Bill Clinton's defeat of George Bush in 1992 ended 12 years of Republican rule and the conservative reform program begun by Reagan. Clinton's social programs -- such as leave during pregnancy or serious medical condition and the easing of restrictions on family planning programs -- together with his hopes for a federally-funded universal health care program outraged conservatives. Recurring reports of Clinton's marital infidelity added to conservative annoyance and provided sticks to beat him with.
In 2009 the Tea Party -- a loose coalition of hard-right conservatives devoted to the smallest ambit of US Federal governance and sweeping tax cuts -- emerged. Tea Party representatives in Congress were simply not given to the sort of log-rolling and compromise that had previously characterized US governance. The real rupture in cross-party cooperation came with the nastiness of the Whitewater Affair and the personal attacks in the context of Clinton's impeachment proceedings.
Gerrymandered constituencies virtually ensured the election of radicals to the House of Representatives and deepened the rift between Democrats and Republicans. Debate in the House of Representatives became something of a mean-spirited ideological shouting match of the willfully deaf. The quota of bridge-building moderates on both sides began to recede. Very few remain. Barring a bouleversement in the coming elections, the next Congress will be the worst and most ill-tempered yet.
Many, if not most, Democrats still believe George Bush's victory over Al Gore was a corruption of the democratic process; Democrats believe the election was 'stolen' from them by the five Reagan-appointed Supreme Court justices who accepted the argument that "hanging chads" did not count as votes for the Democrat candidate, Al Gore. Bush won with a lower national vote count than Gore.
And so, the die was cast. Incivility and confrontation; bombast and fear-mongering came to characterize US politics. This was not a matter of personalities or vociferous disagreements over policy options; it was a matter of fundamental disagreement about what the US as a state should be. It is hard to see how there can be compromise between the two sides -- as a result, policy debate has degenerated into mean-spirited slander and character assassination. Time and again, Congress has found itself stymied, particularly on budgetary measures, even when a default loomed.
On the one hand Donald Trump personifies crassness and incivility; on the other, as a Washington outsider, he benefits from its consequences: the political stalemate in Congress.
Is a significant portion of the US electorate irrational?
The American Values Survey, a collaboration of the Public Religion Research Institute and Brookings reports:
- 55% of Trump's Republican and Republican-leaning voters are white working class citizens.
- 69% say immigration is a critical issue for them.
- 80% believe immigrants are a burden to the US, taking American jobs, housing and welfare.
- 74% believe that discrimination against whites is a serious as discrimination against blacks and other minorities.
- In Iowa Hillary Clinton lost by a wide margin to Bernie Sanders but she got more votes than Republican runner-up, Donald Trump (41,726 to 41,483).
- Iowa and New Hampshire are not only tiny states electorally, they are also quintessentially unrepresentative of the US electorate. Iowa is lily-white and deeply Evangelical; there are almost no minority groups. New Hampshire is also mostly white and more moderate in political orientation than most states. There are few lessons to be drawn for the analysis of the wider campaigns.
- The media has become part of the story. CNN was in a tiff with Ted Cruz about a purported report that Ben Carson had left the campaign; Cruz's team had used the report to unfair advantage. Trump disingenuously called for a re-run. Huffington Post's Trump coverage began in the Entertainment Section and later headlined Trump's New Hampshire win with "A Racist, Sexist Demagogue Just Won the New Hampshire Primary". The New York Daily Post was a bit more creative, using the headline "Dawn of the Brain-dead" accompanied by a photoshopped picture of Donald Trump in clown make-up. Trump's "blood dispute" with Fox News' Megyn Kelly got wide coverage. Perhaps needless to say, the news media are no longer trusted and, what trust still exists is sharply divided on partisan lines; e.g., conservatives preferring Fox News and moderates and progressives,The New York Times.
- Independent voters provided Sanders with his margin of victory over Clinton; she beat him 56% to 39% with bona fide Democratic Party card-holders. Independents also played a disproportionate role in the Republican tally. (Note: The Iowa Caucuses are "closed" which is to say only declared Democrats and Republicans can participate. However, late registration or re-registration from one of the main parties or No Party is permitted.) Similarly, Independents played a role in New Hampshire but not as dramatically.
- Debates matter -- but not always. T rump checked out of the Iowa debate, probably because Megyn Kelly was the moderator, and paid a price. Kasich did well in the New Hampshire debate and came in a surprising second. But, while Christie skewered Cruz, he ended up going home to New Jersey.
- Polls suggest that as much as 50% of Republicans feel betrayed by their party. There is also a significant anti-establishment tendency among Democrats.
- Experience in the US (and in Canada) over the last two decades suggests a deterioration in the accuracy of polls. The accuracy of polls depends in good measure on the persistence of historical trends which is less and less the case. Also, given the large number of candidates that have fallen by the wayside, previous polls on primaries yet to come are of questionable accuracy.
- The front-runner Donald Trump, was a disappointment in Iowa but redeemed his moxie in New Hampshire. Nonetheless the Iowa Caucuses showed organizational weaknesses -- his team did not get out and protect the vote that polls had promised -- and he can make mistakes. A no-show at the final debate, he sullied his image as the "fearless outsider fighting for the common man". Trump's strongest states are New York and West Virginia. Trump should do well on Super Tuesday. He has strength in the South, Appalachia and the industrial Northeast. Trump thrives in states where there are high levels of racial resentment.
- Calgary-born Ted Cruz did well in Iowa on the strength of Evangelical and conservative support; he faded in more politically moderate and less religious New Hampshire. His support base seems narrow but he will do well in Texas, his home state, and in states with large religious populations.
- Neo-con Marco Rubio surprised in Iowa and elevated himself to become the Republican establishment's anti-Trump White Knight. Tarred as a "robo-candidate" in an appalling performance in a New Hampshire debate, he languished at the polls. Rubio is addressing much the same demographics as Kasich and Bush. This competition does not speak well for any of the three remaining Republican establishment favourites. If Rubio survives Super Tuesday and Kasich and Carson drop out, he could do better in the rest of the primaries, assuming the supporters of the drop-outs migrate and vote.
- Clinton's victory over Sanders in Nevada benefited significantly from Latino casino workers being bussed in courtesy of Democratic Minority Leader Harry Reid's state machine. Clinton will continue to benefit from this kind of assistance from the Democrat establishment. This will not necessarily serve her image in the Presidential elections.
- Trump did significantly better than Cruz among South Carolina's evangelicals. If Trump can repeat the trick elsewhere, the Cruz campaign may be in real trouble. Trump is continuing to harp on another of Cruz's weaknesses: his birth in Calgary.
- Much of the vote for the now-departed Jeb Bush may well migrate to Rubio. It can be safely assumed that the Republican establishment will now pull out all the stops in efforts to support Rubio. Given the deep anti-establishment sentiments in much of the Republican base, this could back-fire.
- New Jersey Governor Chris Christie surprised observers with a declaration of support for Donald Trump. Much has and will be made of this and other endorsements by the media pundits. Given the deep anti-establishment emotions in play, such endorsements mean much less than in the past. For the record, Rubio leads the endorsement race, having garnered roughly 150 to Trump's dozen. To date, this has not seemed to help Rubio to any noticeable extent.
- Clinton vs. Trump: Clinton +5.0%
- Clinton vs. Cruz: Cruz +1.0 %
- Clinton vs. Rubio: Rubio +4.0%
- Democrat win: 61% (In a separate Market Poll, Clinton beats Trump 57% to 25%)
- Republican win: 39%
- Trump: 71%
- Rubio: 25%
- Cruz: 3%
- (Note: Though the traditional polling numbers are tightening, Clinton is streets ahead of Sanders and she has the advantage of Democrat Party establishment support.)
- Trump: 33.2% and 34.8%
- Cruz: 20.3% and 19.4%
- Rubio: 16.7% and 16.2%