MEP Gyöngyösi: Hard times coming for US parties
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MEP Márton Gyöngyösi’s (Non-attached) thoughts via press release:
The recent US midterm elections seem to have upset the existing trends. However, their significance reaches far beyond that, as they might actually mark the end of Trumpism and right-wing populism as we know it. The question is how the Republican Party will react to the latest developments. No matter what happens though, Democrats are going to fall in hard times, too.
It’s been a long-held belief that the US midterms typically weaken the incumbent president’s party. While the Democrats have indeed lost their majority in the House of Representatives, the Republicans’ results were far from a landslide victory. In fact, they were quite poor.
Even though there were plenty of reasons for a change to happen, neither the difficulties of the past years nor Joe Biden’s less than charismatic performance gave any reason to predict such a good result for the Democrats.
American conservative voters seem to have punished the Republican Party for Donald Trump’s policies – the candidates endorsed by the former president were unable to win in even the traditional strongholds of their party. In the meantime, a new challenger, Florida governor Ron DeSantis appeared on the scene. He has been able to represent issues undertaken by Trump without the ex-president’s unsavoury character traits – and quite successfully, too.
So the Republican Party is now facing the biggest question of the near future: should they stick to the certainly charismatic but rather polarizing Trump or should they choose a new face to run in the next presidential elections?
While the Republicans are in for some tense moments finding their best candidate, the Democrats are to face a decision that is perhaps even more difficult: who should succeed Joe Biden?
The current president is unlikely to carry another term through. On the other hand, the Democrats hardly have an abundance of potential candidates who could represent a moderate or integrative policy.
Either way, the American political discourse is to face a highly exciting period, while the parties must find the way to efficiently voice their own identity and values – as well as the best politicians to represent them.
Disclaimer: the sole liability for the opinions stated rests with the author(s). These opinions do not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Parliament.
