La Costa, CA
November 20, 2016
by Rich Scheck
The 2016 election represented a personal triumph for Donald Trump. But in
addition to his victory at the polls over Hillary Clinton, it appears he has created
a new political party……what I would label the American Populist Party.
This makes him a political entrepreneur in the spirit of his other successes in
the world of business. By building on the previous efforts of such recent
political figures as Ross Perot, Ron Paul, Bernie Sanders and Jesse Ventura ,
Trump was able to orchestrate the widespread outrage of millions of disaffected
voters into a unified chorus that now has him as president elect.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/donald-trump-americas-first-independent-president/ 2016/11/19/b09e1cc6-ade2-11e6-8b45-f8e493f06fcd_story.html
Trump did something truly extraordinary over the last 18 months: first he took
over the Republican Party by dispatching the Bush Dynasty and the other
mainstream candidates during the primaries. Then he went on to defeat the
Democratic machine of the Clintons and the twice elected President Obama
who lent Hillary his full backing.
I believe this unique accomplishment constitutes the culmination of over 40 years
of efforts by those who have labored to unify the left and right around a narrow
agenda to forge a transpartisan movement designed to replace the two corrupt
mainstream parties. https://stateofthenation2012.com/?p=32281
In the past I wanted Pat Buchanan to join with Ralph Nader in 2000 or Ron Paul
to work with Dennis Kucinich in 2004 to make inroads into the entrenched bases
of the Democrats and Republicans. That made me a political entrepreneur:
https://stateofthenation2012.com/?p=28027
Those efforts all failed but by 2010, the Tea Party Right and Occupy Left were
becoming even more restless. Ron Paul and Bernie Sanders did their parts to
empower these diverse groups but failed to find the proper formula to unite them.
Enter The Donald: by 2016, the level of resentment had reached new levels. With
establishment darling Hillary Clinton using the DNC to steal the nomination from the
hapless Sanders and with Trump being able to achieve a hostile takeover on the
Republican side by himself, the stage was set for a populist victory.
To the extent Trump represented a huge bloc of disgruntled voters—Tea party + Occupy + Independents—his success as a so-called Republican really was more of a Ron Paul/Ross Perot/JesseVentura type populist victory culminating decades of voter frustration.
I supported Perot in 1992 and wanted Jesse Ventura to run this year.
https://stateofthenation2012.com/?p=26276
Had Bernie Sanders accepted Jill Stein’s invitation to run as the Green Party nominee,
I would have supported him: https://stateofthenation2012.com/?p=39820
None of that happened. Instead, Trump forged ahead, shooting from the hip, making
many politically incorrect pronouncements and completely alienating the establishments
of both parties………all to the delight of the outraged masses who ate up his belligerence
and irreverence.
What he achieved is a highly imperfect vision of my dream of a new party with a limited
agenda. But if he can keep us from going to war with Russia, eliminate or at least diminish
our propensity for regime change interventions, oppose TPP and restore our civil liberties while rejuvenating the economy, he will earn the respect of a grateful America and have achieved a big chunk of my vision for the American Peace Party.
Is Trump as truly independent as the Washington Post article suggests or rather than
a more nuanced version of traditional candidates who relied on the rhetoric of
dissatisfaction to win office? It is difficult to say at this early stage.
I find some of his advisors and cabinet selections troubling. But there is little reason to
doubt that on some level he is truly unique, a genuine populist and independent voice
for the masses.
Whether his populist legacy will endure in the form of a newly constituted party built
on the ashes of the other two remains to be seen. But my clear sense is that he
has laid the foundation for that to happen in the future.
As a real estate developer used to building impressive new structures, this political
entrepreneur may have constructed a new edifice that might last for generations.
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2016/11/19/royally-trumped/
Related articles:
https://stateofthenation2012.com/?p=20365
http://jhaines6.wordpress.com/2015/03/04/the-unfortunate-truth-about-bernie-sanders/