Trump electoral kiss of death is just more Democrat wishful thinking
It didn’t take long for a gleeful new anti-Trump narrative to grip the global media after elections in Canada and Australia delivered upset defeats to conservative parties.“Trump Effect” headlines blared all over the world, blaming the American president for failures far from home.Donald Trump as the kiss of death for conservative parties was the claim in most election post-mortem analysis.It is a convenient excuse for the lackluster right of center Liberal-National Coalition in Australia rather than facing the reason for their historic wipeout at the hands of voters last week.And it’s a comforting theory that gives Democrats hope that Trumpism will collapse in on itself at home, relieving them from any need to reform their policies or find electable leaders who aren’t weird or senile or corrupt.But there is little about the Toxic Trump narrative that withstands scrutiny — and it overlooks the global strength of similarly populist anti-establishment movements running on issues of national sovereignty, immigration, and cultural identity.Take the stunning success last week of British populist politician, Nigel Farage, the architect of Brexit and the foreign political leader most closely associated with Trump.His Reform UK party scored a thumping victory in regional and other elections across the country, especially in working-class areas.In Europe, right-wing populist parties that share Trump’s worldview have been surging.Giorgia Meloni in Italy is now the most stable European leader.
In Germany, the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is now the second largest party, alarming the Bundestag political establishment and leading to European threats of canceling elections.Meanwhile, in Australia, the charmless opposition leader Peter Dutton, nicknamed “Mr Potato Head,” ran a million miles from the Trumpian label his left-wing opponents tried to slap on him.The likable, if unprepossessing, prime minister, Anthony Albanese, leader of the leftist Labor Part...