Sunday, August 23, 2015

Ready for President Trump?

US presidential candidate Donald Trump has emerged from nowhere to become the frontrunner and the most likely to succeed in attaining the Presidency of the United States:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/23/us/politics/why-donald-trump-wont-fold-polls-and-people-speak.html?_r=0

To me, he looks like a nationalist and patriot and therefore doesn't seem to be such a bad guy. There's a likelihood that, like Reagan, he may have to resort to some stuntsmanship in order to achieve his stated policy goals once in office - but that's also because his predecessors have allowed his country's position to erode in recent decades. While Trump does cite problems with China more than problems with India in his campaign rhetoric, India shouldn't overconfidently assume that a President Trump will jump into a love affair with India. After all, he does want to get the best possible trade deals for the US, in the pursuit of restoring American primacy and greatness. But as with Modi, a likely Trump presidency does seem to portend a shakeup in business-as-usual policies and practices, which could potentially work in India's favor, as long as we keep our eyes open and don't get caught off-guard like we did during the Reagan years.

There are a large number of pragmatic conservative Democrat voters who would easily defect to join the Trump camp over key issues like illegal immigration. Trump's idea of a tighter policy against illegal immigrants seems quite reasonable and appropriate given the social problems which have resulted. He dared to speak out, braved the predictable initial flak, and has now overcome the controversy to take what was previously taboo and bring it into the realm of open public debate.

Btw, a significant number of those who illegally cross into the US via its border with Mexico are migrants originating from India. Obviously, there are many Indians who have no compunction or hesitation about breaking the law. India needs to do more to solve its own problems rather than radiating them onto other countries.

1 comment:

nutwit said...

What are his views wrt to pApistAn? Annihilation?

How would his election affect green card etc for us Hindus? Also, how do u guys rate this Bernie Sanders fellow?