I generally limit myself to writing about topics that directly concern my country, province and community. But I can’t seem to escape conversations about Donald Trump’s candidacy for President of the USA.
The best thing you can say about Donald Trump is that he is non-ideological. In that sense more politicians should be like him. Yes, Trump trumpets the usual conservative positions like a crackdown on illegal immigration (albeit with more gusto), but in the next breath he rails against the corporate money in politics and the war in Iraq in terms that the most ardent leftist would be heartened by. His comments on Mexicans and Muslims makes the most headlines, but he says such different things that no matter where you are on the ideological spectrum you will occasionally agree with him. It’s an important reminder that political parties rarely fit our complex views. Only the most partisan citizens can claim to agree with every plank of their party’s platform. It’s refreshing to hear a politician who doesn’t tow the party line on every issue.
Since he says so many discordant things the question then is what are his priorities. Will he first build the wall or will he regulate campaign spending by organizations? This is an important question for any voter. We elect politicians in part because of how they prioritize the challenges we face. Would we elect a Prime Minister because he pledged to solve the problem of too many feral cats? That maybe a problem, but it’s hardly the biggest challenge facing us. A large part of Donald Trump’s support comes from his pledge to build a wall along the shared border with Mexico. But is illegal immigration the biggest problem facing America?
According to the Pew Research Centre the population of illegal immigrants in the USA peaked in 2007 at 12.2 million. Today there are about 11.3 illegal immigrants and Mexicans make up about half of that number. Since the illegal immigrant population has leveled off we can deduce the there are considerably less Mexicans trying to cross the border every year and the numbers support this conclusion. 1.6 million Mexicans crossed the border illegally in 2000 – the peak. It’s been declining since then and about 229,000 illegally crossed in 2014. These are still huge numbers and countries absolutely need to be able to control their borders, but is it a crisis requiring a 2,000 physical mile wall? That’s for Americans to decide.
I’ve watched with interest as many Donald Trump supporters explain that while Mr. Trump says many inflammatory things once in office he would govern with more nuance. My instinct is to agree with them. But it is awkward and risky that people would vote for a politician thinking that they won’t do what they say. To vote for him on a feeling about who he is rather than his explicit statements. I guess politicians rarely do what they say anyway so perhaps it’s not that risky. (That was a joke.)
Mr. Trump has engendered strong feelings on both sides. This is evident from the conflict at his rallies. I understand the impulse of Trump opponents who feel the need to stand up for their beliefs and protest, but this strategy has backfired. All this does is further polarize people. Of course, Mr. Trump has said abhorrent things about Mexicans and Muslims, but if you disagree with Mr. Trump the answer is to play him straight. If his views are as cartoonish as his opponents claim, they should be easy enough to refute. Going to his rallies to shout down Mr. Trump or intimate that Mr. Trump is a fascist won’t lessen his support – and that’s the ultimate goal – not just to defeat him at the polls, but to convince your fellow citizens that there are better solutions. My colleague, Peter Mueller, wrote a column last week exemplifying my point. It only preaches to the converted. Using loaded language to denounce Mr. Trump won’t help win the underlying arguments about the very real problems with globalization, terrorism and immigration.
Finally, the people that fear Mr. Trump’s rise have too little faith in democracy. Western democracies are not so fragile that populist candidates like Mr. Trump must be subverted. Forget about the fringes to the right and left and concentrate on the people in the middle. Stick to the issues. Pick apart his proposals relentlessly. Offer viable alternative solutions if you don’t like his. After all democracy is a contest of ideas.
Medicine Hat News. March 23, 2016