Dennis Lennox’s writings on politics, foreign affairs, religion and travel have been published in Britain’s Independent, the Detroit Free Press, Financial Times, Toronto Sun, The Detroit News, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Timesand other leading newspapers. He has also appeared on the BBC, CBC, CNN, MTV, National Public Radio and the Fox News Channel.
He has also held positions on the campaigns of four U.S. presidential candidates. In 2008, Lennox had the distinction of being the youngest member of the Michigan delegation at the Republican National Convention, which formally nominated the party’s candidates for president and vice president of the United States.
A past member of the International Association of Political Consultants, Lennox observed and consulted on national elections in several countries, including Canada, Norway and Sweden. He previously represented the Republican National Committee in meetings with presidents, prime ministers and heads of political parties.
He is executive director of the Republican Party of the United States Virgin Islands.
How is the new Administration supposed to change the international path of the United States of America?
President-elect Trump’s victory is a complete rejection of the Obama presidency by the American people. Many of President Obama’s signature policies will be repealed. In many ways, it will be like Barack Obama was never president.
What is your point on the Republican majority from the Congress? To which extent is this political puzzle strengthening the position of the elected President?
The biggest challenge Republicans face is now the party must govern. For the last eight years, Republicans have been the political party of opposition. Now they must govern. This will be challenging.
More and more opinion leaders are arguing that the result of the election is an irrefutable evidence of the public low degree of confidence in the current establishment?
It is ironic that before the election it was the Democrats and Hillary Clinton who said they would accept the results of the election. Now, the same voices on the political left are undermining President-elect Trump’s victory by claiming that America’s body politic — specifically the way in which presidents are elected — is broken. Everyone knew the rules of the game. President-elect Trump won a resounding victory, capturing states — Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania — that Republicans had not, until now, won in the lifetime of many millennial voters.
Keeping track of discussion, which internal dysfunctionalities do you think the new Administration must eradicate?
The biggest challenge Republicans face is being the party of government. Republicans have not controlled the White House and Congress since 2006, which, in politics, was a lifetime ago.
Which priorities do you think the Trump Administration should take into consideration?
President-elect Trump was given a clear mandate by the American people to dramatically change Washington. Whether it is on issues of trade or defense, he has a mandate to reshape U.S. policy in a direction that puts America first.
Is the new Administration going to reshape the relations with Europe and inside NATO? If yes, how?
President-elect Trump has said he is committed to the NATO defense alliance, but at the same time he believes that NATO member nations must meet defense funding obligations. What is the point of an alliance if both sides do not live up to their agreement? He has also made it clear that he would sign a post-Brexit free trade agreement with the United Kingdom, which is significant.
What can you tell us about the turn between the preliminary polls and the results? Is there any clear motivation for the diametrically opposed figures?
As we saw in the U.S. presidential general election and in the primary elections, in the Brexit referendum, and elesewhere, the traditional way of polling seems to be ineffective. There are a lot of explanations, but I think political observers have for too long relied on polling as if we can actually predict what a voter will do. Polls are useful, but we should not rely on them.
The pro-Democratic media campaign had been present during the last months of the electoral campaign. Was the blockchain democracy the element that neutralized the general option?
There is no question that the media is heavily biased against Republicans. Some of the bias is intentional. Some of it, however, is unintentional. The media has a very left-wing, cosmopolitan bias that makes them ignorant to what real Americans in the middle of the country — who never read the Economist or The New York Times — actually think and believe. I think this problem is unique to the United States because in many countries the media acknowledges their political affiliation. If you buy the Guardian in London you know that it is a traditional Labour-supporting newspaper. In the United States the media pretends to be objective and non-partisan.
Have the achievements of the information revolution changed the way voters interacted with their candidates?
One of the greatest things has been the ability of politicians to use technology, in particular social media, to bypass traditional media and communicate directly with voters. This is what President-elect Trump did so effectively. Look at his use of Twitter.
What does this Republican victory mean for both parties in terms of political influence?
After President Obama was elected in 2008 everyone said the Republican Party was done — finished. Of course, the Republican Party came back and eventually, through several elections, won. Democrats have deep problems but the natural ebb and flow of American electoral politics means they aren’t permanatently finished.
As an American citizen, how do you fell about the so-called bipartisan scission of the society from the United States?
America has always been a partisan country. If you go back to the Founding Fathers in the 1780s and 1790s, there were duels, fights on the floor of Congress, and dirty, negative campaigning that is far worse than anything we have today. This is just the reality of electoral politics. Just look at this video, which features the attacks used in the 1800 presidential election between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.
