It’s a universal reality that political leaders come and go, some initially welcomed and viewed as hoped-for champions of their fellow countrymen during troubled times.
Such political realities were much in evidence as Americans observed the last days in office of president Barack Obama while awaiting the installation of his controversial replacement, Donald Trump.
Most Canadians have been unable to ignore the increasingly volatile and even vicious confrontations between American political adversaries. During the election, some candidates were attacking not just rivals in other parties, but also rival candidates in their own parties.
In-party fratricide was most evident in the Republican party, where Trump, the self-proclaimed “outsider,” went on the offensive, ridiculing and denouncing other Republican candidates.
Some Americans, their anger growing over their perceived exclusion from economic and other benefits in a changing society, were increasingly vulnerable to the siren call of those like Trump, who capitalized on that anger, especially white American males, many frustrated at their own impotence and looking for someone to restore the America they once knew.
And the media-savvy Trump was successful in presenting himself as the one leader capable of taking on the elite that allegedly dominates the U.S. and benefits from their entrenched positions, condemning the working population to the sidelines.
Trump promised he would move swiftly to end this polarization, especially for those who previously could count on jobs in the once-vibrant manufacturing sector.
He promised to bring back those lost jobs and deport 10 million illegal Mexican immigrants, whom Trump described as responsible for the bleak economic existence increasingly imposed on Americans.
Trump insisted he would rid society of the power elite, referring to “draining the swamp.” (Interestingly, most of Trump’s cabinet nominees have elite backgrounds; several are billionaires.)
He promised to increase American power and prestige. He has promised he would take on the pharmaceutical industry for its predatory price increases.
Whether he actually can cause the pharmaceutical companies to lower their prices, their ability to withstand such threats might now be in jeopardy, since some of their key supporters in Congress will be weakened by Trump’s dominance.
There are members of the Republican party who have become accustomed to pursuing their own power through alignment with special-interest groups, but Trump, the outsider, in effect has taken over the party, at least for now.
As Paul Ryan, a key power in the party, has learned to his regret, Trump’s election effectively means the power brokers in the party will have to go along with the new leader, since he now is running the show, at least until he fails to meet the pent-up expectations of voters.
Trump’s political dominance of the Republican party is a reality that Obama never could count on. Although he was initially popular with much of the American public, he was never a power within his own party, let alone someone who could wheel and deal with his Republican adversaries. Most of those had no interest in working closely with him or even in co-operating on legislation that would benefit the American economy and society.
On the contrary, some Republicans worked to undermine Obama from the beginning, even during the catastrophic economic events of 2008 when the American economy was on the verge of total collapse until Obama, with the help of some traditional Republican powerbrokers, effectively bailed out the U.S. banking system. And now, the Republicans are prepared to destroy Obama’s controversial health plan.
Trump’s success in meeting his grandiose commitments to the American people might come at the expense of Canada and other trading partners, as his administration announced immediately after the inauguration that it would back out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Harry Sterling, a former diplomat, is an Ottawa-based commentator who has worked in the United States.
