Politics

Los republicanos, montados a la candidatura de Trump

May 30, 2016 Theda Skocpol

CAMBRIDGE –En una de sus semanas típicas, terminando mayo, Donald J. Trump, virtual candidato republicano a la presidencia de los Estados Unidos, volvió a ser noticia. Llamó “violador” a un popular expresidente, cambió de posición en relación con una política tras otra, alardeó con que su compañero de fórmula podría ser “cualquiera” que lo apoye y dijo a la Asociación Nacional del Rifle que Hillary Clinton, la probable candidata demócrata, “sacará de la cárcel a criminales violentos”.

En un nivel tal vez más preocupante para la política internacional, cuando apenas habían pasado horas desde la caída de un avión de EgyptAir en el Mediterráneo, y mucho antes de que se conocieran hechos ciertos, Trump comenzó a expresar sus propias conclusiones sobre lo que había sucedido y a denunciar la “debilidad” estadounidense ante el terrorismo.

Al parecer, ya casi nadie intentará impedir la candidatura de Trump; los republicanos del establishment parecen decididos a aceptar la captura de su partido por un rufián grosero, narcisista, sin preparación e impredecible. Un representante del Partido Republicano que fue auxiliar en el Senado lo explicó en estos términos: “Es mejor montar la bestia que tratar de ignorarla”.

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0 Comments on this paragraph, 15 Comments on this article

Ian Maitland Jun 5, 2016

Really, Skocpol gives partisanship a bad name. All the more distasteful because hers is decked out in pseudo-analysis. She almost outdoes Paul Krugman in trying to have it both ways -- admitting that Trump has nothing to do with the GOP's values yet blaming the GOP for him anyway.

Trump has not "captured the Republican Party." He has captured the Republican nomination in a populist - almost nihilistic -- spasm like the one that gave us the Tea Party. As the Economist's Lexington put it, "Asked to choose between conservative principles and nastiness, Trump voters pick[ed] the latter."

This isn't about ideas. Skocpol solemnly dissects a unicorn she calls "Trump's agenda." Doesn't she recognize an oxymoron when she sees one? Trumpism isn't about an agenda -- it's about Trump's cult of personality and ego trip.

Who said the following? “The Democrats didn’t have a policy for dealing with illegal immigrants, but what they did have going for them is they weren’t mean-spirited about it,” [...] says. “They didn’t know what the policy was, but what they were is they were kind.” Romney’s solution of “self deportation” for illegal aliens made no sense and suggested that Republicans do not care about Hispanics in general, [...] says. “He had a crazy policy of self deportation which was maniacal,” [...] says. “It sounded as bad as it was, and he lost all of the Latino vote,” [..] notes. “He lost the Asian vote. He lost everybody who is inspired to come into this country.” The GOP has to develop a comprehensive policy “to take care of this incredible problem that we have with respect to immigration, with respect to people wanting to be wonderful productive citizens of this country,” [...] says - See more at: http://marginalrevolution.com/#sthash.7S0DApeV.dpuf

The guy who uttered these views in 2012 has an "agenda"?

Most offensive of all is Skocpol's odious libel against the GOP that she takes straight from the Democratic Party playbook. Namely that the GOP is guilty of stoking racial fears, spreading racial innuendo, etc. Well, one is forced to ask, if this didn't work for the GOP, why is it working for Trump? The answer is that the charge is a pack of lies.

It is of course the liberal establishment that has made playing the race card and identity politics the cornerstone of its electoral strategy. It is liberals who have tried to inflame racial and sectional hatreds by insinuating that GOP policies are simply a cloak for racism, sexism and other bigotries. It is the Democratic Party that has created a racial/gender/etc. pork barrel to better control its base. The result of these infamous policies is an America that is more polarized than ever before.
- Curtis Carpenter Jun 5, 2016
  
  You're right Mr. Maitland -- it isn't about either "ideas" OR an agenda OR Trump's cult of personality and his ego trip. It's about how a very substantial majority of Republican primary voters have endorsed the man as the party's spokesman and champion.
  
  And in the final analysis, aren't those very same voters in fact what "the Republican party" actually IS? Or is the party some sort of "unicorn" to adopt your metaphorical framework?
  
  To parse the majority of Republican voters out of the Republican party seems a whole lot like an oxymoron to me, and I'm surprised you don't seem to recognize it as such. But perhaps the attitude -- that the party is something OTHER than its constituents -- goes a long way to explaining the many apparently very unhappy Republicans out there.
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- Tom W Jun 5, 2016
  
  Well stated. I noticed this piece also refers to the impact of the "GOP’s ultra-free-market extremism" as if the country had implemented a radical libertarian model, when in fact, it has not. Government spending has not collapsed and major programs have not gone away. Sure, there has bee some deregulation (e.g. Clinton's sign off on killing Glass-Steagall) but there have also ben large regulatory pushes (e.g. post GFC financial regulations).
  
  The partisanship is counter-productive, in part because it prevents people from asking deeper questions and coming to terms with their own culpability in creating such a teaming mass of obviously angry and disenfranchised fellow citizens.
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eusebio manuel Jun 5, 2016

Trumpeters Americans are fascinated with the TV star a line associated with your book unsustainable Hillary for President 2016
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Vara Sue Tamminga Jun 4, 2016

Dear Theda Skocpol, the TIGER is a famous symbol of New York's Tammany Hall, the Democratic Political Machine which was founded in in 1789. Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammany_Hall. Anyone with an average knowledge of political history should know this fact. Why are you deliberately confusing a Democratic Party symbol with a Republican candidate and liar like Trump. Surely the Syndicate can offer accurate political history. The need to slander Harry Truman's legacy with the circus led by Donald Trump is very suspicious, especially after the attempt in Japan to get President Obama to apologize to the Japanese for the Atomic bombs used in WWII. Very disappointing ignorance or deliberate lying.
- bobzeschin bobzeschin Aug 8, 2016
  
  Dear Vara Sue Tamminga, My former high school and college classmate Theda Skocpol was surely referring to the Chinese proverb "He who rides the tiger cannot dismount." Anyone with an average knowledge of fortune cookie fortunes should know this fact.
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Petey Bee May 31, 2016

Trump rides Republicans, perhaps?

If elected, look for a Berlusconi-like presidency (with all the great economic success associated with the Berlusconi's tenure in the 1990s and 2000s).
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Curtis Carpenter May 31, 2016

Why does everyone keep calling Trump "the presumptive Republican nominee"? The flubbers have picked the man, and the Republican establishment is lining up behind him trunk to tail like elephants in a circus parade. And frankly I find the parade far more disgusting than the man himself.

Our self-styled "conservatives" have spoken. Deal with it.
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Cary Fraser May 31, 2016

Donald Trump's use of the Central Park "JoggerCase" in 1989 to advocate for the death penalty was an early indicator of his political instincts, style, and character. His current political campaign is but a reminder of his earlier efforts to establish himself as a figure on the public stage. It is interesting that in 1989, he loomed large after the Republican party suffered from the effects of the implosion of the Reagan administration as a result of the Iran-Contra scandal. In the post 2008 Obama-Tea Party era he has been able to capitalize upon the shallow posturing of the Republican party's leadership in the wake of George W. Bush's uninspiring performance over two terms as President.
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j. von Hettlingen May 30, 2016

Theda Skocpol, one of the most revered and knowledgeable sociologist and political scientist of our time gives her take on Donald Trump's astronomical rise, based on her research on America's political right. The US mid-term elections in 2010 were dominated by the rise of the Tea Party movement, a group of vocal conservatives, backed by popular and elite forces. It has become one of the most intriguing and startling political phenomena in recent times, driving the Republican party "further rightward."
The billionaire brothers - Charles and David Koch - have channelled millions of dollars to rightwing causes. They support the Tea Party, which presents itself as a grassroots insurgency intent on toppling the Washington elite. The Tea Partiers see a big government and the level of taxation as anathema. The Koch-funded "network of think tanks and advocacy organizations has encouraged an ultra-free-market economic agenda." In recent months the GOP has become "ripe for a Trump-style hostile takeover," because it had been "pulled in different directions by plutocratic funders and angry nativist populists."
What Skocpol points out is that Trump was already popular in 2011, when a poll said that he led "all GOP presidential contenders for 2012." The Republicans were determined to retake the presidency, because they "firmly believed that Obama, as Trump insisted, had not been born in the United States, as the US Constitution requires." In 2012 Trump did not run for president, and Mitt Romney failed to win. But the seeds of "hatred of Obama" and resentment against "illegal immigration" were already planted, and there was deep anger among the Tea Partiers at the GOP for failing to unseat Obama.
In January this year Sarah Palin openly endorsed Trump, and saw in him as a "unifying 'anti-establishment' candidate." She is popular among non-college educated, largely working class whites who are disillusioned with professional politicians and Washington politics in general. Interestingly Trump’s "core supporters are not the "displaced and economically insecure blue-collar workers." In fact, their "average annual income, about $72,000, is well above the US median of $56,000." His voters "resemble the Tea Partiers: overwhelmingly older, male, middle class, and white." They share the same concern - the economy, their "disbelief in Obama’s legitimacy, anger about immigration, and resentment over America’s supposed national decline." Trump represents an opportunity for them to get back on the path to political relevancy, and they don't care if he is qualified or not. The media has provided for "free coverage" and helped him "grab and hold leads in polls and most primaries."
Ted Cruz, backed by GOP had tried to halt Trump's march, but the 46-year-old has gained a reputation as the "most hated man in Washington" who often clashes with his own party. Despite Trump's success, many GOP elites are not enthusiastic about his nomination. His "extremist rhetoric" that appeals to "nativism, Islamophobia" and isolationism, alienates many neo-cons, who believe in America's role as a global cop.
Skocpol says the GOP has itself to blame for playing "with fire by stoking popular nativism and racial fears to mobilize older white voters." The conservative media is widely responsible for "a steady stream of racial innuendo," even before Trump came along. Impressed by his popularity, GOP elites, funders, and advocacy group leaders "are now trying to convince themselves that Trump, in the White House, could be managed to implement the Republican agenda." As he is attracting big money and rank-and-file support, many have "jumped on board – and others will, too." The world is watching, hoping that he wouldn't be elected, as he will be a nightmare for the rest of the world.
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Tim Chambers May 30, 2016

My sense is there is nothing more to be afraid of with Trump than there is with Bernie or Hillary. Once in office, those who pull the strings will read them the riot act, and like every other President, they will be forced to go along with the Establishment. Washington will go on doing exactly as Washington always does. They won't be able to change anything.
- Tom W Jun 5, 2016
  
  Albert,
  
  The current SCOTUS (including Scalia) upheld the ACA and backed homosexual marriage. It's not nearly the house of horrors that you may think it is.
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- Albert Aftoora Jun 5, 2016
  
  I couldn't agree with Mr.Chambers. Between the Congress and the bureaucracy, the most Trump will achieve is a lot of empty rhetoric. However, as President he would assure a continuation of a (usually) conservative Supreme Court.
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P. Kamath May 30, 2016

Yes, Trump may make minced meat out of Democratic opponent proving a fact that bumper sticker slogans like, " make America great agai, send the Marines to China, jobs will be back, USA the greatest country on earth....." do indeed strike resonance with vast majority of US voters. Pity, John Wayne's machismo still works.
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M M May 30, 2016

The Trump and Obama phenomenons were the making of the Clintons’ policies. Obama and the democrats did themselves no favour by siding with H. Clinton and they thought they could still take the American people for a ride. H. Clinton, and if she ever gets the nomination of her party, shall be no match to Trump who shall make minced meat out of her.
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Los republicanos, montados a la candidatura de Trump

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