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TRUMP: The Disease or Medicine?
In 2016 Donald Trump shocked the world by Defeating Hil- lary Clinton to ascend to the presidency. Eighteen-months prior at the start of the primary season many believed trump to be running as a joke or as some media long game. What many did not realize until the start of the general election was that Trump’s team, had conducted an extensive grass-roots campaign. The results were self-explanatory, the democratic victory margin had been shrinking since their grand victo- ry in 2008. Led by the Rustbelt states who saw a glimmer of hope within Barack Obama’s vision for the future, however, they found his administration lacking in protecting the key industries of the rust-belt states.
Two years into the Trump presidency and the country seems to be more divided than ever. Since the Clinton administra- tion, the Liberals have ventured to the land of identity poli- tics. Conservatives, on the other hand, seem to be venturing into a new protectionism-isolationist mindset. Now either
stance in a reasonable national or local conversation is not necessarily bad. However, the past decade has seen both par- ties drift and rally farther and farther from the center. This has led to unprecedented personal attacks utilized through or against the media,
This what makes trump an interesting disruptor, He has managed to energize traditional Republicans as well as mil- lions of Americans who previously identified with Obama’s “Change we can believe in”. The political map clearly shows many counties that drove the way for Obama’s historic 2008 victory turned to Trump in 2016, thus debunking the Left- wing myth of “white rage”.
The question remains is Donald Trump America’s Disease or Cure? In my observation, he’s both. On one hand, he’s shown the awesome power of populism and how that power can be utilized to attack the movements’ detractors. From an establishment perspective, Trump is an opportunity for both parties to learn from his rapid ascension to reform their respective platforms.
The 2016 election has shown us the future American pol- itician, more data-driven and straight to the voter via social media. Trump is not a traditional Establishment candidate yet he was able to win a landslide electoral victory. That vic- tory even though it was highly controversial showed us one thing, it is possible to win a General election with a smaller war chest then your opponent.
Recently the Democrats have shown their renewed ap- proach most notable in Texas With the former Congres- sional Candidate Beto o’rourke. The Beto experiment was always about whether a rock-star candidate with a great ground game could purple-ify a very red state: 50.9 percent to 48.3 percent has lots of blue in it. In conclusion, both par- ties will be forced to understand the root cause of the “Make America Great Again” movement if they wish to stay rele- vant.
Kwabena Sarkodie
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