Reactionaries on the Rise
Published in Frankfurter Rundschau
(Germany) on 17 January 2016
by Daniel Haufler (link to
original)
In the end, it makes little difference whether Donald Trump, Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio compete as the Republican candidate in the U.S. presidential election. They all represent retrogressive positions. A commentary.
The primaries in the U.S. will be serious. In two weeks the decision will be made first in the state of Iowa, then shortly thereafter in New Hampshire. It is true that a lot can happen before then, but experience shows that those who don’t have a good standing in the polls by mid-January have no chance in the early primaries – and ultimately not in the following race.
This is how the U.S. election system works. It is a relic of the pre-modern period. Suitable Republican candidates are against immigration, against abortion, against a healthcare system for all, against redistribution of wealth from top to bottom and are against the central role of the state in the lives of its citizens.
This attitude was also evident in the televised Republican debate on Wednesday evening, despite all the skirmishes among the participants. It therefore makes little difference whether the loud-mouthed billionaire Donald Trump will win the Republican bid in the presidential election, or Texas Sen. Ted Cruz – whom his own party colleague John McCain considers a “wacko bird” – or the more moderate sounding Sen. Marco Rubio from Florida. If any one of them became president, it would be a victory for the reactionaries, the consequences of which would be incalculable.
The primaries in the U.S. will be serious. In two weeks the decision will be made first in the state of Iowa, then shortly thereafter in New Hampshire. It is true that a lot can happen before then, but experience shows that those who don’t have a good standing in the polls by mid-January have no chance in the early primaries – and ultimately not in the following race.
This is how the U.S. election system works. It is a relic of the pre-modern period. Suitable Republican candidates are against immigration, against abortion, against a healthcare system for all, against redistribution of wealth from top to bottom and are against the central role of the state in the lives of its citizens.
This attitude was also evident in the televised Republican debate on Wednesday evening, despite all the skirmishes among the participants. It therefore makes little difference whether the loud-mouthed billionaire Donald Trump will win the Republican bid in the presidential election, or Texas Sen. Ted Cruz – whom his own party colleague John McCain considers a “wacko bird” – or the more moderate sounding Sen. Marco Rubio from Florida. If any one of them became president, it would be a victory for the reactionaries, the consequences of which would be incalculable.