Left wing rebel Jeremy Corbyn and right wing buffoon Donald Trump - but do they represent the future of politics or just a morsel of zeitgeist?
Headlines in this morning's newspapers show maverick businessman Donald Trump, thanks to his bombastic style and trade make politically incorrect comments on major issues surging even further ahead in the contest to be Republican nominee in next year's Presidential election. Looking ahead, one foresees Trump's rivals sitting in the back of a car with their campaign managers whining, "If you'd let me talk about how immigration is killing jobs and how Islamic terrorists have sneaked in the country posing as refugees I coulda been a contender."
At the moment Trump seems unstoppable and his success is causing as much panic in the Washington political establishment as the victory of ultra - left wing maverick Jeremy Corbyn in the contest to elect a leader for the Labour Party, currently the main opposition here in Britain.
On the other side of the political fences, the Conservative government are in as much disarray as their opponents, as Prime Minister Cameron vacillates over his promised renegotiation of the therms of Britain's European Union membership but faces a rebellion within his own party if he reneges on certain promises he made to grassroots members. With anti - EU, anti - immigration party UKIP still making headway the Convervatives dilemma, rank and file membership (reflecting public opinion) versus loyalty to the party's corporate sponsors and political allies in Europe.
Meanwhile in the Democrat camp, Washington outsider and ultra - left (by American standards) candidate for the nomination Bernie Sanders continues to poll well and could yet pose a threat to the anointed one Hillary Clinton, a person who claims being married to a former President qualifies her for the job despite having little political experience and an abysmal and scandal stained track record as Secretary Of State in the Obama Administration.
Some commentators are starting to move public opinion by saying only voters can stop Trump or Corbyn. but can we and do we want to. What we are seeing is not a swing to the right or left in traditional politics, but a rejection of mainstream politics. Voters are abandoning the traditional parties in the way traditional politics has abandoned the voters.
It is possible we will see the fix go in, to prevent any upsets. The establishment parties are jealous of the hegemony they have built up over they ears and the 'my turn, your turn' was power id passed back and forth to maintain the illusion of democracy. A good indicator of that will be the French regional elections, the second round of which take place today. The anti - EU, anti - Immigration Front National (FN) won the popular vote in six of France's thirteen regions last week, but as the traditional enemies in French Politics, the Gaullists (conservative) and Socialists are uniting tho block an FN victory, don't be surprised if the outsiders do not go on to govern in any of the regional assemblies.
Democracy is not quite dead, but it is critically ill and on the danger list. Are figures like Trump and Corbyn a symptom of its illness or the cure?
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