Great American Divide: Trump and Republicans (2)

In contrast to the highly liberal, pro-abortion, generous social welfare, big spending government, tax-the-rich policies of the Democrats, the traditionally socially conservative Republican Party stands on the opposite side of the Great American Divide characterized by fiscally prudent, small government policies; deeply Christian right-to-life, anti-abortionists hewing closely to the religious right; and a deregulated, laissez-faire, free trade economy, fueled by a low corporate tax regime of deregulated corporations protected by restrictions on labor unions.

Politically, the US population is roughly evenly split based on a 2023 Gallup poll, with the Republicans having a slight edge over the Democrats for the first time since 2011.

The Republican Party boasts of a few presidents with their unique brand of politics who were acclaimed universally as leaders who had the greatest impact on American society and stood out in history head and shoulders above others.

The greatest of them was perhaps Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president and the 16th president of the United States, who guided the country through a bloody Civil War that preserved the Union and strengthened the federal government. His Emancipation Declaration led to the abolition of slavery but provoked the enmity of the slave-owning South, resulting eventually in his assassination by a Southerner. 

Another Republican who readily comes to mind is Ronald Reagan, dubbed the Great Communicator. Hugely popular, he charmed America with his “aw, shucks” demeanor of the Gipper and parlayed his affable, matinee good looks to become the 40th president, setting the stage for the conservative shift of American politics squarely to the right that succeeding Republican presidents have tried to emulate.

He is acclaimed for his supply-side “trickle-down” economics through tax cuts that stimulated the economy and tamed the inflation under Democrat Jimmy Carter, his predecessor, from 4 percent to 2 percent. Reagan is also credited for successfully dismantling the Soviet Union and ending the Cold War with his strong anti-communist stance.

The looming November presidential elections could very well see another Republican in the White House as the polls seem to be signaling a return of the highly controversial, twice impeached Donald Trump, who is now an avowed right-leaning conservative but who occasionally panders to the extremist right white supremacists.

If he does win, what’s in store for the world, particularly the Philippines? If we are to look at the past, Trump pivoted the US from a “kumbaya” global stance to that of an isolationist not keen to involve America in geopolitical conflicts as he threatened during his previous administration to pull out of NATO, leaving these countries vulnerable to Russian aggression. Military assistance to Ukraine will most certainly dwindle if not come to a halt, spelling their definite capitulation to the Russians and a step closer to fulfilling Putin’s dream of restoring the old glory of Soviet hegemony over Eastern Europe.

Trump’s policy in the past of warming up closely to authoritarian regimes in Asia, such as North Korea and China, could also mean trouble for our part of the world, Taiwan and the Philippines in particular. We may have to say goodbye to whatever support we could muster under the mutual defense treaty with the US that provides us some comfort in our dangerously escalating one-sided South China Sea cat-and-mouse game with China.

Will a Trump administration come to our rescue if one of our Lilliputian supply boats finally capsizes from the constant barrage of water cannons by the Goliath-like Chinese coast guard vessels? Not very likely, I am afraid.

The world can also say goodbye to global efforts to control climate change as Trump has declared in no uncertain terms that the US will “drill, baby, drill” to achieve oil independence. He has derided the renewable energy campaign, the hallmark of the Paris Treaty’s ESG commitments, as nothing more than a scam.

Trump, however, has latched on to a widely backed issue that has emerged as a serious concern for most Americans. This is the immigration-border control problem that has sparked widespread fears of rampant criminality by illegals from south of the border, which could very well spell the difference in favor of the Republicans come November.

Until next week… OBF!

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