Turncoat superstarsThe 2016 presidential race has defied expectations in every way imaginable and likely portend major changes to both parties.
Trump, a former Democrat, and Clinton, an erstwhile Republican, have never really acted according to script.
As first lady of the United States, Clinton earned the ire of her own party’s leadership – and politicos generally – by working as the forceful taskforce chairperson behind the health care reform proposal of 1993.
Her outspoken style remains difficult for more patriarchally-minded Americans to accept. As the first lady of Arkansas, she was infamously compelled to have a makeover in order to protect husband Bill Clinton’s political career.
Trump has had a touch and go relationship with much of his party’s leadership, including the current Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.
Trump’s predilection for xenophobic, racist and misogynistic insults and not so well thought out populist diatribes have been a boon to the fringe but made down-ballot Republican contenders nervous.
The importance of Evangelicals to Trump’s campaign was underscored by his choice of Indiana Governor Mike Pence as running mate.
Despite his often unchristian remarks, they have stood by him.
As Jeff Hunt, director of the Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University, told the Dhaka Tribune: “Donald Trump is the Barack Obama of small dollar Republican voters.”
“I don’t think he’s racist and I don’t think he’s appealing to racist issues,” he added.
The most striking aspect of the election has been the glaring decrease in civility in American political discourse.
As polling pundit Jonathon Zogby, CEO of Zogby Analytics, put it: “ … there seems to be less emphasis on, and a decrease in, acts of civility among adults nationwide. That might explain the state of politics at the moment, especially when taking into consideration the broken system in Washington DC and the state of the 2016 presidential election.”
Which brings us back to the beginning.
The United States is a divided country, scrambling for votes at the margins of the political spectrum. It’s major parties are often divided against themselves.
The biggest single voter cohort live their lives in ways that are novel – because of technology, travel and education.
Neither major party is equipped to deal with them, and instead run campaigns appealing to the fringes and the lowest common denominator.
November 8 is indeed the end of the campaign trail for a 69-year-old woman and a 70-year-old man who have, in their own very differentways, defied the roles scripted for them by society.
Perhaps this is a fitting theme for a country at the crossroads that must now create a new language of political discourse.Whatever happens on November 8, the rifts exposed by this election will have to be contended with for years to come.
In just over 24 hours, the two least popular candidates in the history of popularity polling will await the verdict of “a very angry electorate,” as American University Assistant Professor Elizabeth Sherman put it to the Dhaka Tribune.
Galvanising the electorate and reaching out to the undecided and apathetic has cost a small fortune. (See infograph.)
Some have likened the 2016 presidential race to the UK’s EU referendum, saying the election will break down along generational lines.
America’s youngest adults, the Millennials, who comprise the plurality of voting age citizens, will be voting for two of the oldest candidates in recent history, and they aren’t happy about it.
The two candidates have spent the final two days ahead of the polls in a final flurry of stumping across battleground states.
American University Professor Peter Kuznick summed up the calculus of American politics: “This is not one, but 50 elections. Every state matters.”
With a clear lead in electoral votes going into the endgame, Clinton yesterday campaigned in Michigan, attended an all-star concert in Philadelphia and is scheduled to fly to North Carolina.
Clinton currently is believed to command such a large number of electoral votes that even if Trump manages to win Ohio, Florida and North Carolina, he’d still need to take Michigan or Wisconsin for it to matter.
Michigan has not voted Republican since 1988, but the Clinton camp’s decision to make a final stand there indicates that they are not willing to take any chances.
Trump, for his part, jetted across the country to Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire.
His strategy throughout has been to drum up “white grievances” to a fever pitch, which has so emboldened his voter base that they have stood by him even when he has locked horns with its leadership.
For the big new player in American politics, the Millennials, Zogby Analytics polling has found that Trump has gained among older members of the cohort, but most still favour Clinton.
Turncoat superstarsThe 2016 presidential race has defied expectations in every way imaginable and likely portend major changes to both parties.
Trump, a former Democrat, and Clinton, an erstwhile Republican, have never really acted according to script.
As first lady of the United States, Clinton earned the ire of her own party’s leadership – and politicos generally – by working as the forceful taskforce chairperson behind the health care reform proposal of 1993.
Her outspoken style remains difficult for more patriarchally-minded Americans to accept. As the first lady of Arkansas, she was infamously compelled to have a makeover in order to protect husband Bill Clinton’s political career.
Trump has had a touch and go relationship with much of his party’s leadership, including the current Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.
Trump’s predilection for xenophobic, racist and misogynistic insults and not so well thought out populist diatribes have been a boon to the fringe but made down-ballot Republican contenders nervous.
The importance of Evangelicals to Trump’s campaign was underscored by his choice of Indiana Governor Mike Pence as running mate.
Despite his often unchristian remarks, they have stood by him.
As Jeff Hunt, director of the Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University, told the Dhaka Tribune: “Donald Trump is the Barack Obama of small dollar Republican voters.”
“I don’t think he’s racist and I don’t think he’s appealing to racist issues,” he added.
The most striking aspect of the election has been the glaring decrease in civility in American political discourse.
As polling pundit Jonathon Zogby, CEO of Zogby Analytics, put it: “ … there seems to be less emphasis on, and a decrease in, acts of civility among adults nationwide. That might explain the state of politics at the moment, especially when taking into consideration the broken system in Washington DC and the state of the 2016 presidential election.”
Which brings us back to the beginning.
The United States is a divided country, scrambling for votes at the margins of the political spectrum. It’s major parties are often divided against themselves.
The biggest single voter cohort live their lives in ways that are novel – because of technology, travel and education.
Neither major party is equipped to deal with them, and instead run campaigns appealing to the fringes and the lowest common denominator.
November 8 is indeed the end of the campaign trail for a 69-year-old woman and a 70-year-old man who have, in their own very differentways, defied the roles scripted for them by society.
Perhaps this is a fitting theme for a country at the crossroads that must now create a new language of political discourse.
Turncoat superstarsThe 2016 presidential race has defied expectations in every way imaginable and likely portend major changes to both parties.
Trump, a former Democrat, and Clinton, an erstwhile Republican, have never really acted according to script.
As first lady of the United States, Clinton earned the ire of her own party’s leadership – and politicos generally – by working as the forceful taskforce chairperson behind the health care reform proposal of 1993.
Her outspoken style remains difficult for more patriarchally-minded Americans to accept. As the first lady of Arkansas, she was infamously compelled to have a makeover in order to protect husband Bill Clinton’s political career.
Trump has had a touch and go relationship with much of his party’s leadership, including the current Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.
Trump’s predilection for xenophobic, racist and misogynistic insults and not so well thought out populist diatribes have been a boon to the fringe but made down-ballot Republican contenders nervous.
The importance of Evangelicals to Trump’s campaign was underscored by his choice of Indiana Governor Mike Pence as running mate.
Despite his often unchristian remarks, they have stood by him.
As Jeff Hunt, director of the Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University, told the Dhaka Tribune: “Donald Trump is the Barack Obama of small dollar Republican voters.”
“I don’t think he’s racist and I don’t think he’s appealing to racist issues,” he added.
The most striking aspect of the election has been the glaring decrease in civility in American political discourse.
As polling pundit Jonathon Zogby, CEO of Zogby Analytics, put it: “ … there seems to be less emphasis on, and a decrease in, acts of civility among adults nationwide. That might explain the state of politics at the moment, especially when taking into consideration the broken system in Washington DC and the state of the 2016 presidential election.”
Which brings us back to the beginning.
The United States is a divided country, scrambling for votes at the margins of the political spectrum. It’s major parties are often divided against themselves.
The biggest single voter cohort live their lives in ways that are novel – because of technology, travel and education.
Neither major party is equipped to deal with them, and instead run campaigns appealing to the fringes and the lowest common denominator.
November 8 is indeed the end of the campaign trail for a 69-year-old woman and a 70-year-old man who have, in their own very differentways, defied the roles scripted for them by society.
Perhaps this is a fitting theme for a country at the crossroads that must now create a new language of political discourse.