I had a gander at this article the other day and found the central premise to be an interesting tidbit. Apparently incumbent President Donald Trump is polling considerably better with black and Hispanic voters than he did in 2016. Conversely, his support among non-college whites has collapsed.
The second part is fairly easy to understand. Trump sold himself last time as being a go-getter who would take charge and force Washington to do things his way. He hasn't quite lived up to that. I sort of figured his base, or at least some of them, would turn on him, and it looks like it's happening.
I can understand the other part as well. Four years in, black and Hispanic voters have tasted Trump's bite, and found that it's considerably less severe than his bark. For the most part the changes have been aesthetic. And there have been positive steps like the First Step Act.
As well, this is undeniably the COVID-19 election. The virus is less lethal than its reputation, but for middle class voters who saw nothing to prevent them from becoming centennarians, it's earth-shattering. Working class voters, most of whom are non-white, may be better equipped to put risks in context, and so be less prone to panic.
2 comments:
At some point in the past couple of days I read what was either an article I can no longer find (clearing the cache every evening leaves no record of where you've been - but it does foil hackers) or a long comment I have no hope of remembering. Anyway, what the writer pointed out is that Donald Trump was never accepted as president by those powerful in both parties and when it came time for him to choose cabinet members he was given short lists that only included people who could be relied upon to undermine his policy proposals if necessary. After all, he is an outsider to DC politics even more than Jimmy Carter was in the 70s.
When I looked to find a list of Trump's successes these past few years it was disturbing, albeit not surprising, to see that even using that search term most every article going back to 2017 was critical of everything. However, I did find one essay (written just a few days ago by someone unknown to me) that does list some accomplishments. I can't say I like him, but the only time I can recall that the msm praised one of his policies was that time he ordered a missile attack on an airfield in Syria.
I also don't see how its entirely Donald Trump's fault that there are so many obese and unhealthy people in a country that has no public healthcare.
Anyway, we'll soon see how the public at large feels about having Donald Trump serve a second term as president. I came across a great quote by the late Roger Scruton, an English philosopher
It is only when we have found again the language that is natural to us that we can answer the great accusations that are constantly thrown at our world from the left.
And it is only when we have found that language that we can move on from the one-dimensional left/ right, with us/ against us, progressive/ reactionary dichotomies that have so often made rational discussion impossible.
I do remember reading something Matt Taibbi wrote years ago about Sarah Palin, although right now I can't find the exact passage. It was to the effect that the media was portraying her as a dangerous clown, and that while this wasn't necessarily inaccurate, the same outlets - in some cases the same people - had not too long earlier been falling over themselves hyping the gravitas and dignity of George W. Bush. His conclusion was that all the important power players had signed off on her defenestration, not just the ones generally considered liberal.
The same thing, to perhaps an even greater extent, seems to be happening now. Should Trump have been elected? Maybe and maybe not, but the fact is he was. And the tone of the coverage seems to indicate that the wealthier, eviller, and more obscure sources of support don't feel that they're getting their money's worth.
This country has long had its share of moral panics. Certainly overweight people have been at the center of some. But now an even greater moral panic can attach itself to anyone who leaves the house and tries to have some semblance of a social life. This isn't healthy in the short or the long run.
I'm not at all familiar with the works of Roger Scruton, but some of the quotes I've read do have me intrigued.
Post a Comment