The problem that the GOP was able to carefully avoid for years is that Donald Trump's hate represents a significant portion of their base. For a good many Republicans, big government isn't a problem. The poorest states invariably vote red - they NEED big government more than they care to admit. And these Republicans aren't too concerned about the Capital Gains tax. They don't understand the Affordable Care Act. And their right to bear arms has not been challenged.
Donald Trump has no real ideology. He's proud, almost brazen about this. He was not a naive 20-something when he was basically a Democrat. He doesn't answer any questions in the debates he dominates. He's not the self-made man American's love. I may disagree with Mitt Romney and John McCain on ideological levels - but I never doubted their character.
There is a segment of America that simply never wanted to accept Obama because of the color of his skin. It's not playing the race card - it's an undeniable truth. Donald Trump and his "birther" crap spoke to this segment.
On election night in 2012, when it became obvious that President Obama was going to win a second term, I gleefully headed to Fox News. Yes - I got a perverse pleasure of watching them come up with excuses for America re-electing such an awful Commander-in-Chief.
I wasn't disappointed.
Karl Rove couldn't accept what Fox News' own pollsters had concluded: that the incumbent had won Ohio, thus giving him the election. His meltdown on live TV was classic stuff.
But the best, and the worst, was yet to come. Bill O'Reilly, the undeniable face of Fox News whose show has been the most popular cable news show for longer than I care to think about, offered his very telling perspective on why Obama had basically cruised to victory. It was almost like the member of a secret society leaking their most sacred of secrets. It was the most telling segment in recent history about the current "party of Lincoln."
Yes folks. Obama won because he appealed to the people that want government handouts. "They want stuff." He goes further and explains who these cretins are: minorities. 20 years ago, when we had "traditional" (white) America we wouldn't have to deal with a black president. Now we do - too many minorities.
Some of it he said - some of it was more than implied.
Not every Republican is of this school of thought. For some it actually IS about taxes, big government, school choice, hell even abortion. But for a significant portion, enough that Donald Trump seems to be on a collision course with the nomination, are rallying around him for no other reason than he seems to have a significant disdain for minorities.
Here are the four main characteristics of Trump supporters: They are largely uneducated, they think they don't have a political voice, they have a problem with "outsiders" (foreigners), and they live in parts of the country where racial resentment is the most rampant.
I hesitate to generalize about a party that makes up such a large segment of the population. I have black friends who are solidly Republican. I don't agree with everything on the Democratic party platform.
Remember, there are very few states where Trump has carried more than 50% of the vote. He has largely benefited from a weak overall field, and up until now a large field where one candidate could win with a relatively small percentage of votes. But Trump supporters are single issue voters: Fear is their ideology. Fear that blacks and foreigners will take over. It has never been about policy - many Trump supporters benefit from the "welfare state" they claim to despise.
Underestimating Trump's appeal led to a mess in the GOP, but it could lead to a bigger mess in America. This country has historically accepted black men in leadership positions prior to women (black women get the ultimate shaft has been given to black women but that's another story).
Hillary should defeat Donald - but the vitriol is coming. Don't think for a second that many of the GOP supporters who are trying to distance themselves from Trump won't rally behind him come the convention.
60 to 40 is as wide a margin as we'll ever see in a general election. Given that the "news channels" do nothing but give people the talking points they want to here rather than present the whole story, I would imagine a landslide in this day and age would be 56-44. It won't be a landslide under the best of circumstances. If Hillary continues to run a second-rate campaign - she certainly hasn't learned much from her husband - it could be VERY close. If a significant third-party candidate emerges she could certainly lose.
To say that would be an embarrassment would be a serious understatement.
Republicans: Start owning it. You've survived for a long time on a parasitic segment in your party that hates minorities. Now the idiots are about to take over the asylum. At least admit that's the problem.
Trump is selling nothing but hate. And right now, that's good enough to be the frontrunner.
No comments:
Post a Comment