Donald Trump’s triumph in the Iowa primaries on January 15th is attributed to one reason: the resentment of Americans, anger towards the system, and the urgency for a spokesperson for this brokenness. It doesn’t matter that the potential Republican candidate for the White House lies, is unprepared, and has over 90 charges against him: Trump is an outsider and represents all those whom the system has made powerless, voiceless, and paralyzed by laws and norms that have made everyone unfree.
Philip K. Howard, Chair of “The Common Good”, bestselling author, and political advisor for both parties, is ruthless towards a political apparatus that has lost its sense of leadership, crushed by the Cancel Culture and the inability to make creative and problem-solving decisions.
On January 16th, in a heated conversation with Mario Platero, Chairman of GEI (Gruppo Esponenti Italiani), Howard did not spare vitriolic comments towards politicians, lawyers, and academics, accomplices of a system that offers pages and pages of codes that regulate everything and stifle personal responsibility.
“Trump stands apart because he has complete disdain for this current system. It’s all about sort of riding a wave of resentment,” explains Howard to representatives of the business world invited to the debate. And the Iowa voters fall into this category of people and followers of the former president who don’t care about voting “who runs government better,” as Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, the other Republican primary candidates, would do. “They are tired of being disregarded by everybody. So, they’re flexing their muscles by basically telling the rest of America we are voting for Trump,” says the Chairman of “The Common Good”.
In his latest book, “Everyday Freedom”, Howard explains the reasons for this hatred that will guide the choice of the elected officials: an over-regulated system that suffocates people and doesn’t solve problems and looks at subjectivity “as the enemy of freedom, while subjectivity is the essence of freedom”. For Howard, “neither party has a coherent vision of operating systems of government. The Republicans are against authority” because less authority is a guarantee for more freedom. However, according to the author, this is not true because “somebody’s got to get a permit for the transmission line. Somebody’s got to maintain order in the classroom, some principles that establish that he’s a good teacher”, but this is an authority that does not paralyze but rather enhances personal responsibility.
During the interview Platero provoked Howard by asking him if a third party would overcome the Biden-Trump stalemate that is looming over the race for the White House. Howard is convinced that a third party “would be incredibly important because it would allow new ideas to be promoted through the media” and confides that he has discussed this possibility with Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, who is exploring this possibility.
When asked about a possible victory for Biden to stop the long wave of Trump, the Chairman of The Common Good has no doubts: change Kamala Harris and choose Michelle Obama or Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo as vice president. This would bring novelty to the presidential race and increase the chances of a second term.
