The man who is looking for a rebel

has made a very Donald Trump-the situation in Washington on the head, you may see any Person as well as to Bill Kristol. More than three decades, he belonged to the inner circle of the Republicans. He worked for the governments of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. He founded and led the "Weekly Standard", the house journal of the Neo-conservatives, who came in the time of George W. Bush to have a big influence. He was a close Advisor of presidential candidate John McCain. "Whenever conservatism and Power coincided, he was in the vicinity," wrote the magazine "New Yorker" on him.

Then Trump, on the Kristol almost all rejects came the tirades against immigrants, attacks on media and justice, sympathy for autocrats. Kristol had to watch how many Republicans mittrugen everything the new President did and said – to the point where Kristol and his own party didn't know. Today, there are not too many conservative politicians and party sizes, to criticize the President in public, but it's still there. Kristol is such a thing as their unofficial leader.

Now he seeks revenge. He would call the never so, the man sitting this morning in a Café near the White house, to be gentle, to be ironic. However, to revenge it, if you look at what Kristol. For some months now, the 66-Year-old is keen to find a prominent Republican who in the internal party primaries for the presidency against Trump to commencement. Why he does this, he explains, with two sets of history: "Every American President since the Second world war, the had no internal party Challenger, has won his re-election. Each President, however, had to be in a code, has missed the re-election."

The Lessons of history

The Democrat Lyndon Johnson was in 1968, after he had with Robert Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy, two challengers from his own party. The Republican Gerald Ford had to fight back in 1976 against his party colleagues Ronald Reagan and lost finally in the main election against the Democrat Jimmy Carter. This had to turn off four years later, first his rival, Ted Kennedy, and lost to, finally, against Reagan. Most recently it was George H. W. Bush, who had to defeat in 1992, first to the right politician Pat Buchanan on the outside, and then against Bill Clinton, the Shorter pulled.

A causality of all non-derived, rather, one can argue that the three presidents had at all the internal adversaries, because they were politically weakened. "In the Least, but that is an interesting correlation," says Kristol. That a Republican has little chance of beating Trump in a pre-election, white Kristol. "But he can do damage. An open Contest in the party will lead Trump from all sides of the device under attack." Before the President could on the opponent for the Democrats include, he would be absorbed with attacks from the own stock, and over a number of months: "it would weaken him," says Kristol.

Kristol believes to observe that the Republican base has distanced in the past few months, something from the President. He cited polls that trump's approval rating among party-goers from 85 to 77 per cent have fallen, which is still a lot. "But we come closer and closer to the thing," he says. There were many moderate Republicans, which would have inserted in 2016, only reluctantly for Trump. "50 percent of the base total is behind Trump. 10 to 15 percent of Republicans are against him. The Rest are people who have voted for him last Time, but now in question, because they believe that it creates the re-election, or because the prospect of four more years of Trump is not the creeps."

One of the first prospects, there are already – but Kristol is hoping that the larger calibre will follow.

And then another survey that was recently published by the "Washington Post" and ABC News. A third of the Republican party-goers was that they wanted an internal Challenger for Trump – water on Kristols mill.

Kristols of the Problem: It is not easy to convince a high-profile candidate. Someone who would like to do the inevitable attacks Trumps, and his followers, someone from the moderators of Fox News to insult and his reputation on the game wants to catch for a sub that seems to offer little promise. Longer Kristol is talking with potential candidates and donors who would support a candidacy. He speaks with party leaders in the States, in which the beginning of 2020, the first primaries would take place. Already in the autumn, he has founded with colleagues a organization, it's called Defending Democracy Together.

Nikki Haley would be the ideal candidate

some initial interest there are since Friday, at least: Bill Weld, former Governor of Massachusetts, has promised to consider a candidacy. He see it as his moral duty, the divisive politics Trumps oppose something, he said. The 73-Year-old is, however, outside of his state is unknown, in the case of Trump, he will cause no fear. That Weld will explain as the first politician of his intention, be brave, Kristol: "I am confident that more will follow." to bring

in order To Trump in distress, it will need a Person of any other caliber. To the people who tried to encourage Kristol, therefore, moderate Republicans: people like John Kasich, the former Governor of Ohio, ran in 2016 as President, and Ben Sasse, the Senator from Nebraska. Most like him would be someone like Nikki Haley, who was until the end of 2018 Trumps Ambassador to the UN, but this seems currently not realistic.

some test for the party

according to Kristol most likely candidate Larry Hogan, the moderate Governor of Maryland, was elected to a cancer in a democratic state shiny again. "He would be a very good candidate," says Kristol. "He is 62 years old, he is an impressive guy, the good of the country at heart. And he has nothing to lose."

Whether it creates the party, an internal code, for Kristol, a sort of conscience test. Even if a Challenger against Trump were to go under, even if he could not prevent his re-election: "We will then have at least shown that there are in the Republicans are people who have seriously tried to save the party in front of Trump." And this, says Kristol, much would be won.

(editing Tamedia)

Created: 17.02.2019, 22:37 PM