Dutch Uncle
* Tertia Optio * Defend the Constitution
An interesting article that explores the mystery of Trump's appeal to half of American voters.
Half the country will vote for Trump. What is his appeal?
For me, Donald Trump is like pornography — he has no socially redeeming value.
He’s a narcissistic, misogynist, bigoted, autocratic bully who is a congenital liar and dangerously detached from reality.
Yet almost half the country appears poised to vote for him.
Democrats certainly needn’t like Trump, but we damn well better understand why so many people do and not simply brand his supporters as “deplorables” like their candidate....
...Denouncing Democrats as the party of Big Government has been standard Republican fare for decades. Today, slightly over half the country expresses an aversion to a government they consider too big, and almost all of them support Trump. The large minority who look favorably on a more active government reside overwhelmingly in the Kamala Harris camp.
Aversion to change emerges from classic conservatism’s respect for tradition. As Edmund Burke wrote: “When ancient opinions and rules of life are taken away, the loss cannot possibly be estimated. From that moment, we have no compass to govern us, nor can we know distinctly to what port to steer.”...
...Moreover, voters seem to recall a successful pre-COVID economy under Trump. Almost two-thirds tell pollsters the Trump economy was good. As President Obama reminds us, it was his economy, not Trump’s. But Trump benefits from having been seated in the Oval at the time.
Trump’s appeal was sealed by his authenticity — never a word I would associate with the former president.
But by giving voice to the concerns of his constituents, saying aloud what they said only in private and by being willing to suffer the opprobrium of the establishment for doing so, Trump proved to his followers that he really meant it — that he was authentic.
Despite the appeals, Trump’s weaknesses are legion, and he can be defeated. But no one should underestimate the challenge or the wellsprings of his support.
Half the country will vote for Trump. What is his appeal?
For me, Donald Trump is like pornography — he has no socially redeeming value.
He’s a narcissistic, misogynist, bigoted, autocratic bully who is a congenital liar and dangerously detached from reality.
Yet almost half the country appears poised to vote for him.
Democrats certainly needn’t like Trump, but we damn well better understand why so many people do and not simply brand his supporters as “deplorables” like their candidate....
...Denouncing Democrats as the party of Big Government has been standard Republican fare for decades. Today, slightly over half the country expresses an aversion to a government they consider too big, and almost all of them support Trump. The large minority who look favorably on a more active government reside overwhelmingly in the Kamala Harris camp.
Aversion to change emerges from classic conservatism’s respect for tradition. As Edmund Burke wrote: “When ancient opinions and rules of life are taken away, the loss cannot possibly be estimated. From that moment, we have no compass to govern us, nor can we know distinctly to what port to steer.”...
...Moreover, voters seem to recall a successful pre-COVID economy under Trump. Almost two-thirds tell pollsters the Trump economy was good. As President Obama reminds us, it was his economy, not Trump’s. But Trump benefits from having been seated in the Oval at the time.
Trump’s appeal was sealed by his authenticity — never a word I would associate with the former president.
But by giving voice to the concerns of his constituents, saying aloud what they said only in private and by being willing to suffer the opprobrium of the establishment for doing so, Trump proved to his followers that he really meant it — that he was authentic.
Despite the appeals, Trump’s weaknesses are legion, and he can be defeated. But no one should underestimate the challenge or the wellsprings of his support.
