TONY BURMAN
How the success of a racist campaigner could cleanse U.S. politics,
Would the world survive the election of a racist lunatic as the next president of the United States? Probably not, but I still fervently hope that Donald Trump wins the Republican nomination for president.
Only in that scenario — with Democrats then sweeping both houses of Congress as well as the White House in next November’s elections — can the demons in America’s very sick political system be exorcised.
Trump’s latest madness — calling for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims” entering the U.S. — did not just happen. It was the natural consequence of a corrupt political and media culture playing a very dangerous game.
For months, the Republican presidential race has allowed hate to wag the dog of politics. Muslims have been targeted as scapegoats. Fear, division and ignorance have dominated the debate. And the process has been awash in billionaires’ dollars, hidden from meaningful public accountability.
Meanwhile, the American TV news networks, sensing commercial advantage and the bonanza of ever more frightened viewers, have largely turned up the temperature by stoking the flames at every stage. Welcome to this century’s brand of American exceptionalism. Sadly, this ugly turn in U.S. politics has not been without consequences. In both the United States and Europe, anti-Muslim sentiment is growing. The annual American Values Survey released last month showed that 76 per cent of Republicans felt the values of Islam were “incompatible with the American way of life.” A majority of the general public — an amazing 56 per cent — felt the same.
In France last weekend, the far-right National Front won a historic victory in the first round of regional elections. Led by Marine Le Pen, regarded by many critics as a closet fascist, the anti-immigrant party has become an inspiration to extremist groups throughout Europe.
The similarities between her views and those of Trump are striking. Last weekend, the New York Times published an analysis of Trump’s recent public remarks in speeches, interviews and news conferences. The report concluded: “The most striking hallmark was Mr. Trump’s constant repetition of divisive phrases, harsh words and violent imagery that American presidents rarely use.”
An irony of this debate is how much it distorts the true place of Muslims in America. Far more than anywhere in Europe (but similar to Canada), Muslims in the United States are fully integrated in broader American society and respected as such. Compared with Europe, recent studies indicate that very few Muslims in North America are involved in terrorist incidents and very few travel to Syria as “foreign fighters.”
In the end, will Trump survive this latest firestorm? The answer is probably yes. But in spite of the massive media attention it gets, the Republican primary race at this stage is actually a fight within a very small pool of right-wing voters: primarily, the extreme conservative wing of a fractured party. So these early polls hardly reflect the broad American public.
Let’s remember that it was Barack Obama — not Benito Mussolini — who overwhelmingly won the support of Americans in both 2008 and 2012.
But as far as the Republican nomination is concerned, history is on Donald Trump’s side. Since 1952, most front-runners at this stage have gone on to win the nomination.
This prospect delights Democrats. Party insiders have been telling journalists they feel a Trump candidacy would be ideal for their side, particularly for Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee. There was talk this week from Trump that he might mount an independent run for the presidency if the Republican nomination is denied him. But even that would greatly benefit the Democrats.
In decades to come, historians will argue about Obama’s mixed legacy during his eight years in office. But they will agree that he had the misfortune of presiding over a uniquely deadlocked political system that was profoundly dysfunctional. Americans can only hope this dark period will soon come to an end. The best chance for this may actually be on the horizon: a bewildering Trump victory in the Republican presidential race followed by his colossal defeat — and that of the Republican clown car — in next November’s U.S. general elections.
Clinton is no Abraham Lincoln, but like Justin Trudeau, she may still be able to turn it around. If so, welcome back, “Morning in America.”
Go, Donald, go.