On the eve of the US Election 2016, both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are in a final push to try and get those all important votes to carry them to the White House. However, whatever the outcome in the early hours of Wednesday morning, the polictical landscape of the USA has to get its act together.
Trump, who has defied so-called experts and commentators throughout this campaign, is without doubt anti-establishment. To say his supporters are doing so as simply a protest vote is naive. Similarities have been drawn between the Brexit referendum and this election season. This is most certainly true to an extent.
Many leave voters had become beyond upset with being ignored by politicians in both the House of Commons and the bureaucratic system at the EU. Across the Atlantic and it is a similar story with Americans all over the states. The country that built itself on the people feeling valued and pursuing a dream, has left thousands questioning how their lives have improved over eight years of Obama administration.
Turning to Trump from a purely policy point of view resonates with so many as they just cannot handle a continuation of the Obama America with a different captain at the helm. Inevitably Clinton is by no means just a direct carry on from Obama. The outgoing president may not have achieved all he had set out to in office up against a Republican Congress and Senate, but he leaves with his popularity in tact and the American people having a greater degree of faith in him than either of the two candidates to replace him at the White House.
No place to hide
Without trust, politicians face an uphill struggle to maintain support with the technological advances increasing the cases of whistle blowing, hacks and exposes. Through the FBI on-off investigations into Clinton’s emails to discourse on her finances the undertones of deception and cover-ups rear their head time and time again. Only results night will prove whether these ‘scandals’ will lose her the election.
Looking beyond Tuesday night and the establishment needs to take heed of the warnings this campaign has sent out to them. The Trump campaign has ridden a wave of public disillusion and contempt for modern politics. Clinton becoming the first female president, however historic in meaning, will simply plaster over the cracks of a system that is in dire need of reform or at the bare minimum a self-review.
Fractured feelings
In the five months since Britain voted to leave the EU the country has become fractured, aggressive and you could argue self-harming. The crux of all these problems is manifested in a distinct lack of confidence in the elected politicians acted in the best interests of the people. And all of this just over a year after they were elected in the democratic process of a general election.
The USA should recognise the high possibility of a similar apathy sweeping from east to west. Add a substantial number of fire arms that are possessed by Americans to the aggressive and hateful public attacks on people on the streets of Britain since the referendum and the outcome does not bear thinking about.
A Trump victory will come as a headed hammer blow to the establishment. Not only will the most powerful man in the Western World have breaking down the “corrupt” system at the forefront of his plans, it could spark an uprising in protest campaigns and movements against the system with much greater public support. A success in electing Trump will give his supporters hope for the future and could spell the end of the current establishment set up.
Where Brexit and the US Election similarities is end is when it comes to long-term effects. Upon triggering Article 50 and leaving, a return to the EU is incredibly unlikely at any point in the future. By giving Trump the presidential platform, his voters will have given something different a chance. A Clinton win must not take people’s eyes off of a broken system or we will be having the same discussion on a need for underlying change in four years time.
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