Trump, Cruz and the Planet

With the first primaries in the state of Iowa, the election process in America has entered its final stage, and humanity has every reason to worry about the messages coming from the most powerful country in the world. Most Greeks, and other non-Americans, are complacent about the feeling that is emerging from a long-term reading of U.S. politics — that Hillary Clinton is going to be the next U.S. president. That is not necessarily because they agree with her economic, social or foreign policies — which they do not know in depth anyways — but because they have observed her as first lady, senator and secretary of state, and are convinced that she is a balanced politician with experience, knowledge and a sense for global developments. Whether she will increase taxes or decrease spending, whether she will improve the education system or reform health care in the U.S. is of little interest to them. What they do know is that she will not do anything erratic. And that in itself, they find re-assuring, since they know that whatever decision or action the leader of the superpower takes, it has consequences for the whole planet.

Still, opinion polls show that the conflict between the likely Democratic candidate (despite the setbacks and losses in the first few primaries, Hillary will be elected) and her Republican opponent appears inconclusive. Seen in this light, the landscape that is emerging for the Republicans is not only cause for concern, but also fear — Donald Trump has a great lead and is threatening to ban entry of all Muslims into the U.S., and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz vows to “carpet bomb” areas where the Islamic State is active.

The president of a country that knows it has the power to destroy cities, regions, countries and even continents, must possess large stocks of maturity and self-constraint. Mr. Trump and Mr. Cruz have shown that they do not. They are not balanced. They don’t delve deeper. They react based on instinct, not logic.

It is sad that, at least for the time being, the traditional Republican candidates, the governors Chris Christie of New Jersey and John Kasich of Ohio, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and the former business executive of Hewlet-Packard [sic] Carly Fiorina, have 2-3 percent of the vote. The only one capable of threatening them is the ultraconservative, but not overweening, senator from Florida, Marco Rubio. The rest of humanity is unable to do anything. It watches with concern and hopes that the approximately 10 percent of Americans — the Republicans who vote in the primaries — will not elect an erratic presidential candidate for the most powerful country in the world.