Sunday, March 12, 2017

The Birth of a New Party in America?

We live in surreal times.  Who would have thought Donald Trump would win the presidency?  Before you Trump supporters get self righteous, just keep in mind that only 19.7% of Americans voted for him.  Go ahead and check the numbers.  Anyway, Trump won the election process.  Full stop.

Now what?

He evidently meant what he said.  About everything.  A border wall.  Obamacare.  Abortion.  Fair trade.  Taxes.  Infrastructure.  Global warming.  Nukes.  And what he didn't "say" is just as important.  Like, about misogyny.  Inequality.  Drugs.  Bernie Sanders.  Taxes.  Real estate.  Obama.  Nukes.

Donald Trump does not handily fit into the mold of a Republican.  In fact, he's probably more of a Democrat.  The Republican party stands for fiscal conservatism, wild-west freedom, small government, small taxes.  Democrats stand for redistribution of wealth, universal healthcare, controlled capitalism and fiscally stimulative polices, such as free education for all.  Those are two polar opposites.  Is it any wonder why they cannot agree on new legislation?

Donald Trump falls somewhere in between.  So do a few other legislators.  Isn't it time for the emergence of a third political party?  Wouldn't it be nice if such a party gained enough power to be able to attract enough "moderate" Republicans and Democrats to pass meaningful legislation?

All countries are constantly undergoing metamorphoses.  The U.S. is no different.  Perhaps the 2016 election of Donald Trump, when viewed twenty years hence, will be heralded as the point when moderates started to come together to agree on stuff again.  Perhaps the election of a radical president who didn't really herald from either political party will be seen as the obvious signal from the people that what they wanted was something neither of the established parties were really offering.

Perhaps 2016 will be seen as the first evidence of fertile ground for the germination of a third political party.  Call them the "Progressive Conservatives".