Trump and Sanders, American Symbols

Published in Les Échos
(France) on 16 September 2015
by Favilla (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Meredith O'Connell. Edited by Bora Mici.
You have to admit it, the American presidential campaigns offer up a more entertaining spectacle than the routine, colorless politicians of the old continent. In the U.S., one finds unexpected personalities thriving, who, having failed to conquer the support of a party, escape the machine's control and can use and abuse their liberty of free speech. Ever since last June, when he declared himself a Republican candidate for the 2016 presidential elections, Donald Trump has seen his campaign soar with more than a third of favorable opinions, crushing the other party candidates, while the press delightfully relates his incoherent statements and his outrageousness. The liberty to bear arms? Over an interval of several weeks, he described himself as hostile rather than favorable on the subject. The same contradictions happened regarding abortion and the health care system. But his favorite themes are immigration — he says it is necessary to throw out some 11 million migrants — and “pillage," where the United States is a victim of its trading partners, China being the principal culprit…

Of course, the primaries are still far from a sealed deal, but Trump's popularity, even if it does not endure, is significant. Without a doubt, it holds in its grip the populist position, but it also reveals a need for release; by contrast, a stubborn hostility is expressed toward the political class from which this atypical candidate radically distinguishes himself. At the end of the day, he greatly owes his popularity to the fact that he is a financially successful man who has used his enormous fortune to make an electoral argument and who represents in his own way a facet of the American Dream.

At the polar opposite end of the political spectrum, there's another revealing breakout in the Democratic camp: socialist and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who is encroaching on Hillary Clinton's lead. His program? A big minimum wage increase, generalized health care coverage, free higher education … Here, explaining his success is perfectly rational: It's the increasing inequalities, the slowdown of social mobility, the stagnant earnings of a majority of the population. Trump and Sanders are two contrasting and yet complementary sides of America today.


Il faut le reconnaître, les campagnes présidentielles américaines offrent un spectacle beaucoup plus divertissant que les ternes routines politiciennes du Vieux Continent. On y voit surgir des personnages inattendus qui, n'ayant pas eu à conquérir le soutien d'un parti, échappent au contrôle des appareils et peuvent user et abuser de leur liberté de parole. Depuis qu'il s'est déclaré, en juin dernier, candidat à l'investiture républicaine pour l'élection présidentielle de 2016, Donald Trump a vu sa cote monter en flèche (plus du tiers d'opinions favorables), écrasant les autres candidats du parti - alors même que la presse relate avec délectation ses incohérences et ses outrances. La liberté de porter des armes ? A quelques semaines d'intervalle, il s'y est dit hostile, puis favorable. Mêmes contradictions à propos de l'avortement ou du système de santé. Mais ses thèmes favoris sont l'immigration (il faut, dit-il, jeter dehors quelque 11 millions de migrants) et le « pillage » dont les Etats-Unis sont victimes de la part de leurs partenaires commerciaux - la Chine principalement…
Bien sûr, les primaires sont loin d'être jouées. Mais la popularité de Trump, même si elle ne devait pas durer, est significative. Elle tient sans doute à ses prises de position populistes, mais elle révèle aussi un besoin de défoulement - l'expression, par contraste, d'une hostilité tenace à l'égard de la classe politique, dont ce candidat atypique se démarque radicalement. Elle doit beaucoup, enfin, à la réussite financière d'un homme qui fait de son énorme fortune un argument électoral et représente, à sa manière, une facette du « rêve américain ».

A l'autre extrémité du spectre politique, une autre percée révélatrice dans le camp démocrate : celle du « socialiste » Bernie Sanders, sénateur du Vermont, qui grignote l'avance d'Hillary Clinton. Son programme ? Une forte hausse du salaire minimum, une couverture santé généralisée, la gratuité des études supérieures… Un succès dont l'explication est, cette fois, parfaitement rationnelle : c'est l'accroissement des inégalités, le freinage de la mobilité sociale, la stagnation des revenus de la grande majorité de la population. Trump, Sanders, deux aspects contrastés et complémentaires de l'Amérique d'aujourd'hui.

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