Romeo and Juliet’s lessons for Trump and Clinton

Though it has been over four centuries since William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” was written, the play’s ultimate tragedy is still allegorical today for the unnecessary feud between Republicans and Democrats as they share the danger of GOP nominee Donald Trump to American democracy.

{mosads}In Shakespeare’s fair Verona, Romeo of House Montague steals a visit to Juliet, daughter of House Capulet. The tragic lovers meet in the Capulets’ orchard — she by her balcony, and he below. There, Juliet speaks her famed lines “O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?” continuing later, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.”

Beneath the moonlight, Juliet assures Romeo and the world around them that it doesn’t matter that they come from opposing factions, that names alone do not change values, and that love must come first.

Fast-forward to the 2016 election where, ironically, “America first” is a Trump promise. But to Trump, the Republican nominee, names matter very much. Instead of united by love, Trump’s America is divided by gender, religion, race and immigration status. It is an America that no longer leads the charge for lasting global security, but is satisfied to imperil allies and secure itself in the short run. The America that Trump promises is not “America first”; it is America forced apart.

Trump is America’s Pandora’s box, and Republicans have realized he may be a box they don’t want to open.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) spoke against Trump and told the world that “America first” means that he is “American before [he’s] a Republican.” For Kinzinger, American values and love for country made it unconscionable to support Trump. He is joined by an increasing list of Republicans who realize that while the Republican opponent this election is Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, the opponent to a strong America is Trump.

Trump threatens to tear apart the Republican establishment from within, and has already turned many in the party against him or toward Clinton. These include the likes of 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), major Republican donor Meg Whitman, 50 top Republican security officials, and future leaders in the Harvard Republican Club, who broke with an endorsement tradition in place since 1888.

Moreover, Trump’s dangerous brinkmanship with top members of the Republican Party, House Speaker Paul Ryan (Wis.) and Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), highlights his internal toxicity.

Moderate Republicans, and even some conservatives, have realized that while Clinton deserves harsh criticism for her Middle East failures and email server scandal, her neoliberal, hawkish security politics are actually aligned with theirs. On top voting issues of the economy, terrorism and foreign policy, Clinton is more like Republican moderates than Democratic progressives who generally see Trump as far worse than Clinton anyway.

That is because the fulcrum of American politics has shifted to the right, and on the political spectrum, Clinton sits on the authoritarian, libertarian, right. In this election, the difference between moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats is more a rose in name only — and to endure, both great party “houses” must come together.

Shakespeare never mentions why the Montagues and Capulets are embroiled in a bloody family feud, yet it is central to the play’s tragedy. Both houses simply know the feud exists, and consequently denounce each other. It takes the tragic death of two of their children for them to realize the folly of their war.

Romeo’s and Juliet’s deaths are not just the loss of two lovers, but also the loss of a future that the houses were sworn to protect. In this way, it is also the story of American democracy in this election: Members of both parties need to find their commonality or risk their own great American tragedy.

For Republican voters, it is unfortunate, but not egregious, that the presidency lands in the Democrat orchard. The real opportunity lies in Republicans disavowing Trump and uniting the party, supporting Clinton in return for platform concessions, and focusing on Congress to keep Clinton in check.

Republicans should not ignore this opportunity to influence Clinton’s platform, especially over those of weaker third-party candidates. Played the right way, Republicans could preserve party integrity and strengthen control of Congress, as well as field a stronger candidate for the 2020 presidency. Playing the Trump way is hoping for world peace by playing Russian roulette.

As John Kennedy said in a 1958 address in Maryland, “Let us not despair but act. Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix blame for the past — let us accept our own responsibility for the future.”

At the core, family values, patriotism and America’s exceptionalism are shared across the political spectrum. It’s just a matter of putting this America first, for all.

Bhorat is a political commentator, media and entertainment junkie, and technology futurist residing in Santa Monica, California. He was a Rhodes scholar in 2012. He has been published in openDemocracy (U.K.) and Business Day Live (South Africa). Follow him on Twitter @bhoraticle.

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