Cory Bernardi: Why Donald Trump will be the 45th President of the United States of America

IT’S time to think the previously unthinkable. Donald Trump is poised to become the next President of the United States, writes Cory Bernardi.

IT’S time to think the previously unthinkable. Donald Trump is poised to become the next President of the United States.

Initially derided as a political court jester and reality TV showman, Trump is leading a movement that is thumbing its nose at conventional political campaigns and those inside the Washington beltway.

His rhetoric is incendiary but the outrage it creates seems to make Trump stronger and for that he has to thank his rival, the perennial insider candidate Hillary Clinton.

Nothing encapsulates the sneering contempt that the political establishment has for regular people than Clinton’s comment that Trump’s supporters come from a “basket of deplorables…. racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic.”

That comment, coupled with her health, trust, integrity and legal issues, could well make Trump the 45th President of the United States.

Clinton represents everything about politics that has failed the American people. To those outside the beltway, insiders like Clinton are only concerned about enriching themselves, grasping for power and hobnobbing with others of their ilk.

Trump, despite his own wealth and braggadocio, is tapping into the deep well of concern among the disenfranchised and reflecting their views in words that resonate with many.

His critics in politics and the media condemn his politically incorrect statements but the criticisms by urban elites only reinforce the notion the establishment is stacking the deck against the views of ordinary Americans.

And who can blame them? Real wages have scarcely moved in over 30 years. Full time jobs are disappearing and debt levels are increasing. The great American dream now seems trapped in a labyrinth of systemic political failure.

Trump gives those forgotten people hope that is more concrete than the lofty rhetoric of President Obama. He promises to make America great again, which, for the most patriotic country on earth, is one of the great political slogans of our time.

While Clinton is focussed on the elites raising hundreds of millions from Wall Street bankers and celebrities, Trump is seen as the champion of the working class who has enough of his own money to remain independent of vested interests

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His promise to restore orderly migration to the USA resonates with those who are concerned about their jobs. So too does his pledge to return the manufacturing industry to the country through the imposition of tariffs and trade sanctions. The negative consequences of such actions are lost in the incessant demand for a change from politics as usual.

Trump has also conquered Clinton when it comes to national security. His unabashed Americanism mirrors the people’s concerns about the direction in which their country is headed. Where Clinton can scarcely utter the words ‘Islamic terrorism’ or ‘jihad’, Trump is saying what so many in America (and around the world) whisper in the safety of their personal discussions — there is a problem and to beat it we have to first acknowledge what it is.

His campaign statement about the temporary cessation of most Muslims entering the United States taps the growing reality that America (and the West) is under attack from Islamo-facism. The more Trump is derided for this approach the weaker his opponents look. This was particularly evident with the recent bombings in New York City.

There is little doubt that a Trump Presidency would change America. His election would also change American engagement in the world. From my perspective not all of these changes would be positive; however, the concerns voiced by some ignore the natural constraints inherent within the US congressional system.

It also helps Trump that these worries are almost universally voiced by the self-interested insiders of American politics or the international elites. Neither of those sectional interests matter to the vast majority of the American working class.

They are demanding a different approach and when provided with the choice between a maverick Donald Trump or the establishment candidate with a long list of integrity issues, I suspect they will conclude that only a Trump presidency can make America great again.