GOP Establishment Leaders Are Missing the Point of Trumps Rise in Popularity
Friday, June 24, 2016
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GOP Establishment Leaders Are Missing the Point of Trumps Rise in Popularity. Here's Why We Really Like Trump.
Mark Patricks
June 23 2016
A poll showed that 90 percent of the chairpersons of the state Republican parties found their party's presidential candidate's plans for governance "simplistic.”
The chairpersons also opposed the candidate because he had "no depth” in governing and "no experience” in foreign affairs. (like THEY DO??)
One of the state chairmen said that the candidate's intellect was "thinner than spit on a slate rock.” Only one Republican senator supported him. (And these a-hos have businesses and personal assets to rival what the candidate has accomplished, and the candidate is not as 'smart' as they are?? So they are saying that a candidate has to be a THUG, MURDERER, EXTORTIONIST, and TRAITOR to be in office?)
Two recent Republican presidents dismissed the candidate as a "lightweight.” One of them said the candidate had a "penchant for offering simplistic solutions to hideously complex problems” and made fun of his "prematurely orange” hair. (WHY make problems more difficult to resolve then they really are - so these jerks can hold on to their seats longer and collect more payoffs from lobbists??)
Many establishment Republicans also were wary of the presidential candidate because he was a Democrat for a long time and had only relatively recently become a Republican. (Like those on both sides of the aisle haven't been switching back and forth for YEARS??? WHAT? A candidate is supposed to be OBLIGATED to be a demoRAT when others in that party are NOT obligated?)
I know what you're thinking -- "yeah, but that was several months ago. Republicans are coalescing behind Donald Trump now.”
Guess again. All those above comments were NOT about Donald Trump. They were, in fact, about Ronald Reagan.
Yes, The Gipper was, to say the least, disrespected by the Republican establishment.
The powers that be in the Republican Party in the late 1970s disdained the non-politician, the man who was more interested in changing the United States for the better than endlessly compromising with Democrats.
Reagan's 1980 campaign slogan? "Let's Make America Great Again.” Sound familiar?
Yes, history often repeats itself. Some of the parallels between Reagan's 1980 campaign and Trump's 2016 campaign are eerie as the New York magazine article "What The Donald Shares With The Ronald” makes perfectly clear.
More importantly, the feeling in the air so to speak is very similar. Americans in 1980 were angry, and justifiably so. Crime had soared since the 1960s. Americans had negative feelings about their own nation after military forces had been withdrawn from Vietnam without a victory and dozens of diplomats had been seized by terrorists in Iran.
Americans in 2016 are also angry. The nation, millions of Americans believe, has changed for the worse. Wages have been declining for a long time. Instead of addressing the wages issue, our 'political leaders' have instead continued to sign trade agreements with Third World nations that reduces American wages to Third World levels.
Another reason for declining wages is immigration. People who are willing to work for next to nothing make it easier for employers to reduce Americans' wages.
More importantly than that, the millions of people who have immigrated to the United States have changed the character of the nation. Yet, many members of the Republican establishment, including large sectors of the big business community, favor more immigration -- and have a lenient perspective on the future of illegal immigrants who have showed contempt for our law.
In many respects, the Republican establishment is the same as the Democratic establishment. The two establishments sometimes have different positions on taxes and regulations that harm the growth of small businesses.
But they are both contemptuous of the plight of American workers when it comes to taking a stand against pro-big business trade deals and immigration rules as well as corporate welfare for banks and other big businesses.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, wants to build a wall on the U.S. Mexican border. He wants to restrict illegal immigration, favors deporting the approximately 11 million illegal immigrants already here because he respects law and order more than the Republican establishment.
He believes that our national security is strengthened when people from nations with a history of terrorism are prevented from immigrating here, and has the guts to call for the renegotiation of trade agreements that have proven to harm the United States.
It's absolutely amazing that the Republican establishment didn't understand that their own voters opposed pro-big business trade, immigration, and government bailout policies. In the 2016 GOP presidential primaries, conservative voters had more of a choice than they did in previous elections.
"The best explanation I've heard for a Trump vote was from a lifelong Republican in rural Mississippi,” wrote Elise Jordan, a former speechwriter for U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in a Time magazine article entitled "The Real Reason for Trump's Rise.”
"He called voting for Trump 'the middle finger vote' to 'a good ole boy system' that lines the pockets of elites in Washington while neglecting working men and women.”
Attitude Is Important
In 1976, when Reagan challenged President Gerald Ford, a Republican, in the GOP presidential primaries, Ford's advisers were too slow to learn that they had lost touch with many Republican voters.
The Gipper's supporters were "alienated from both parties because neither takes a sympathetic view toward their issues” and "the disdain Reagan drew from the GOP elites was a badge of honor,” according to the New York magazine article.
Trump is benefiting from the same disconnect between the Republican establishment and Republican voters, particularly conservative voters, as Reagan benefited from.
Like Reagan, Trump also understands that millions of Americans of all political stripes are looking for a strong leader. For decades, Republican elites convinced voters that moderate Republicans who favored compromises with Democrats had a better chance of being elected president than principled conservatives.
Thus, the GOP nominees included Senators Robert Dole and John McCain, both of whom bragged about the bipartisan deals they negotiated, and George W. Bush, who bragged about being a "uniter, not a divider!”
The Great Recession and its aftermath completely changed the willingness of conservatives and others to defy the political elites. A significant segment of the Republican populace has wanted to stick a middle finger out to the establishment for decades.
The GOP's establishment leaders have done a poor job of addressing those people's concerns. Today, those leaders seem completely lost even after voters overwhelmingly rejected their favorites, including Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio.
Donald Trump's success has proven that the GOP's establishment was on the wrong side of important issues. He also has proven that attitude is important. The specific reasons for his success include:
* He's a strong leader: Democratic and Republican senators negotiated a compromise on immigration a few years ago that didn't solve the problem. Trump's proposal solved the problem -- and forces opponents to move toward HIS position.
* He tells it like it is: Voters of all political stripes are sick and tired of politicians who can't answer a direct question. They give vague answers so as not to alienate any one voter. They take a middle ground position that many people don't understand. Trump isn't wishy-washy and always takes a stand.
* He's a bipartisan critic: Aren't you tired of ALL Democrats supporting President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton? Do you really believe that all Republicans think EVERY other Republican is doing a good job?
Trump criticizes Republicans when they deserve to be criticized. Thus, he has credibility with voters, while other politicians such as Clinton don't.
* He's aggressive when challenged: Rush Limbaugh said the other day that conservatives have been waiting for decades for a Republican to forcefully denounce the press. He's right.
Trump fought fire with fire at a press conference last week. Reporters and commentators have gotten away with their biased bs for years. It's about time that a politician stopped letting the liberal media push him or her around.
* He's a doer: Trump has built golf courses, created jobs, and started businesses. He gets things done, while politicians just talk. Conservatives are tired of people making promises to them and not keeping them. Trump, they believe, has proven that he can accomplish great things, while his foes haven't.
Ronald Reagan succeeded in the 1980 presidential campaign despite the elites criticizing his intelligence because he decided that addressing the problems of the American people was more important than kowtowing to the political establishment, including the media.
Donald Trump has succeeded in the 2016 presidential campaign so far because he has, whether intentionally or not, emulated Reagan. If he sticks to his principles, he could be as transformational a president as The Gipper.
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