Sarah Harte: Here are some of the issues behind Trump's win that may come into play here
Elon Musk (left) and President-elect Donald Trump (right). The corrupting influence of money has ensured the special access of the wealthy, figures like Elon Musk, to the heart of the political establishment, sapping the integrity of government and deeply damaging public confidence in its institutions. Photo: Justin Merriman/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The second Apocalypse happened in the US last week, but we must focus on our own election in 15 days.
Our electorate is more volatile, and our society is transforming rapidly, so there is a potential for schism which means that several factors behind Trump’s electoral success are worthy of consideration.
First up is judicial independence. Judges sit in a unique position of public trust. Judicial independence is a prerequisite to the rule of law and a fundamental guarantee of a fair trial.
By any metric, American judicial independence has declined in recent years. They now have a highly politicised pro-money Supreme Court, some of whose members are openly aligned with the Trump wing of the GOP and brazenly take presents from wealthy donors, which they fail to disclose. At the very least, when rich people subsidise a judge, it erodes public trust in the institution.
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In Ireland, under their code of ethics “a judge and members of the judge's family, shall neither ask for nor accept, any gift, bequest, loan or favour in relation to anything done or to be done or omitted to be done by the judge in connection with the performance of judicial duties.”
In 2016, in the North of Ireland, the Lord Chief Justice wrote to judges to remind them of their duty not to accept gifts or hospitality that could prejudice them.
The hospitality part is interesting, and you can see the potential for ‘confusion’ there. Maybe judges should be obliged to make annual declarations of interests, including property, gifts, land, and shares, like TDs and Senators do.
To avoid doubt, I am not impugning our judiciary. Although our judiciary took a knock during Golfgate, our Supreme Court remains one of Ireland’s most trusted State institutions. Let’s keep it that way.
Declarations of interest remain a helpful tool for tackling conflicts of interest. Many countries require judges to declare their interests; we don’t. This is a small island, and it can be difficult when people occupy more than one social role; the potential for conflicts of interest is perhaps natural. Mandatory asset declarations for judges should be considered.
Next up on the slate should be political donations. We have rigid rules around political donations; however, there’s room for improvement.
Under Chief Justice Roberts, the American Supreme Court dismantled campaign finance law in the USA. In a series of judgments, they opened the door to big money funding political candidates.
As a result, influence can now be bought by money alone. The corrupting influence of money has ensured the special access of the wealthy, figures like Elon Musk, to the heart of the political establishment, sapping the integrity of government and deeply damaging public confidence in its institutions.
Under current Irish rules, the total sum of donations given to politicians is far lower than the EU average. Most funding to political parties comes from public funds, and political parties can’t accept donations of more than €2,500 from any single donor.
It should be noted that Sinn Féin has circumvented this rule by accepting more significant donations through their Northern wing. This loophole must be closed.
Another potential loophole in the Republic is that fundraiser costs are removed from donation totals. Consequently, the total donations received by political parties could be far higher than annually declared. Maintaining a tight grip on political donations is critical to the health of our democracy.
We also need to consider education. In many ways, the US election was divided by education, with the level of education being a fault line. One report detailed how American voting preferences were divided based on academic qualifications.
While the reality is certainly more nuanced, people holding college degrees overwhelmingly backed Harris, while those without backed Trump. According to one poll, less than 3% of American adults cited education as an essential issue in the election.
Nobody could accuse Irish people of not caring about education. It’s a national obsession.
And yet, after decades of declining public investment and increased enrolments, our universities remain chronically underfunded. The public funding of our university sector needs urgent attention.
There’s the big beast of an elitist attitude from the establishment, who must avoid rubbishing what voters want.
On the night of the American election, CNN pundit Scott Jennings’s defence of Trump voters went viral. He said: “I'm interpreting the results tonight as the revenge of just the regular ole working-class American, the anonymous American.” The clip was widely shared on social media. As Jennings said, Trump supporters are not garbage; they are regular people getting up, going to work, and trying to make things better for their children.
In other words, Trump’s election was the repudiation of perceived condescension from elements in the Democratic party, including President Joe Biden and the media. Despite being a billionaire, Trump cleverly and ironically rode to power on a wave of anger, which he channelled to his benefit. American voters were sick of being left out and talked down to.
Some of the anti-migrant protests in this country have stemmed from this anger, not being consulted by politicians and being lectured to by what is perceived in rural Ireland and enclaves of Dublin as a D4-centric political, liberal, media, and out-of-touch NGO class.
Immigration is an uncomfortable issue, but how it’s handled on the doorsteps is critical and extreme policies repeatedly rammed down people’s throats with admonishments to be good citizens won’t work.
Echoes of this anger could also be strongly felt in March when approximately seven out of 10 voters unequivocally rejected the two proposed changes to the Irish constitution, and turnout was high. In particular, the proposal to replace Article 41.2, centring on mothers’ duties in the home, went down in flames by a no margin of 73.9 % to 26.1%.
Before the referenda, some politicians and journalists adopted a ‘you must be kidding me’ attitude toward anyone who didn’t want to amend Article 41.2. Any woman who wanted to stay at home and raise her family was an arch-conservative — a regressive stooge who waited for her hunter-gatherer husband to come home.
The arrogant message in a superior, lecturing ‘I know best’ tone got ordinary people’s backs up. Irish people, especially, don’t like being told how to order their family in a country where family is everything.
Finally, the lack of housing is wreaking havoc. Centrist political parties must tackle housing quickly to avoid a lurch to the right.
Over decades, myopic policies have meant this issue is like a tornado in a disaster movie with the potential to blow through the town, and there is an unavoidable nexus to immigration policy. The establishment sticking its fingers in its ears or doling out lectures won’t help.
If we don’t ensure that the middle class holds and that people who dream of their kids doing better and joining that middle class (call it whatever you want) are supported, then we will follow America.
Overall, as the electoral candidates pound the streets, vote-seeking, mischaracterising the nuance of people’s aims or ambitions, patronising them or not understanding the real pressures in normal people’s lives should be avoided.
We do that at our peril and, as America has shown, open the door to problematic, potentially fascist ideologies.
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