Donald Trump The Republican Candidate For President – OpEd

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The Republican Party has formally nominated Donald Trump as its candidate for the presidency of the United States, capping a roller-coaster campaign that saw the billionaire tycoon defeat 16 White House rivals. Billionaire businessman Donald Trump has officially sealed the Republican candidacy to fight for the US presidency after months of acrimonious campaigning. Now Trump will face Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, former foreign minister of USA and wife of former president Bill Clinton.

In fact, the billionaire had been expected to cruise past the 1,237 delegates needed on Tuesday to seal the deal on the first ballot. Trump was put over the top by his home state of New York. “It is something I’ll never ever forget,” Trump said on a video feed from New York. “Together we have achieved historic results with the largest vote total in the history of the Republican Party. This is a movement, but we have to go all the way.” His son Donald Trump, Jr., cast the votes for the New York delegation that put the billionaire businessman over the top of the 1,237 delegates he needed to clinch the nomination, as any talk of disruptive protest votes or walkouts dissipated.

The Republican candidate Donald Trump appeared on screen at the Republican National Convention, telling delegates he is “so proud” to be their nominee for president and vowing to “go all the way” and win the White House in the November election. “This is a movement. But we have to go all the way. I am so proud to be your nominee for president,” he told the delegates.

Trump’s focus was the economy, with many calls for lower taxes and less government interference, as per the conservative way. Trump promised to win the election in November, create jobs, strengthen the military, safeguard US borders and “restore law and order”. The real estate mogul won a thumping victory in a series of state-wide party elections, garnering more than 13 million votes – the most of any Republican nominee ever. The conventions are designed to champion the party candidate, rally the grassroots, and propel the party towards November’s presidential election. “Such a great honor to be the Republican Nominee for President of the United States. I will work hard and never let you down! America first!”

Donald Trump, the business magnet whose outsider campaign has both galvanized millions of voters and divided the Republican Party, is the 2016 GOP presidential nominee.

The New Yorker’s embrace by the Republican National Convention marks a remarkable moment in US political history and validates a campaign that shattered precedent, defied experts and usurped the GOP establishment.

It has been a stunning rise for a man most thought would never make it this far. “After all the predictions that he could never do it – the public wouldn’t want someone with no legislative experience, no government experience – they’ve opted for a man who has made his name first of all in business and latterly as a reality TV show host,” reported Al Jazeera. “He will now be on top of the Republican ticket come November.”

Anti-Trump forces on the floor held out for a final miracle on Tuesday after seeking to convince delegates that their votes were not bound and that they could vote their conscience, but it never came to fruition.

An effort to place the name of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for nomination fizzled late Tuesday afternoon. The effort had no chance of success since most of the delegates won by Trump in his GOP nominating victory were bound to vote for him in the roll call under the rules of the Republican primary process. Cruz’s inner circle had adamantly opposed any attempt to involve him in last minute convention floor intrigue, a senior adviser to the Texas senator told CNN. A rebellion would have emphasized the divides in the GOP torn open by Trump’s campaign, which was given little chance of success when he descended a golden escalator in Trump Tower with his wife Melania to set his sights on the White House last year.

Trump praised his pick as an “incredible man” who would make “a great vice president”.

The state-by-state vote to put forward Trump’s nomination took place a day after opponents staged a failed attempt to force a vote opposing his candidacy and after a speech by his wife, Melania, drew accusations of plagiarism. “It’s unbelievable. It’s surreal. I’m so proud of my father. I’m so proud. We all are,” Trump’s eldest daughter and businesswoman Ivanka, often described as his secret weapon, told CNN.

An instrumental remix of Frank Sinatra’s hit New York, New York boomed into the arena after the announcement, as delighted delegates swayed in time with the music and waved their arms in the air.

Smooth vote

Trump’s name was put into the nomination by Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, an early supporter of the businessman, and was seconded by fellow early supporters New York Rep. Chris Collins and South Carolina Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster. “We have gotten off course and the American people know it,” Sessions said in his speech, warning that crime is rising, terrorist attacks are proliferating, and Congress is deadlocked, arguing that Trump is the only answer. “The American voters heard his message and they rewarded his courage and his leadership with a huge victory in our primaries,” Sessions said, drawing raucous cheers from Trump fans on the convention floor. “He loves his country and he is determined to see it be a winner again,” Sessions said. “Donald Trump is the singular leader that can get this country back on track. He has the strength, the courage the will to get it done.”

Trump’s roll call will be followed by the nomination and vote for Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as the vice presidential nominee. Tuesday’s vote passed more smoothly than events on the convention floor Monday when holdouts tried to embarrass Trump by initiating a fight over rules of the gathering.

Trump’s team monitored delegates to quell any kind of rebellion, with a team of whips on the floor and eyes in the sky. The Trump delegate brain trust was holed up in a skybox inside the convention center where they tracked the movement of delegates as the roll was called. Trump whips wore neon green hats to make it easier for them to spot.

Trump carried 36 states and won 13.4 million votes on his way to the GOP nomination, but he took a smaller percentage of primary and caucus votes than Romney in 2012 or Sen. John McCain of Arizona in 2008. Yet for all Mr. Romney’s business orientation and Mr. McCain’s maverick streak, neither possessed the potential, ability or inclination to change the Republican Party.

Clinton under attack

Trump’s Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, apparently could not digest Trump being her opponent and was quick to respond after the vote with a challenge thrown to him: “Donald Trump just became the Republican nominee. Chip in now to make sure he never steps foot in the Oval Office”. However, there was again a clear anti-Clinton theme, perhaps stronger than ever with NJ governor Chris Christie going pretty hard on the Democratic nominee. He said she was guilty of messing up in her responses to various international incidents.

A wealthy New York real estate developer and a reality TV celebrity, the 70-year-old was a long shot when he entered the race for the Republican nomination more than a year ago, having never been elected to office. He in fact clinched the nomination nearly two months ago. But relentless controversy over his campaign rhetoric and a simmering movement by anti-Trump delegates to deny him the nomination made it less than a foregone conclusion.

Nonetheless, speaker after speaker at the four-day convention in Cleveland took aim at his rival, Mrs. Clinton, presenting her as out of touch with the concerns of ordinary Americans and the inheritor of President Barack Obama’s “oppressive” government pursuing arrogant foreign policy.

Republican delegates savaged Clinton at the convention, breaking into angry chants of “lock her up” and “guilty” as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie accused her of wrongdoing and numerous foreign policy failures, including on Libya, Syria, the Iran nuclear deal, and Boko Haram in Nigeria. Christie, himself a former federal prosecutor, told the convention as he laid out a case against Clinton and “her selfish, awful judgment…We are going to present the facts to you. You, tonight, sitting as a jury of her peers in this hall and in your living rooms around our nation,” he said.

Outlining what he called “the facts”, Christie slated Clinton’s record as US secretary of state, accusing her of being responsible for chaos and violence engulfing the Middle East and elsewhere, and asking whether she is “guilty or not guilty?” “In Syria, imagine this, she called President Assad ‘a reformer.’ There are now 400,000 dead. Think about that: 400,000 dead. So we must ask this question: As an awful judge of the character of a dictator and butcher in the Middle East, is she guilty or not guilty?” “Guilty,” the crowd chanted in reply. “America and the world are measurably less safe because of the Iran deal Hillary helped cut. An inept negotiator of the worst nuclear arms deal in American history, guilty or not guilty?” he bellowed. “Guilty,” the crowd replied.

In short, Hillary Clinton does not have any positive opinion in the public. Her actions and rhetoric are unimpressive. Trump stands tall. Trump speaks of making America great and is in the process of remaking the GOP, possesses all three, and he takes them into a race essential for the Republican Party, which has been shut out of the White House for eight years.

Observation

The bipartisan conventions, designed to champion the party candidate, rally the grassroots, and propel the party towards November’s presidential election, are over. Now it is time for the real Republican –Democratic war.

After the presidential vote, the convention by voice vote nominated Indiana Governor Mike Pence, 57, Trump’s choice for his vice presidential running mate.

Donald Trump, who has greater chance to be the next president of USA than his opponent Clinton, has secured the nomination of the Republican Party to become the next US president after months of controversial campaigning that has divided the American right of the political spectrum, leading to intense debate on future of US foreign policy. Trump was expected to formally accept the nomination in a speech on Thursday, before facing off against Democrat Hillary Clinton in the November 8 election battle. Mrs Clinton, 68, is due to be formally nominated at the Democratic convention next week in Philadelphia.

Many Americans oppose Trump’s ascension in US politics, lambasting his controversial campaign statements, including calling Mexican immigrants rapists and drug dealers whom he would deport if elected president. He has also called for a ban on Muslims from entering the United States. Later he revised much of his harsh rhetoric meant essentially to garner the votes of those who hate Islam.

General scenario is that Donald J. Trump wins in November. But then the Tea Party hardliners would become stronger. If Trump becomes president, he may play the role of Franklin Roosevelt in 1932 and Ronald Reagan in 1980, both of whom transformed the demographic profile of their respective parties.

Donald J. Trump may be harsh, but he is being hailed as a remarkable, formidable and possibly transformative Republican presidential nominee. He has the potential to change everything — the presidency, the way aspiring nominees campaign for the job and the Republican Party itself, which this year is celebrating its 160th birthday. Many Republicans swear with Trump brand of politics, the party is going through creative change.
Establishment Republicans and Tea Party conservatives have little in common besides their contempt, part substantive and part stylistic, for Mr. Trump’s brand of politics. Neither group has any affinity for former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, but neither group has a stake in Trump prevailing.

While Trump is hawkish, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, Trump’s running mate, is such a balm to the party. Trump partisans like him because their candidate covered him with stardust, the regulars because he has convent. The Pence selection is far more important for the internal politics of the Republican Party than for its external effect. Only one vice-presidential selection since 1988, Sen. Albert Gore of Tennessee, prompted as much as a third of the public to say it was more likely to support a party ticket.

A split personality, Trump is one of those rare presidential nominees who have the potential of winning the White House but also of being defeated decisively. A defeat would warn the Republicans away from nominating a candidate like Trump again. A victory would remold the party in . Trump’s image — and the long-term effect of that cannot be predicted.

Democratic candidate Hillary is now facing a very serious and direct threat from Trump on whom she and her party and incumbent president Obama had high hopes because of his hawkish nature, arrogant character and faulty rhetoric. However, he, unlike Obama and “hopeful” Hillary, clearly said he would review the US-Israel relations and view issue from a neutral viewpoint. This has made a sea change in US policy.

Hillary Clinton is going pursue the same imperialist war agenda of Bush and Obama along with pro-Israel policy encouraging the Zionist criminal regime to advance its expansionist agenda inside Palestine along with genocides of Palestinians, besieged by Israel-Egyptian terror blockades , .

But Trump is likely to revise most, if not all, policies of both Bush and Obama. Thus in order to advance US interests globally if aggressively the republican president is better suited than Hillary Clinton. Unlike Obama, Trump may not obey the Neocons. He has his own ideas.

The Republican-Democratic battle for presidency is yet to begin, Will Trump let Clinton climb the sympathy ladder as a female presidential candidate as she fought the fellow Democrat Sanders?

Dr. Abdul Ruff

Dr. Abdul Ruff is a columnist contributing articles to many newspapers and journals on world politics. He is an expert on Mideast affairs, as well as a chronicler of foreign occupations and freedom movements (Palestine, Kashmir, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Xinjiang, Chechnya, etc.). Dr. Ruff is a specialist on state terrorism, the Chancellor-Founder of Center for International Affairs (CIA), commentator on world affairs and sport fixings, and a former university teacher. He is the author of various eBooks/books and editor for INTERNATIONAL OPINION and editor for FOREIGN POLICY ISSUES; Palestine Times.

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