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Jeffrey Reel: Donald Trump And The GOP

“There’s something happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear” – Buffalo Springfield.

Donald Trump is a bombastic, narcissistic man-child. And although I would never vote for him, I do want to thank him. He is creating a seismic shift in the Republican Party and its political platform, and, in some respects, it’s for the best.
Just a few months ago, before Trump entered the race, the Republican presidential candidates’ main talking points included: tearing up the Iran agreement on the first day in office; dismantling Social Security, Medicare and ObamaCare; and making sure that taxes on the wealthiest Americans would not be raised. They were also Bible-thumping, Scripture-quoting saints. In short, they were campaigning on the tried-and-true issues their base has demanded of them for years, and they clamored over each other to see who could appear the most extreme.
Enter Donald Trump. He says he wouldn’t tear up the Iran deal: he would enforce it. (Sounds progressive to me.) He does not want to dismantle Social Security or Medicare. He doesn’t like ObamaCare but he still wants everyone to have health coverage: “You can't let the people in this country, the people without the money and resources, to go without healthcare.” On CNN, he said he wouldn’t defund Planned Parenthood but would, instead, look at aspects of it and recommend terminating its federally funded abortion procedures. (He was reminded that the 3% of PP funds that go toward abortion services are not drawn from federal sources). He wants to raise taxes on some of the wealthiest Americans, and he lies when he says the Holy Bible is his second-favorite book. And for all of this, he has climbed to the top of the polls while his rivals congregate in his shadow. And what are THEIR talking points, now that the conservative base has abandoned many of them for Trump’s? They actually have very few at the moment. They are stupefied.

Trump has eviscerated all of his rivals – to his supporters’ delight – accusing each and every one of them of being “career politicians” and “beholden to their donors,” weak, tired, spineless. He has aimed stinging criticism the likes of which the Republican base would not have tolerated just a few months ago. The conservative base / Tea Party have, overnight, burned their bridges along with the other Republican candidates left standing upon them (whom they once supported). What happens if Trump does not win the Republican nomination? Which one of the charred remains will Republicans then support?

We thought we understood the Republican base and its positions. They have forcefully argued them for years but they have abandoned many of them for Trump’s more liberal policies. What gives? What ARE their principles? I am reminded of chameleons who take on the colors of whatever object they feel closest to.
 

One thing is certain: the Republican Party that emerges from this campaign will look different than it did just a few months ago. Oh, some positions will remain unchanged: intolerance of women’s rights; rounding up and deporting millions of immigrants; aggressive and narrow foreign policy; Islamophobia; deniers of climate change; and resistance to progressive change of any kind, including the use of clean, renewable technologies. Which now, by the way, provide 28 percent of the world’s energy needs.

As for me? The Democratic Party is experiencing seismic shifts of its own.

Jeffrey Reel is a writer, educator, and the Sustainability Manager at the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, in Rhinebeck, New York.

The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.

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