Al-Nahar, Lebanon, Originally posted in Arabic on February 8
The American presidential primaries, which began last week, left many experts and pundits surprised.
Perhaps the biggest shock of all was the unbelievable support given to Democrat candidate Bernie Sanders, who is competing for the party’s leadership against former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.
Sanders has put on a tough fight. He succeeded in attracting many young voters to his camp with his worldview that represents a deep distrust in the existing establishment. Sanders speaks about the need to fight Wall Street and the big businesses it represents, about minimizing the socioeconomic gaps in America, and about helping students attend college without incurring extreme debt.
His contender, meanwhile, is not doing so well. Unlike Sanders, Clinton more closely represents voters who, while hoping for change, still align with the establishment. She is backed by large companies and big tycoons, and tries to portray herself as the more experienced candidate. So far it worked, but the recent primaries might symbolize a turning point.
On the Republican side, the struggle seems pretty similar. Despite having both a brother and a father who served as US presidents, Jeb Bush simply did not perform as well as expected. In fact, he might soon find himself out of the presidential race, despite his deep understanding of the establishment. Here, too, it seems as if voters have some distrust in the existing system, and they are simply not willing to give the Bush family another chance in power.
In the meantime, presidential candidate Marco Rubio, a first-generation American, emerged as the true winner of the elections in Iowa. All in all, American voters, both Democrats and Republicans, seem to be voting based on their view of the establishment.
While these are only primary elections and much is yet to be seen, the two camps, so far, seem much more alike than they are different. – Sarkis Nu’um