The Trump victory and 'divided' States of America
- By Eugene Clark
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E-mail China.org.cn, November 14, 2016
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Trump triumphs [By Zhai Haijun / China.org.cn] |
After one of the most bitterly fought elections in U.S. political history, Donald Trump has emerged victorious. However, many would agree that the toughest job now is how to lead and pull together the increasingly 'divided' States of America.
The post-election protests against Trump now going on in major cities such as San Francisco and Chicago point to how deep this divide truly is. Indeed, it looks like more citizens voted for Clinton than for Trump though the U.S. Electoral College system gave him the most electoral votes and hence the win.
The division in the U.S. occurs along many fault lines. The first is geographic. The democrats dominated the upper East and West coast states while Republicans dominated the middle, north and south. Another aspect of geography is urban versus rural. The more conservative rural areas tended to go for Trump while big city populations favoured Clinton, except in rust-belt areas where globalization and the GFC have taken heavy tolls on jobs and manufacturing.
Educationally, those with university qualifications tended to vote Clinton while the working class sided with Trump. Clinton's unfortunate description of Trump supporters as a "basket of deplorable" suggested an "elitism" and "hubris" that was offensive to many U.S. citizens who saw professional politicians such as Clinton as seriously out of touch.
Related to educational attainment is class. The statistics show that over the last decade middle class Americans have seen jobs disappear, wages stagnate, homes lost and debts increase. There is intense anger by these groups who feel they have been ignored.
Race and ethnicity were also a big part of this campaign. There were unfortunate and hurtful comments made about American Muslims, Latinos and other immigrants. Various racial and ethnic groups from both right and left extremes received great attention. Tolerance, acceptance, celebration of diversity and other more positive values seemed to take a back seat against blame, hatred and victimization. The white working class seemed in this election to protest by voting for Trump and change.
Gender was also a factor in many people's minds. Some argued that one should vote for Clinton because she was a woman; while others rejected Clinton because she was a woman. Yet, notwithstanding that Clinton lost this election, all would acknowledge that she advanced the cause in major ways by winning her party's nomination and the popular vote.
Religion was also a factor. In addition to the Islamic factor mentioned above, it is significant that the evangelical heartland of the South voted very strongly in favour of Trump. The U.S. remains a very religious country and recent democratic leftist reforms in relation to marriage, abortion and complete removal of religion from public life have been opposed by many for whom religion remains a central part of their lives and a core belief.
Clinton, as a former First-Lady, Senator and Secretary of State, was definitely an "insider." Trump, as a business person who has never held political office of any kind, is definitely an outsider. Washington insiders versus outsiders was thus yet another divisive theme as reflected by Trump's comments about "draining the swamp." Indeed, the approval rating of Congress is at an all-time low and after eight years of one party being in power, it is a healthy thing to bring in new people with fresh ideas and perspectives. Both the Sanders supporters on the "left" and Trump supporters on the right were united only in their opposition to politics as usual.
Inward looking U.S. versus external engagement. Donald Trump is a domestic populist. His rhetoric advocated for re-negotiating important trade treaties such as NAFTA, rejecting the TPP, building a wall on the border with Mexico and requiring NATO and other allies to carry their fair share of the burden of defence. Interestingly, this vision contradicts the views of many traditional Republicans who favour free trade, promote globalization and want a strong America playing a proactive leadership role in the world. An inward looking U.S. could also pose major challenges for world stability, globalisation, trade and world peace. Hopefully, the many extreme and inflammatory comments made in the heat of an election will be tempered by reality and guided by experienced experts who will be part of Trump's new team.
Environment versus development. In contrast to President Obama's strong commitment to reduction of global warming and promoting alternative sources of energy, Trump was critical and sceptical of this agenda and promised to re-invigorate coal. Finding a middle-path through environmental issues will be a huge issue for Trump and could greatly impact the Paris Climate accord.
Social versus traditional media. It was also interesting in this election how social media (e.g. Trump's use of Twitter and "reality TV" strategies played central roles. This contrasted with traditional media and polls that seemed out of touch and either failed to see or did not want to see the groundswell that arose and led to an unexpected Trump victory.
For China-U.S. relations in this new context, it will be important for China to re-double efforts to engage with the new administration and seek to strengthen partnerships, maximize mutual advantage, work through differences and find a common path forward. Donald Trump is supposed to be a great negotiator. Successful negotiators know that genuine "win-win" outcomes are the ones that last and go on to strengthen relationships that lead to productive outcomes.
Having now won the election, the momentous challenge ahead for President-elect Trump will be how to put the "united" back into the U.S. Hopefully, it will be true of this election that what is said in elections is often tempered by reality and the need to compromise once a person is in office.
Eugene Clark is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:
http://www.keyanhelp.cn/opinion/eugeneclark.htm
Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
