ELDERS - De Republikeinse Partij in de VS zit zonder constructieve ideeën.
De verrassende overwinning in de Republikeinse voorverkiezingen van ultraconservatief David Brat, die daarin partijgenoot House Majority Leader Eric Cantor versloeg, heeft tot de nodige opschudding geleid.
Populistische Republikeinen?
Verschillende Amerikaanse politieke commentatoren zagen in Brats overwinning het (zoveelste) begin van een succesvolle populistische revolte tegen de big business-vleugel die de Republikeinse partij al jarenlang zou hebben gedomineerd.
The New York Times:
[Cantor’s] loss at the hands of David Brat, a Tea Party-inspired economics professor who campaigned on throwing corrupt Wall Street bankers in jail, railed against crony capitalism and insisted that immigration reform would only reward lawbreakers, spurred business leaders to mobilize to preserve their clout in Congress. Already uneasy over what they see as an especially hostile strain of anticorporate populism growing within the conservative movement, and threatening the traditional corporate-friendly centers of power inside the Republican Party, many businesses fear the loss of some of their strongest champions on Capitol Hill.
Eric Cantor loss gives Republicans chance to become people’s party, kopte The Washington Examiner zelfs:
Brat beat Cantor, despite being outspent $5.5 million to $250,000, by running against corporate welfare. “I will fight to end crony capitalist programs that benefit the rich and powerful,” Brat said in his victory speech Tuesday night.
Brat explained on the trail that he’s pro-business, but “I’m against Big Business in bed with Big Government.”
