Going Down……..! It was quite obvious that despite campaign rhetoric when reality kicks-in many will be disappointed of the backtracking. This is not rocket science and nor is it unique to this campaign. The problem here though, which goes beyond this particular election, is that when fundamental promises are made by a political party or candidate are not kept it makes you wonder what was the point of an election in the first place and whether it invalidates the result. Same applies to the BREXIT referendum in the UK where plenty of expectations where made by politicians on the Leaver side but it turns out that many of these are unlikely to be achievable. Sure there are hardliners who would vote one way irrespective of any arguments laid out but there are many others who voted based on specific promises/expectations made by politicians pre/post the referendum.
A couple of side questions I would like to follow up with here;
Isn’t this attribute of misleading the public a trait of the “Political Establishment” that so many voted against when voting for Trump or to leave the EU?
And here is another; When you watch Nigel Farage blasting the elites of Brussels and now watching him rub shoulders with the elites of New York, particularly one with business record/temperament of Mr. Trump-is this really the profile of someone who truly wants to defend the “ordinary people”; one who wants to become British Ambassador to Washington to be close to his “ordinary” friend?
Now back to my main point of not holding to campaign promises; this is a fundamental problem that faces our Democratic process and one that needs to be looked into/addressed if we are serious about upholding our Democratic values/credentials. Anyway my simplistic prediction post US Election is to suggest that due to Mr. Trump unique temperament combined with the fact that he does not have any ideological roots he will have a rocky ride from day 1 of his presidency mainly because of the high bar he set for himself by making overly ambitious/divisive campaign promises. To complicate matters further everyone will be on edge for different reasons; from the GOP, to what is left of the Democrats in Congress to the US electorate all will be listening to his every word/watching his every move and responding swiftly until he sets a proper tone to help heal the rift exposed between Americans caused by his aggressive campaign-though all bets are off he is able to apply such an attitude. The big problem obviously is that this is a super power we’re talking about here and one with much influence around the world on multiple levels, so we’re all anxious about the future. Maybe its time to consider building a buffer zone to minimise ramifications at times of political/economic volatility possibly by strengthening regional alliance; yet another important benefit we would loose on exiting the EU.