he was closed to the defeating President Obama in 2012. Polls are won by showbiz artists, models, or celebrities; elections are won by politicians. Poll winners nearly always do one thing at best: to always be second best!
Trump is not only an embarrassment to his party and his fellow contenders; the NBC had to distance itself from him for his ranting, sadism and tactless utterances which it considers unbefitting of a presidential hopeful.
If you think Trump is a self-promoting waste of time, check out Jeb Bush. His only credentials apart from being elected Florida Governor in 1998, is his association with the Bush family. Like Trump built a strong opposition support bloc for himself among the Hispanics, Bush will be coming up against American single mothers whom he said should be subject to “public humiliation and shame” for their “irresponsibility”. In any case, this appears to be Bush’s main mission. His support for his brother’s (George Walker) policy in Iraq he still largely supports. He is presently doing his best to make the traditional GOP supporters believe he is a self-made man. Just as Trump is a self-promoting waste of time, so is Bush a self-made failure. No more, no less!
Surprisingly, Scott Walker, Donald Trump and Jeb Bush are the three leading GOP candidates as the race for the White House are in top gear. It is not all bad for the Republican camp, as the party is in control of both House in the US Congress. The result of the mid-term election is still much savoured by its leaders. With the Congress, it could still “block” the passage of the Iranian Nuclear deal which the Obama administration, and the Democrats, is hoping willing to cash-in on as the campaigns heat up.
Politically speaking, the Republican will be coming up against not only the most conservative among its supporters: Walker, Trump and Bush; but also the single mothers, welfare recipients, Hispanics and other “non-status” American citizens in addition to supporters of “marriage rights”. The GOP will hope to make up for its “loss” in these areas by hoping to appeal to the baser instincts of the “red staters” for the votes to have any realistic hopes of producing the next White House occupant!