Matt Evans: 2016 Is Looking Like a Bad Year to Be the Status Quo
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to the crowd in a hangar at the Richard I. Bong Airport in Superior, Wis., on Monday afternoon, April 4, 2016. Trump spoke for just under an hour and addressed his GOP opponents, foreign trade, NATO, immigration and jobs, among other topics. Bob King / rking@duluthnews.com
The UK has voted to leave the European Union.
Doug Burgum, a man who has not previously held public office, just had a successful primary victory over a competent and long serving attorney general.
And Wednesday, Donald Trump gave the best speech he’s ever given. Even Slate magazine called the speech “terrifyingly effective”.
The message he painted was clear and on topic: A total refutation of globalism and globalist policies. A decided shift in direction from the present administration. A relentless, precision attack on Hillary Clinton, and a successful argument that lays many of the worlds current problems squarely at her feet.
[mks_pullquote align=”left” width=”300″ size=”24″ bg_color=”#ffffff” txt_color=”#000000″]…unlike the Brexit vote or the upcoming Presidential Election, the state of North Dakota didn’t appear to be holding a massive referendum on the current leadership or its policies. Indeed, Burgum and Stenehjem are not very far apart on many issues.[/mks_pullquote]
Trump finally used a teleprompter for this speech, and he refrained from saying anything that the professionally offended classes might find racist, sexist, or otherwise objectionable.
Suddenly, he sounded Presidential.
Opposing the incumbent politicians or incumbent policy is always a mixed bag. On one hand, the status quo was once thought good enough to become the status quo.
On the other hand, there’s always something wrong with government.
I’m pleased with “Brexit”, the name being given to Britain exiting the EU. I think that more local control is good; more national sovereignty is good, and that the EU has some particularly unpleasant policies that Britons are wise to want to part ways with.
The vote tells us that a slim majority of the British have agreed that a sharp change is needed.
Trump paints a remarkably different vision for America than Hillary Clinton, and suggests a remarkable departure from the last several presidencies, in fact. People hungry for a sharp change in direction – American “brexiters”, perhaps, should be looking at Donald Trump.
That said, Trump and Clinton are currently running neck and neck. I think he will continue to build support up until the election, and I think he has a shot at winning. For now, it’s very close – just like the Brexit vote was.
Americans will similarly need to decide if America needs a drastic course correction.
(I happen to think that it does.)
Strangely enough, in our own gubernatorial primary election, Burgum had a tremendous victory margin over Stenehjem. Yet unlike the Brexit vote or the upcoming Presidential Election, the state of North Dakota didn’t appear to be holding a massive referendum on the current leadership or its policies. Indeed, Burgum and Stenehjem are not very far apart on many issues.
In our gubernatorial primary election, where not as much is at stake, and the choices aren’t so far apart, the victory margin was the largest, and the voters resoundingly rejected the status quo.
It’s worth noting that Trump supports Brexit, and Burgum says he supports Trump.
2016 is looking like a bad year to be the status quo.
