Quote:
Originally Posted by GirlySports
Ducay has a point here. When Trump won the Republican nomination we have to ask, how has the Republican party caused this that 16 other candidates lost? And if Trump wins the presidency then same question to the democrats. What have they done in the last 8 years to cause this? The answer is not 'because the Trump people are stupid"
|
Democrats put a black man in the Oval Office.
Democrats are now trying to put a woman in the Oval Office.
There are underlying issues with policy and culture and everything, but don't mistake how terrified old white men are of the idea of black people and women actually obtaining the same success and power that they have always had.
It's not necessarily that Trump people are stupid, but many of his supporters long for decades past, when they were beneficiaries of the labor movement, when the male head of a household made enough to house, feed, and clothe his family comfortably, when women were around at night to have dinner on the table wearing a dress and a smile.
They don't see the part of that past where women were trapped dealing with controlling, abusive husbands because they had children and no way to support themselves. They don't see the part of the past where blacks were systemically kept from buying property in areas other than designated ghettos. They see that picturesque America of the 50s and 60s full of soda fountains and diners and green lawns, conveniently ignoring all the awful crap that was still happening in those days.
They see that their incomes have dropped as minorities and women have gained more rights and inched closer to equality--they see that as the fault of those women and minorities. They don't grasp the concept that the Waltons of the world have bankrupted those quaint little mom-and-pop stores that they romanticize about, that corporate CEO pay has risen exponentially while their incomes have stagnated. They don't blame those men for their lot in life, no, those CEOs are rich, so clearly that money means they were successful and deserved it. No it's the fault of the blacks and the illegals and the women who should be at home and in the kitchen.
They can't grasp that Donald Trump (who contracted with their blue collar brethren in places like Atlantic City, who then left them high and dry when he destroyed that entire city's economy by declaring business bankruptcy and walking away scot-free) and his ilk are exactly the reason why their incomes have stagnated. It's easier to blame the people who are a little different--with different working parts, or with a different skin tone or a different faith--as the reason why they can't live that American Dream.
So Trump comes in with his smoke and mirrors with his dog-whistle appeals to racists and bigots, and it's easy to pull at those baser instincts.