Anger, not just inequality, drives white working-class voters--progressives must face uncomfortable truths to push back.

[Celerity]

Why Trump Keeps Winning: The Truth No One Admits

https://www.socialeurope.eu/why-trump-keeps-winning-the-truth-no-one-admits



The criticism of Donald Trump and the actions of his administration since taking office has been intense, to say the least. Trump’s aggressive approach towards Volodymyr Zelensky, his repeated falsehoods about who instigated the war in Ukraine, the pardoning of violent criminals convicted for attacking Congress in January 2021, assertions that as president he is above the law, threats directed at Denmark and Canada, and the dismantling of longstanding US aid policies are among the actions that have drawn sharp condemnation. This criticism, and indeed more besides, is entirely justified and necessary.

Yet, there is a crucial question missing from the broader conversation: What exactly has America’s liberal, democratic, and culturally engaged elite done to provoke such profound anger—indeed, outright hatred—from large sections of the predominantly white working class and lower-middle class, driving them towards a politician like Donald Trump? It is astonishing to consider that it was not long ago that Barack Obama secured a second presidential term in 2012, suggesting that something significant must have occurred in the intervening years to prompt this dramatic reversal in American politics.

Economic inequality and hardship have frequently been cited as explanations for Trump’s rise. However, this cannot fully explain his appeal, as Obama secured re-election just four years after the global financial crisis. Similarly, racism, though deeply embedded in American society, is hardly a new phenomenon. Immigration is another often-cited factor, yet the United States has always been a nation of immigrants. While these elements have undoubtedly contributed, there must be another critical factor that enabled Trump not only to win but to win again—even after orchestrating an illegal attack on the US Congress.

To fully understand this shift, one must return to the 2016 presidential election. Early in the campaign, most informed commentators did not seriously consider Trump a viable Republican candidate. He lacked support from the party’s leading figures, had never held political office, and did not have access to the significant financial resources typically required for a successful presidential bid. However, one person who recognised Trump’s potential early on was Jim Clifton, then head of Gallup in the United States.

snip

[atreides1]

1. This again

We've heard this over and over again.

"Let's be nice to the white people because they feel like they're being discriminated against!"

We are never going to change the minds of people who are convinced that they are the master race and that the pigment of their skin makes them superior to anyone else!!!

The problem as I see it, is that whites refuse to accept their own failings while at the same time always attacking minorities. Like Reagan and the welfare queen story, racism was used by Nixon, Reagan, and pretty much every Republican running for president...

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. Not this "not this again"

Let's NOT be nice to white people because they feel discriminated against.

Let's be nice to all people of all colours and genders and sexuality who are economically oppressed.

Of course reject racism and sexism -- no compromise. Focus on wealth and income inequality. Focus on helping people get proper housing. Focus on jobs. Focus on those things that cut across race and gender. That way address their angst and fold them in.

(more or less) Those people have grown up playing with all colours. They have played on sports teams with all colours. They have served in military with all colours. They have worked with people of all colours. They know how to do those things.

When talking with people (note I'm not saying colour or gender) talk about macroeconomics (tariff taxes) and microeconomics (layoffs, paying bills). If they blurt out any bit of racism etc THEN push back and say "Shut up with the racism. We are talking about helping people get jobs {pay bills, whatever the economic topic}." If they insist on or bring up again racist views, say "Enough" and walk away.

Don't push them away unless they insist on racism and genderism.

[Solomon]

5. Thank you!! I'm sick to death of these posts.

[ananda]

11. Thank you. It's all about racism...

and misogyny too.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. If you want to win, you can't push back. You have to find ways to subvert them so they get folded in

Of course the racism part is non-negotiable. Likewise with other bigotry and prejudice, including against women and sexuality.

But the anger is fundamentally the same angst that 20 somethings and 30 somethings on OUR side experience. Racism etc is the weak point in their psyche that pops out as the expression of that angst.

Push back on racism, sexism -- always.

Embrace the root causes of angst: wealth and income inequality. Draw them in that way.

[Red Mountain]

4. Thanks for this reply

I started one and trashed it.

Republicans return to the well of racism again and again because it works.......and they're lazy.

They can't govern so they have to divide to win.

[alarimer]

6. Obama made everyone want to be a better person

Trump gives everyone permission to hate others.
Hate wins apparently.

Part of the knock on Democrats is not anything they have done necessarily; it's that the media LIES about them. And the mainstream media has given a pass to Trump and not called out HIS lies and awfulness.

We have a media problem in this country. Fox ( and worse) are allowed to spread the worst lies about Democrats, while they never tell the truth about Trump.

I don't think it's so much when Democrats do or don't do; it's hard to overcome the sheer volume of lies

[oasis]

13. The misinformation and outright lies by Fox

and the right wing media is draining the sweetness from America.

[leftstreet]

7. Corruption. Corruption. Corruption.

That article is definitely worth the full read

As early as January 2016, eleven months before the election, Clifton highlighted a deeply troubling finding from Gallup’s polls: 75 percent of voters in the United States agreed with the statement that “corruption is widespread throughout the government in this country”. Clifton described this perception as a “big, dark cloud” hanging over America’s progress, suggesting it could fuel the rise of a “non-traditional” candidate like Trump.

[Passages]

8. When do Democrats explain their policy platform?

Systemic racism and how to resolve it must first explain how it works and how it hurts the working class overall...in the end it is society at large that benefits.

For example, some Democratic lawmakers are trying to end Citizens United, but I am not aware that that goal is part of the party's agenda.

Good advice:

How Neoliberalism Failed, and What a Better Society Could Look Like
August 7, 2024

By Joseph Stiglitz
https://rooseveltinstitute.org/publications/how-neoliberalism-failed/

[Solly Mack]

10. ...

Hochschild spent five years with white working-class communities in the American South, discovering that many of these individuals believed they had long been waiting patiently in line for the “American dream”—expecting their economic conditions to improve. Yet, they found themselves continually disappointed, blaming this stagnation on various programmes introduced by Democrats to specifically support minority groups. According to Hochschild’s informants, people claiming minority status could effectively “jump the queue.” Affirmative action, in their eyes, represented ethnic favouritism rather than merit-based selection.

Surveys have also indicated that a majority of white Americans believe discrimination against themselves is a more significant issue than discrimination faced by Black Americans. Although I consider this perception disconnected from reality, it nonetheless shapes voter decisions, as perceptions, rather than objective realities, guide voting behaviour.

The above reflects the attitude by many white people that their skin hue alone entitles them to succeed. That being white means they should be doing better than everyone else. That the "American Dream" is for "REAL" Americans (white people) which means white people should be able to achieve it simply because they are white.

How has this perception become widespread? One critical factor is the Democrats’ extensive reliance, particularly from their left-wing faction, on identity politics.

White supremacy IS and ALWAYS has been identity politics. America was founded on white identity politics. Wealthy, white, Christian, and male identity politics.

. While the widespread protests against brutal police violence in the United States were entirely justified, framing these protests as “Black Lives Matter” rather than “All Lives Matter Equally” may have inadvertently reinforced perceptions of ethnic division. There are numerous other instances of ethnicity-based political missteps.

If "ALL" lives mattered, there wouldn't be the need to point out that Black Lives Matter. However, that hasn't been the reality in America.

White people, these working-class white people folks seem to be so concerned with, need to admit this truth - America is a racist and misogynistic nation and as such, has favored white men over everyone else.

Yes, there is a classism problem in America. There is a definite inequality between the have and have nots. But demonizing the Democratic Party for those inequities is expressing a lack of knowledge of the subject. People thinking their wallets or education or name or social group makes them superior and more deserving - entitled - know no political boundaries. Though policy and legislation can reflect bias toward the wealthy - and that should be the tell-tale sign of who is using our political system to keep people down.

It's hard to take anyone serious who complains about the unfairness - even corruption- of what wealth can buy while they are shouting to the world that the billionaires Trump and Musk are the solution. That Trump's nepotism is the solution. That filling his cabinet with millionaires and billionaires is the solution. That destroying the government and its agencies that oversee necessary services that promote the common good is the solution.

Perceptions can be cultivated and these white-working class people from the article need to check who and what is shaping their perceptions.

[Deep State Witch]

12. Biden And Harris Reached Out To These Communities

Biden's Inflation Reduction Act brought internet to rural communities, and was bringing manufacturing back them. Harris and Walz reached out to them during the campaign. What happened? They voted for the Orange Turd anyway.