President Trump: Hate Him Or Love Him, Democracy Depends On His Success
No matter how you happen to feel about President Trump, rooting against him is tantamount to rooting for the end of free elections in America or rooting for the plane you are sitting on to go down in flames. It’s a shame the President, who also happens to be the last bastion of American Democracy, has to be so dislikable, and the consequences of President Trump (we have to get used to saying it) continuing to flounder will change the free world for the worse.
First of all, let me say I am not a fan of President Trump. I was not a fan of Hillary Clinton, either. I am pretty unbiased as far as political leanings go.
I do see, however, that Donald Trump is nothing if not polarizing. He is a firecracker, a maverick whose ideas and ensuing policies often seem so extreme and unorthodox that they are upsetting (and rightfully so) to a lot of people. He is such a deviant, in fact, that even the Republican National Committee doesn’t support him. During the election, Trump sprinted past both the RNC and the Democratic National Committee to claim the presidency for himself, and neither side (the RNC nor the DNC) really wants him in power. It is almost like, for the first time since 1875, the President of the U.S. is from a third party.
So now that President Trump has secured the office, things could go two ways. Firstly, his approval ratings could plummet and stay low, to the point where he gets ejected from the White House after one term. The first half of this possibility has already been fulfilled, as the latest Gallup poll shows that only 40 percent of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing as president.
If those numbers do indeed stay low and Trump does leave in disgrace after four years, that may very well be the last time we ever see a freely elected President in this country. You can be certain that neither the DNC nor the RNC would ever again let a candidate like Trump — one who does not follow the party line of any traditional American political system — slip through the cracks to seize the presidency. Corruption in elections would increase to the point that we would only ever get the opportunity to choose between precisely the two people the political system have vetted and decided are good pawns to have in charge.
The other way it could go is that President Trump will change people’s minds about him and be a success. This might seem unlikely now, but give Trump’s wild machinations a chance — there might be a method to his madness. This course of action is highly advisable, because President Trump’s success –which, in this case, would take the form of resounding approval and support — would save American democracy. It would also mean the traditional archetype of an American politician would go down the drain. People with radical ideas who will make real changes, for better or for worse, will become the new norm instead of the increasingly corporate-minded politicians we have been seeing in office for many years.
Whether that realignment of American politics is a good thing is up to personal preference, but most people seem to think a radical “President Type 2.0” is in order. Many people wish that radical-ness could be pointed in a slightly different direction (Bernie Sanders comes to mind) and others like what Trump has to offer, but the fact is that either of them will open the floodgates for more untraditional political action in the future.
I am aware the idea of supporting a President even if he is doing many things you actively disagree with probably sounds unnatural and maybe even ridiculous. The truth is, though, it is a pill — one which many may consider to be bitter — that America has to force down in order to maintain a true democracy. Whether this really will shake up the system depends on the voters, and especially the ones who do not already support President Trump. Can we make a change?
[Featured image by Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Images]
