Republican Frankenstein

Published in Die Presse
(Austria) on 2 March 2016
by Thomas Vieregge (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Ron Argentati. Edited by Laurence Bouvard.
Whatever got into Chris Christie? In a swank Palm Beach setting, the bullish ex-presidential candidate introduced the Super Tuesday winner, Donald Trump, saying Trump would unite the Republican Party, then boasted that he was a reconciler.

Just the opposite is true. The party of Lincoln and Reagan, the Grand Old Party, is in total uproar over a front runner who thinks Obama is a Kenyan, brushes off an endorsement by the leader of the Ku Klux Klan, proudly quotes Mussolini and flirts with Vladimir Putin.

A billionaires' club launches a probably counterproductive campaign to try to stop the tycoon's victory parade at the last minute. Marco Rubio, the establishment's last best hope, speculated that nominating Donald Trump would herald the end of the modern Republican Party and many others say it would be a gift to Hillary Clinton. How true.

Before the primary elections in Ohio and Florida, the campaign has degenerated into a civil war between the candidates. The party of “no” to the Obama agenda, the tea party movement's hate preachers, the lethal injections provided by Fox News – they all shouldn't wonder: They all got the candidate they deserve — their Frankenstein monster — as conservative pundit Robert Kagan called him.


Republikanischer Frankenstein

Die Partei bekommt den Kandidaten, den sie verdient.

02.03.2016 | 18:28 | Thomas Vieregge (Die Presse)

Was war nur in Chris Christie gefahren? Im Millionärsdorado Palm Beach in Florida kündigte der bullige Ex-Präsidentschaftsanwärter den Hausherren und Triumphator des Super Tuesday so an: „Donald Trump vereint die Partei.“ Und der rühmte sich: „Ich bin ein Versöhner.“

Exakt das Gegenteil ist der Fall. Die Partei eines Lincoln und Reagan, die Grand Old Party, ist in heller Aufruhr über einen Frontrunner, der Obama für einen Kenianer hielt, über die Unterstützung eines Ku-Klux-Klan-Führers hinweggeht, sich mit einem Mussolini-Zitat brüstet und mit Putin kokettiert.

Ein Milliardärsklub lanciert eine womöglich kontraproduktive Kampagne, um den Siegeszug des Tycoons in letzter Minute zu stoppen. „Wenn wir Donald Trump nominieren, ist dies das Ende der modernen Republikanischen Partei“, unkte Marco Rubio, letzte Hoffnung des Establishments. „Ein Geschenk für Hillary Clinton“, orakeln viele. Wie wahr.

Vor der Vorentscheidung in Ohio und Florida artet die Wahlschlacht in einen Bürgerkrieg der Kandidaten aus. Die Partei des No, der Obstruktion der Obama-Ära, der Tea-Party-Hassprediger und der Giftspritzen auf Fox News muss sich indes nicht wundern: Sie bekommt den Kandidaten, den sie verdient – ihr „Frankenstein-Monster“, wie der konservative Vordenker Robert Kagan ätzt.

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