Blog Credo

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

H.L. Mencken

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Trump Vs. America

As Jon Chait notes, Trump's attacks on African Americans and urban communities represents his raw racism.  However, I think Chait has hit on a great way to frame this.

Calling Trump racist does backfire a little.  Calling someone a racist is not a very good way to get them to change their behavior.  As George Wallace (yeah, that guy) said, "The real racists are the people calling people racist."  That is, of course, bullshit

But if you want to use Trump's racism against him to get him under 40% of the vote, then perhaps the best way to do it is to note exactly what Trump said about "the Squad."  If you don't like America, leave it.  Trump routinely disparages large parts of America and large groups of Americans.  Rather than decry his racism, focus on the fact that Trump only represents some Americans.  The job of the president is to represent the whole country.  Trump, emphatically, doesn't do that.

Democrats running on a "big tent" America would normally be a bland mushy centrist trope.

In 2020, it might work.

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