18 February 2016
2016 Campaign Philosophy
The 2016 Campaign for the U.S. Presidency is a struggle of
three philosophies of government. Bernie
Sanders’ pursuit of the Democratic nomination is based on an ideological
commitment to socialist themes that include income equalization and expansion
of government as the tool of popular will.
The Republican contest among Jeb
Bush, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Donald Trump is being fought to prove the most
likely candidate to shrink the government’s capacity to interfere with unfettered
free enterprise. Its ideology is the
virtue of a competitive marketplace.
The middle ground is sought on the Democratic side by
Hillary Clinton and on the Republican side by John Kasich. Clinton and Kasich both see government as a
useful tool for carrying out the will of the people, but only in its
place. They share popular goals but vary
in their confidence in government to serve those goals. Hillary’s strength is in her femininity,
strong personality and experience, and in her association with a previous
successful President. Kasich is a highly
qualified but weak contender.
Americans may be seduced by ideologues in Primary elections
because the range of Party faithful and Primary enthusiasts is much narrower
than the full electorate. The Republican
Party Convention may select a right-wing ideologue, as it has in the past. But it is hard to believe that the Democrats
will risk an election on Bernie Sanders for purely ideological reasons.
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