Posted on 05/23/2016 8:29:25 PM PDT by Trumpinator
The secret to Trump's success: Treating us with respect
Posted: Monday, May 23, 2016 12:15 am
By EDWARD FARLING
Richard Cohen and the New York Times have, quite unintentionally, explained to me Donald Trump's appeal. The explanation was wrapped in the usual patronizing characterizations of his supporters; racist, hateful, uneducated (and therefore unintelligent), but it is not that. Trump supporters want jobs.
Sure, the pundits never said it. They hate Trump and dismiss his supporters, and would never give them that much credit. But they did manage to leave it as the only logical conclusion.
From the first of Cohen's articles, I gathered that he feared Trump had stolen the Democrat playbook and was running it better than either Clinton or Sanders. He said Trump spoke of his supporters as victims and offered appealing but, in Cohen's own humble opinion, ruinous or undeliverable solutions.
Put aside the inflammatory way he says it. Trump tells his supporters they are not victims of assorted oppressions or conspiracies, but of foolish policies and bad deals, most advertised as meant to help them, but hurting them the most.
The New York Times provided the next clue. In a story about the working poor in Kentucky dripping with liberal condescension, they actually asked the working poor why they voted Republican "against their own economic interests." They did not report reactions to Democrat coal policies, which effectively cut off the one avenue of economic opportunity that exists in Kentucky; and which are the most obvious reason Appalachia is "in play" this election.
The Times did, however, report that those in the second income quintile, the working poor, were most opposed to welfare and other government support. They labeled their own relatives living "on the draw" -- taking the red herring of race out of it -- with every negative stereotype of welfare recipients: lazy, drunk or on drugs, having children to get a raise. They know from hard experience that work, not welfare, is the only way out of poverty.
The latest of Cohen's contributions to my understanding was his advocacy for Universal Basic Income. Here, he actually said this core Trump constituency was economic toast in the near-future. His solution was to make them another recipient class numbering in the tens of millions, permanently ensnared in the safety net, and I infer voting Democrat for generations to preserve their guaranteed poverty. Can you imagine a more contemptuous statement about the working class Democrats used to represent? This Trump constituency rejects the opportunity to sell their votes for "their fair share" of the public treasury. They demand not even work, but a fair chance to find work. They don't want our immigration laws enforced because they hate Mexicans. They want immigration laws enforced because some large share of the 11 million (that was 20 million before Obama started working to let them stay) who have no legal right to be here are competing for work in factories and the trades. They oppose Democrat promises to shut down coal mines in West Virginia and fracking in Pennsylvania because those policies erase the only decent-paying jobs that have come this way in years. They know the U.S. could have done much better in negotiating trade deals, and they are suffering for it.
I am no fan of Donald Trump. I fear the reaction if he is unable to deliver for his already (often rightly) angry supporters. I also understand the people supporting him. Like them, I was raised to understand that the only entitlement in America is the chance to earn my own way. The real secret to Trump's success with patronizingly labeled "downscale," "less-educated," "un- or low-skilled workers" is not "making them comfortable with their prejudices." It is treating them and their desire to find honest work with the respect they deserve.
Edward Farling, Holland, is a concerned citizen.
When I was 5, I asked my Grandfather for a dime to go to the store with for candy. He looked at me and said when he was a kid, if someone wanted something, he had to do something useful, like maybe sweep the driveway. Then he went back to reading his magazine. I took the hint and went out and swept the driveway. He smiled as he gave me the dime.
Beautiful!
So overdue! Good news and grateful for the heads up, B
Hey Boss, If I knock him out there is nothing they can do.
These past 11 months have been very encouraging.
That app is currently not available in the U.S. at the app store.
Mark my words, if not that one, another voter fraud app will come out in the next few months, with so many smartphones out there. Also the smartphones have cameras that can take pictures of possible voter fraud issues.
I know what you mean. If any parent today were to ALLOW his son to do what my father EXPECTED of my older brother and me long before the age of thirteen his son would be taken away and put in foster care. I thought at the time that I was being cruelly treated but now I am able to do a lot of things that I would not otherwise have learned.
I, like many others, have misgivings about Trump and frankly I thought he had flipped out when he announced that he actually was going to run for president but now I see it this way. Donald Trump is a wild card, loose cannon, whatever expression you prefer but there is at least some chance that he will do things the way they should be done. With anyone else in the race on the Republican side there was not much chance of that and with any Democrat there is zero chance that the right thing will be done.
Cruz does that—talks r-e-a-l s-l-o-w. Because you’re stupid.
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