В статье анализируется начальная стадия президентской избирательной кампании 2016 г. в США, с января до середины октября 2015 г. За этот период кампания приобрела ряд особенностей: 1) рекордное число республиканских претендентов в кандидаты и единственный реальный кандидат на президентскую номинацию со стороны демократов; 2) неожиданное и непредвиденное выдвижение крупнейшего владельца недвижимости миллиардера Дональда Трампа на первое место среди республиканских претендентов и его отказ исключить возможность создания в 2016 г. третьей партии, которая могла бы расколоть голоса избирателей-республиканцев. Впрочем, позднее Трамп отказался от идеи создать третью партию.
The article deals with the early stages of the 2016 presidential election campaign in the USA since January up to the middle of October 2015. During this period the campaign had acquired a number of unusual features: an unprecedented record number of Republican candidates, and on the contrary practically one realistic candidate for the Democrats’ presidential nomination; the real estate mogul Donald Trump’s unexpected and unforeseen rise to the top of Republican contenders; his initial refusal to rule out a potential third-party presidential bid in 2016, that could split the Repu&blican vote, making the Democrat frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s victory quite likely, that would give her party a third straight term in the White House. But already in early September 2015 D. Trump repudiated his previous statements: he promised to r&emain a true Republican to the end of the campaign, to give up the idea of a 3 rd party and to support the Republican nominee whoever he would be. Among other unexpected events of the campaign it is worth to note the rise of two new republican conten&ders, both non-professional politicians: Dr Ben Carson and a former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. Apart from the fierce candidates’ battles the 2016 presidential election campaign would be important because it is likely to determine America’s po&licies in many aspects for the decade to come. Among them there are congressional Republicans’ ten-year balanced budget plan, fate of Obamacare, immigration reform, illegal immigrants’ lot, tax reform and international trade issues. All these topics &are now on the current presidential campaign agenda.
