Many have tried to put a chink in Mr. Trump’s armor by name calling, or denigrating his supporters. For better or worse they are still our fellow citizens. How to live with them? Of course I’m assuming that the overwhelming majority on this blog would rather not. However, I believe the right inroads have not been made to develop a vision of a united country versus one where the “Hatfields and McCoys” pepper the landscape. I wrote the following comment in the Globe on yet another Trump story. Of course I also had to put in a plug for my candidate, Bernie Sanders.
“More than one candidate has used MSM’s negative image to their advantage. The Donald’s wealth and crude directness wins people over. There is one thing to keep in mind, however. Donald Trump spares no one who tries to disturb his self aggrandizing plans.
He attacked the people of his Mom’s birthplace while at the same time using it to his own advantage. He claimed he was building a luxury golf course, par none, in Menie, Scotland, because of his heritage. The land he chose was a unique environmentally sensitive area, recognized so by experts. He used his dollars and expensive lawyers to destroy these concerns. He disparaged the people living there as disgusting, and put down their multi generational lifestyle(his Mom’s people). Expensive lawyering brought the central government to his side. He overrode the local government’s rejection of his project by dangling a pledge to boost the economy.
He grabbed land under dispute trying to displace local inhabitants who lived there many years. Trump could not dislodge them. So he built a dirt wall to hide the “pig styes” from view(his words). A journalist trying to capture what was going on was arrested. This is who he is.
However he is right about one thing. There are many in this country who want things fixed pronto. He beats his chest, saying trust me, I will get it done better than anyone else. But is the Donald’s way going to make us a more united country?
He embodies a type of capitalism that says it is right to suck the lifeblood out of others in order to succeed. This club wants to retool American values to support ruthlessness. His speeches hit an important nerve of many voters. The question is whether they will like what his vision brings. The Scotland example is well documented, and reflects his general way of “making the deal”. Someone has to get hurt.
The other supposed “rebel” in this race is Bernie Sanders. His life story is a striking contrast. Leaving wealth aside, Senator Sanders’s aim has always been to reshape society so all benefit. He does not believe engaging in a “zero sum game” helps people. This includes the disaffected that support Mr. Trump.
Bernie welcomes anyone to make this country better and more inclusive. The majority culture and the minority cultures should be able to live side by side having real debates about what improves our lots. The resentment factor has to be replaced with respect and cooperation.
Trump supporters should give Bernie a look. He is the better deal and the better candidate.”
…Trump will be coming to the Tsongas Arena in Lowell Monday night.
That’s the Trump Stump unedited.
Middle-Aged White Americans Are Dying of Despair
Trump has found a way to exploit this to his advantage. He tells these white people that they have indeed been screwed. The only difference (and it’s a key difference) is that Trump tells white folks that the “brown people” screwed them while Sanders tells them that the “white collars people” screwed them.
The white collars own the media. End of story.
reducing the message to Trump’s level is not a winning strategy. I believe it makes the divide wider. Trump’s message is exclusive, but Bernie really tells them we function with a capitalist country that is corrupt. The economy is rigged to favor a few, and he wants to change it. To the uber wealthy he is saying you can’t have it all because can not be taken from hard working people. No problem is staying rich, just not at someone else’s expense. “Screwing” by one party or the other is not part of Bernie’s lexicon. “Fairness and justice” are better descriptors of what he believes.
If refusing to admit that the one percent is screwing those on the bottom is “not part of Bernie’s lexicon”, then Bernie doesn’t have a chance.
The first step in healing somebody who is being screwed is acknowledging their pain — it is important to validate their suffering. Bill Clinton was famous for this with his signature “I feel your pain”. Like it or not, that is a vital first step.
I suggest that a barrier for the Sander’s campaign is that Mr. Sander’s has not, so far, been as good at this as he needs to be.
Here’s my view of a better approach, for ANY candidate that wants to reach this group:
1. “You feel that you are being screwed because you ARE being screwed”.
2. “You will continue to feel that you’re being screwed until you put a stop to the screwing”.
3. “In order to stop the screwing, the behavior of those doing the screwing needs to be changed.”
4. “The one percent has been screwing all of us for decades, and fill-in-the-blank will put a stop to it.”
It’s all well and good to appeal to “fairness and justice” after the immediate pain has passed (Maslov and all that). That appeal is an empty platitude for the people we’re talking about.
Every GOP candidate, most especially Donald Trump, is going to work hard to help the one percent screw everybody more and more.
Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, and Martin O’Malley will work hard to put a stop to the screwing.
Bernie Sanders has taken the most aggressive posture, and has historically done more than any of the other candidates to put a stop to the abuses of the Uber wealthy.
I think that fact makes him better able to make the above case (especially item 4) than any other candidate. He’ll never get to item 4 if he attempts to skip items 1-3.
If he restricts his lexicon to “fairness and justice”, he’ll never get past step 1 with this group.
but not your language.
He is aiming at the young, independents and disaffected Republicans. He can not win them over by saying they are stupid for picking Trump or don’t know who is screwing you. Bernie takes the tack that he will fight their fight, but not as one group against another, but by creating solutions that all can live with. It must be taking hold because Trump now states he is creating “a movement”. You don’t have to enter Trump’s wheelhouse.
I do believe Bernie has said the 1% can’t have it all. That message resonates on a national level in polls even as the MSM keeps him under wraps. It also suits my comfort level of politicking. I disagree, is a stronger draw for me, then you are an asshole.
Please review my four points. They don’t include calling anybody an asshole.
They don’t include saying they are stupid for picking Trump. They don’t say that anybody doesn’t know who is screwing them. They do, instead, identify a different “screwer” than the GOP candidates, especially Donald Trump. That key difference is, in my view, what distinguishes all three Democratic candidates from all of the GOP candidates.
The reason we’re discussing this is the absence of “resonance” with the “movement” among the population that is currently backing Mr. Trump.
Bernie Sanders wants to be an alternative to Donald Trump. If Mr. Sander’s doesn’t acknowledge the pain that this group feels, they’ll continue to ignore him.
My reading of oetkb’s comment was that whenever Bernie is taking a contrary position, in doing so, Bernie is taking the high road and saying, “I disagree with you”, whereas when Trump disagrees, he sinks into the mud immediately by saying “you are an asshole”, or words to that effect. And as such, that Bernie’s message is more appealing than Trump’s and more aligned with his political views, IMHO ;).
for putting my English into English.
I get it now (I had misunderstood your comment), and mostly agree with you.
Many of Trumps supporters like him because he is anti establishment. That Government is effective
I don’t know, Sanders could very well be a better president than Trump, but as a “candidate” Trump has proven to be better, at least in the primary phase of this election. He’s been #1 since he threw his hat in the ring. Bernie on the other hand has never been the front runner.
More to the point. Bernie gave Hillary a pass on her “exclusive” use of her “unsecured” email account for both public and private business, something no other SoS has ever done before. As a result Bernie dropped in the polls. Trump will not make that mistake.
Without question Bernie would be a better President. The President is suppose to represent all the people. The Donald doesn’t.
So far Donald Trump with international recognition has garnered some 20 to 25% of GOP primary’s voters. If he was head and shoulders above the rest, he should have a majority.
Being #1 among a group of candidates who believe as he does, but don’t have the nerve to say so in his street corner ways, is a dubious honor. In national polls against any Democratic candidate he loses.
I think there will be a brokered convention, and the losing candidates will coalesce around some Republican to be named later. It will sort of mirror how Paul Ryan got his position. The back room anointed him.
Bernie did not give Hillary a pass, but felt citizens may need to know what each candidate actually stands for. Questions about her emails (presently being investigated) used up time to inform the public about policies. He valued getting a chance to speak his mind was more important than trying to settle an issue that could not be settled in that forum. The one looking for a pass was Hillary as she confessed “me too” when Bernie was not referring to her, but the general public.
And finally, as Yogi use to say, “It ain’t over until it’s over.”
There are indications that Trump’s support is, like his hair, a little less solid than it appears.
Nate Cohn in the NYT found something funny about Trump supporters.
.
So, Trump is going to need great field organization to get these unlikely voters to the polls. He does not have that. Trump’s field operation is garbage. It should be also noted that a lot of his supporters are registered Democrats who vote (and self-identify as) Republican–a small percentage of people.
Ed Kilgore predicts Trump
Remember that in 2008, Hillary lost by giving up all her delegates from Michigan & Florida. No delegates, no nomination.
Trump likely won’t win Iowa’s caucuses (he’s not religious enough for that–remember Huckabee & Santorum won Iowa), maybe he’ll get NH, but he’s going to have a tough time because the Republicans he’s strongest with are excluded from several primaries (like Florida), and don’t normally vote when they aren’t excluded.
Democrats who want more votes would be well advised to turn their attention away from Trump supporters and instead seek to turn other eligible voters into regular registered voters. Find young people and get them to vote. Find lower-income voters and get them to vote. We don’t need to persuade them to choose a Dem over a Repub, we just need to get them in a voting booth to give them a voice.