AhlulBayt News Agency: An American professor of political science says Donald Trump’s base in the US see Muslims as a “nonwhite replacement” and hence a threat.
"Although the Muslim population in the US is perceived as far less radicalized than in parts of Europe, they are viewed by the MAGA/Trump base as part of the “great nonwhite replacement” by some conservative white voters and hence a threat," Bruce E. Cain told in an interview.
Cain is a Professor of Political Science at Stanford University and Director of the Bill Lane Center for the American West. Professor Cain's fields of interest include American politics, political regulation, democratic theory, and state and local government. He has written extensively on elections, legislative representation, California politics, redistricting, and political regulation.
Following is the full text of the interview about the US midterm elections.
Q: How do you evaluate the political and social conditions of the United States before the midterm elections?
Cain: The pandemic and now the recovery from it have added to political tensions. Anger at elites and Democrats over masking and vaccinations feeds the MAGA base still, and now inflation and an uptick in urban crime and homelessness as we emerge in the post-Covid world have added to discontent among independent voters, the unaffiliated people who will decide the Midterm elections because the two parties are so evenly divided in numbers.
Q: In the presidential elections, we saw the impressive presence of Muslims and other social minorities. To what extent do you think religious minorities such as Muslims are influential in mid-term elections?
Cain: Although the Muslim population in the US is perceived as far less radicalized than in parts of Europe, they are viewed by the MAGA/Trump base as part of the “great nonwhite replacement” by some conservative white voters and hence a threat.
Along with Latin Americans and Asians, some Christian white voters believe that immigration policy under Biden and the higher fertility rates in the immigrant population are leading to whites losing political power, economic wealth and diminished social status.
Q: In your opinion, what is the biggest challenge of Joe Biden's government after this election (in the field of domestic politics)?
Cain: The biggest challenge is that many of the things the Biden administration achieved such as Covid relief, the bipartisan infrastructure bill and climate legislation/IRA, are not the most important issues on the unaffiliated voters’ minds.
Rather they are most concerned about the economy and crime. Hence, Biden gets no electoral boost from his legislative achievements. What props up the Democrats is the recent Supreme Court decision on abortion.
Q: Some believe that if the Republicans win this election, the foreign policy of Joe Biden's government will undergo many changes. what is your opinion?
Cain: The main foreign policy focus will be the war in Ukraine. The Republicans are unlikely to pull the plug on Ukrainian support, but they are threatening to cut corners, hold investigations, and blame the administration for anything that goes amiss.
Q: How much do you think this election will affect the 2024 presidential election?
Cain: I suspect that it might help Biden, especially if the most MAGA Republican representatives are front and center in the news coverage because they control the Congress. Biden won in 2020 by being better than the Republican alternatives, not because he is a highly competent, charismatic leader. The Republicans are at their best when they are out of power, and at their weakest when they are in power and must come up with plans to solve problems.
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"Although the Muslim population in the US is perceived as far less radicalized than in parts of Europe, they are viewed by the MAGA/Trump base as part of the “great nonwhite replacement” by some conservative white voters and hence a threat," Bruce E. Cain told in an interview.
Cain is a Professor of Political Science at Stanford University and Director of the Bill Lane Center for the American West. Professor Cain's fields of interest include American politics, political regulation, democratic theory, and state and local government. He has written extensively on elections, legislative representation, California politics, redistricting, and political regulation.
Following is the full text of the interview about the US midterm elections.
Q: How do you evaluate the political and social conditions of the United States before the midterm elections?
Cain: The pandemic and now the recovery from it have added to political tensions. Anger at elites and Democrats over masking and vaccinations feeds the MAGA base still, and now inflation and an uptick in urban crime and homelessness as we emerge in the post-Covid world have added to discontent among independent voters, the unaffiliated people who will decide the Midterm elections because the two parties are so evenly divided in numbers.
Q: In the presidential elections, we saw the impressive presence of Muslims and other social minorities. To what extent do you think religious minorities such as Muslims are influential in mid-term elections?
Cain: Although the Muslim population in the US is perceived as far less radicalized than in parts of Europe, they are viewed by the MAGA/Trump base as part of the “great nonwhite replacement” by some conservative white voters and hence a threat.
Along with Latin Americans and Asians, some Christian white voters believe that immigration policy under Biden and the higher fertility rates in the immigrant population are leading to whites losing political power, economic wealth and diminished social status.
Q: In your opinion, what is the biggest challenge of Joe Biden's government after this election (in the field of domestic politics)?
Cain: The biggest challenge is that many of the things the Biden administration achieved such as Covid relief, the bipartisan infrastructure bill and climate legislation/IRA, are not the most important issues on the unaffiliated voters’ minds.
Rather they are most concerned about the economy and crime. Hence, Biden gets no electoral boost from his legislative achievements. What props up the Democrats is the recent Supreme Court decision on abortion.
Q: Some believe that if the Republicans win this election, the foreign policy of Joe Biden's government will undergo many changes. what is your opinion?
Cain: The main foreign policy focus will be the war in Ukraine. The Republicans are unlikely to pull the plug on Ukrainian support, but they are threatening to cut corners, hold investigations, and blame the administration for anything that goes amiss.
Q: How much do you think this election will affect the 2024 presidential election?
Cain: I suspect that it might help Biden, especially if the most MAGA Republican representatives are front and center in the news coverage because they control the Congress. Biden won in 2020 by being better than the Republican alternatives, not because he is a highly competent, charismatic leader. The Republicans are at their best when they are out of power, and at their weakest when they are in power and must come up with plans to solve problems.
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