I suppose the point of the exercise is to try to disprove the claim that economic despair and alienation was more of a driving force in his win than racism and sexism were.
I’m not going to plow through a Tweetstorm but I wouldn’t be surprised that he supports his contention. My assertion remains that it was a combination of factors: very real economic despair at being left behind by the American economy combined with an outraged sense of entitlement that native-born white Christian males should be put in such a position in America at all. That makes for a prime mark for a right-wing populist confidence artist.
As to the lesson the Dems should take from all this is that while they can’t and shouldn’t do anything to attract the bigots and sexists the GOP courts they can dump their Third Way neoliberal-lite economic agenda. Whether they will or not is still an open question.
These issues are not at odds with class, but are interrelated with class. Until we understand this fact, we’re going to keep circling the drain of this issue.
My parents who live in a high percentage white upper class neighborhood told me that they have neighbors who feared ISIS was coming to kill them and that Syrian refugees were going to move in next door. I was floored. The scariest thing that might happen to these folks is that Whole Foods might, just might, run out of bread and milk. Fear does some crazy things with peoples heads. Unbelievable.
Right wing media is too blame. Fear outsells sex these days.
Do you think the Democrats will learn though? Trump showed how to conduct a campaign but I just don’t think the Democrats are willing to execute on the plan. If they don’t Trump will get 8 years if he wants it and if he isn’t impeached by his own party before then.
Class is inextricably intertwined with all these issues, so yes, thank you. Although, I do think we need a new definition of what “class” means; I think we rely too heavily on outdated notions of “class”.
Exactly. How can we possibly discuss class as purely socioeconomic? It depends on regional and national norms. When we say “second-class citizens”, what do we mean anymore? Illegal aliens? African-Americans? Women? (Yes to the women, but I bet you knew I’d say that.)
We need new Democratic leadership. I don’t want to hear a word from the old guard. They are so friggen lazy and complacence. I know someone who is an important Democratic leader who is national known. After the election he told me, “Well the sun came up, didn’t it.” At that point I’m stunned. I think to my self, “The sun doesn’t give a s!@# about me.” No way they walk away from this disaster clean. If they can’t walk away quietly then provisional party leadership needs to be elected.
This is precisely what we need. The progressives must take over the party and rip it away from the slow slouching toward Republican Bethlehem that the Clintons started in 1992.
The exit polls show that HRC support with whites dropped 2% compared to Obama in 2012. We can argue why.
But she also lost 8 points among Asians. 5 points among African Americans. And, in the face of all of this campaign rhetoric coming from Trump, she lost 6 points among Latinos.
The Democrats have a white working class problem. But I think it has a lot less to do with the white part of that equation than some people are willing to think.
Including the longstanding idea that America is a classless society. A lot of people still can’t get past that, let alone make the distinction between economic and social class or get into the more nuanced interrelationships between the two and other forms of gender and skin privilege.
The great Paul Fussell’s wicked 1983 book on the topic is a bit dated in its specifics but still relevant in its approach and unmatched in its style.
Honestly, although I find it both interesting and relevant, this information is conveyed here in a mess which I do find difficult to visually parse. I am still working at it.
And then there is Steinbeck, and his perfect description of the American working poor as temporarily embarrassed millionaires. I said it before and will say it again. Some temporarily embarrassed millionaires have just elected an ostentatious one.
