Generally agree. Why Trump won- The economy, stupid.
I was listening today to Bob Davis of WSJ and Lisa Pruitt of UC Davis on NPR. They both basically agree on why Trump won the election, and especially why the populace in the “rust belt” voted the way they did.
It wasn’t primarily about groping, email servers, gun rights, the Supreme Court and a host of other issues.
James Caravelle hung a sign at Bill Clinton’s campaign headquarters that said.
1.Change vs more of the same.
2. The economy, stupid.
3. Don’t forget health care.
Clinton won due to dissatisfaction of the recession under George H. Bush.
Obama message was hope and change on the coattails of economic downturn under George W. Bush.
Many people who voted for Obama twice this time around voted for Trump. . It was once again about wanting change, jobs and last but not least- The economy, stupid.
Well, that’s my soap box speech to carry me through the next four years.
Here's why the left misses this completely, and to be honest so too does most of the political right. It's not a single issue; not the economy, or health care, or guns, or national defense, or immigration, and certainly not misogyny, or racism, or sexism, or homophobia, or xenophobia, or any other "scary" derogatory word pundits want to throw out there.
It's culture. Not a Southern culture, or Appalachia, or Midwestern, or urban, or rural; but American. At the core, it just comes right down to a vestige of American culture.
For decades, those folks who finally said "enough" have been told that their culture, their way of life, and by extension that of their entire familial history, was wrong.
They had been told they were wrong to want to keep those manufacturing jobs because global markets were better for them than putting food on their own table.
They had been told they were wrong for wanting to defend themselves, their families, their neighborhoods, and their communities from violent criminals because those criminals were just "misunderstood" and "disenfranchised" and, well, some of us (or our children) were just going to have to be victims.
They had been told that to be proud of their heritage of being American was wrong because other cultures were somehow better or more important than our own, even here in our own country.
They had been told that they couldn't just be Americans any longer, that they had to be some kind of hyphenated American because that reflected diversity which was somehow better than unity.
They had been told that their beliefs were to be hidden, or worse forgotten, because other beliefs that had little to no history here in the U.S. were now the ones that deserved attention and praise and understanding, not the "backward" beliefs these folks held so dear.
They'd been told that because nothing was ever anyone else's fault when they got into trouble that by extension everything must be the fault of those folks who lived their whole lives trying to do what was right and stay out of trouble.
They'd been told that they had to keep paying more, and more, and more for everything they needed for themselves and their families, while their hard-earned, worked-for dollars went less and less and less far, while others who did nothing at all were given more and more and more by the government because those people who didn't work were somehow "entitled" to it.
Those folks all around the country had heard this for years, and they were hearing it again, louder and more shrill certainly from one side but also the same platitudes and undertones of the message from most of the other. And, they just said "enough; no more".
They took a look around their community and still saw crime, and thought that wasn't right; it was wrong.
Around their neighborhoods they still saw their friends and neighbors, good people, struggling and out of work, and thought that wasn't right; it was wrong.
They took a look at old family pictures and saw men and women who built this country, and thought those ancestors could not have been wrong.
They took a look at what they saw nationally; illegality lauded and legality derided, on so many levels that it shocked them, and they thought that wasn't right; it was wrong.
They took a look at those that had served, with them perhaps or with their family, at the memorials for those that never made it home and at those still in uniform, and they didn't see any hyphens, and they thought that wasn't wrong, but it was right.
They took a look at their husbands, wives, and children and thought "damn it, I'm going to do something for them" and by them, they meant all of those people they cared about; in their homes, their neighborhoods, their communities, their nation, and that had come before them. And, they did.
These people stood up and said "enough". No more handouts. No more criminal behavior going unpunished. No more giving away our jobs. No more giving up our rights. No more watching our friends and neighbors struggle to take care of their families. No more being victims. No more being ashamed of being an American; being proud; being faithful. Just, no more.
That's what they voted FOR, for once. It didn't matter WHO was saying what sounded like that to them; it only mattered that it was being said. Finally, those folks - those Americans - said "enough" and there was a voice out there saying it with them and to them.
It's about not one thing, or another; it's about all those things, and so many more. It's about culture; it's about OUR culture, and it's about believing that OUR culture is right.
