General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMillions of ordinary Americans support Donald Drumpf. Here's why
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/07/donald-trump-why-americans-supportI call it a mystery because the working-class white people who make up the bulk of Trumps fan base show up in amazing numbers for the candidate, filling stadiums and airport hangars, but their views, by and large, do not appear in our prestige newspapers. On their opinion pages, these publications take care to represent demographic categories of nearly every kind, but blue-collar is one they persistently overlook. The views of working-class people are so foreign to that universe that when New York Times columnist Nick Kristof wanted to engage a Trump supporter last week, he made one up, along with this imaginary persons responses to his questions....
Or so were told. Last week, I decided to watch several hours of Trump speeches for myself. I saw the man ramble and boast and threaten and even seem to gloat when protesters were ejected from the arenas in which he spoke. I was disgusted by these things, as I have been disgusted by Trump for 20 years. But I also noticed something surprising. In each of the speeches I watched, Trump spent a good part of his time talking about an entirely legitimate issue, one that could even be called leftwing.
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Yes, Donald Trump talked about trade. In fact, to judge by how much time he spent talking about it, trade may be his single biggest concern not white supremacy. Not even his plan to build a wall along the Mexican border, the issue that first won him political fame. He did it again during the debate on 3 March: asked about his political excommunication by Mitt Romney, he chose to pivot and talk about trade.
Johonny
(20,818 posts)They fear the mythical liberal and thus are forced to sort through GOP candidates that care not a * for them. Every 4 years they latch onto the one they find least repulsive and pretend this candidate is for working class people because they pretend to care the best. The GOP solutions are never beneficial to them and rather than wake up and stop fearing the mythical liberal they get madder and madder then vote for the same solutions again and again.
brewens
(13,538 posts)dollars go to things that help us are told we want "free stuff". By default that means taking away a whole shit ton of free stuff from the people at the top. That's what has them scared.
tabasco
(22,974 posts)has trained working class people to vote for the people who keep them in chains.
arlette
(2 posts)ghostsinthemachine
(3,569 posts)losing their jobs to cheaper labor. The problem is that Trump will want to bring starvation wages to Americans....
All along I've said Trump is a pretty liberal guy. Why the Rethugs aren't behind him (except with knives).
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)syndrome. These folks are busting their butts and are frustrated with the lack of upward mobility. And they have bought into Fake Noises Roger Ailes demagoguery message. Much like Stockholm Syndrome.
scarletwoman
(31,893 posts)People tend to not click on links, so I wanted to get that information out in this thread.
Thomas Frank has always been, imho, an excellent analyst and commentator, and I think he's done another great job with this piece.
IsItJustMe
(7,012 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)How soon we forget.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It's_the_economy,_stupid
spanone
(135,791 posts)pansypoo53219
(20,952 posts)add fame.
Dsocialoutcast99
(11 posts)HE WILL BULLY ALL THOSE OTHER IGNORANT WORLD LEADERS BECAUSE I SAW HOW HE 'FIRED' THAT KNOW IT ALL ON 'THE APPRENTICE'. I really think after meeting a few Trump supporters that is all it took, why they think he can lead, I SAW HIM ON TV...
Twitter feeds show that the only world leaders that support a Trump presidency are 3rd world dictators because it would weaken the U.S.! Great Britain parliamentary members want to bar him from EVER entering their country!
What makes anyone think other countries would ever listen to, (rather they would laugh at) Donald Trump, let alone want to pay for a wall leading to Mexico, or appease to his trade ideas?
America has become a nation of semi-idiots it seems, believe Trump can bully other nations, make everyone as rich as he is, a presidential candidate who only appeals to their bigotry and anger. "Just read my book" he says and you should have plenty of 'money'. And it is a mystery how much money he actually has! "It can change many times from day to day" he says. His MEGLOMANIA seems to be contagious to many angry mostly white men!