Just three months ago, the Republican
presidential race appeared to be less about policy differences than
factors like age, electability and the candidates' records and
likeability. The leading candidates at that time, ex-Florida Gov. Jeb
Bush, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker differed
on policy specifics but were similarly conservative and resided mostly
within the establishment.
But the rise of Donald Trump has completely
reshaped the Republican race. Trump has proposed a starkly different
vision for the GOP than establishment figures like Bush. The Republican
primary is now a fight between two competing ideologies: what some have
dubbed "Trumpism," which borrows heavily from ideas of Tea Party
activists, versus the views of the GOP elite, who helped Bush raised
more than $100 million in the first six months of the year.
That divide was illustrated most clearly this
week when Trump bashed Jeb Bush not just for his positions on
immigration, but for speaking Spanish in interviews and on the campaign
trail. "We're a nation that speaks English, and while we're in this
nation, we should speak English," Trump said at a press conference on
Thursday.
No comments:
Post a Comment