James Taranto makes an observation about Donald Trump that should give us pause:
Trump’s appeal is as broad as it is because he has tapped into a mood among the Republican electorate. Strassel: “Conservatives have become so demoralized by the Obama state, so frustrated by the inability to check it, so tired of overpromising Republicans, that they just want someone to blow up everything. Mr. Trump says he will, and so they’re good with ‘whatever.’ â€
There’s another aspect of it: Attracting people to Trump are some of the bad qualities he shares with Obama. That thought crystallized last night after a Twitter exchange prompted by another bit of trivial Trumpian vulgarity.
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Part of Trump’s appeal is that he is as brash, full of himself and unwilling to admit error as Obama is. Those qualities, in that view, make him a winner, like Obama.
As I pointed out earlier today Hillary Clinton, too, shares some of Obama’s worst qualities. O tempora o mores.
The rank & file of the Republican Party have exactly zero reason to support the party any more. Some of them are starting to figure that out.
As recently as summer of 2014 Republicans I know were accusing me of being a traitor, not to the Republican Party, but to America, for not voting Republican “to stop Obama.” You can be sure I’ve been rubbing it into their faces that the party has basically rolled over for Obama since the election. Not that any of the sons of bitches have apologized, but they’re at least realizing that they’ve been punked, so that’s something.
Eventually Democratic voters will start realizing they’re nothing but useful idiots, too, but I expect it to take longer, as Democrats seem to like being used and abused.
Something else with Trump is that he’s all over the place, according to the American ideological map. People are also realizing that believing one thing that a party says doesn’t mean you must follow them on every other single issue. Perot made some inroads in that area, but he’s long forgotten now. Trump’s wildness, from the standpoint of the establishments of the two parties, has appeal to those that feel they’ve been straight-jacketed too long to laundry lists that have no real cohesion.
“Conservatives have become so demoralized by the Obama state”
Umm, no. Let’s remember the history correctly. As soon as he was elected they said their number one job was to make sure he did not get re-elected. Once he was elected filibusters stayed at or close to record levels, almost twice that of the prior admin. There was never any attempt to work with him. He chose a health care plan that they had created in the 90s, passed by their eventual nominee into law in a state, and not one supported it. The day after he was elected I started getting inundated with ads from the NRA (I am a member) claiming he was going to take all the guns away. They have been trying to blow things up since he was elected, they just can’t quite bring themselves to go all of the way because they are afraid to lose elections. The right wing media dedicated themselves from day one to creating an image and they have succeeded, on the right. Remember that most Republicans believe he is Muslim and was born in Kenya.
Steve
Steve,
Here are a few responses to your post.
As soon as he was elected they said their number one job was to make sure he did not get re-elected.
That one Mitch McConnell comment has certainly provided a wonderful sense of grievance for the dems. Whenever a R slam is needed, that particular comment is dragged to the forefront, while all the insults applied by the D’s to the R’s remain muzzled in the amnesia zone.
There was never any attempt to work with him.
Ironically the opposite is true, regarding the #1 complaint republicans cite about establishment republicans, in that they too easily have ceeded points and power to Obama.
He chose a health care plan that they had created in the 90s, passed by their eventual nominee into law in a state, and not one supported it.”
R’s earlier hashed out similar HC considerations, but those died and were eventually repudiated. Times changed. Romney’s HC plan was created in a blue state, 85% democratic legislation, customized for the political/social demographics of that state. He differentiated his plan from a national one when he ran for the presidency. However, dems didn’t want to let his role in MA go to waste in order to substantiate some kind of credibility for their unilaterally owned and passed PPACA.
I started getting inundated with ads from the NRA (I am a member) claiming he was going to take all the guns away.
The Obama “clinging to your guns” statement was perfect fodder for the NRA, just like the broken record comment by McConnell, that you’ve used, was overly used to validate the D’s perspective of R’s unwarranted objections to Obama’s budgets, policies etc. — basically, political pettiness being exercised on both sides of the aisle in order to score political points.
Remember that most Republicans believe he is Muslim and was born in Kenya.
Obama fed into these stories by his own omissions and failures to openly cooperate with questions about his past. One of his first books, had a bio on the jacket stating he was born in Kenya, supposedly to generate more interest in his book This stood uncorrected for over a decade until he ran for office. School chums of Obama, when interviewed, said he bragged about being a Muslim. Records from his Noelani school have “disappeared” — ones that would have set the record straight in kindergarten about his birth etc. He won’t allow his grades from Occidental to be released.
The more obscure and/or uncooperative one is about their past, the more questions will be aroused in the present. He could have cleared all this up at the get go. However, I believe the conflicting background assertions, as well as drama associated with it, served the purpose of being a convenient straw man in which he could cite prejudicial treatment — something that is always juicy for the base to circle their wagons around.