Trying to decipher the meaning of it all . . . .
As we talk of how to cope with Trump, Ryan and McConnell taking power, we are all angry, terrified and puzzled. Angry that this could have happened, sometimes angry at those within our own ranks that we feel (rightly or wrongly) didn’t do enough to defeat Trump. Terrified at what kind of country an ascendant GOP will create. And puzzled at how we could have been so wrong and how we could do better. One element of doing better will involve who leads the DNC (and I think we may all agree that the DNC was, in this cycle, dysfunctional at best) and, much as I like Keith Ellison, he may not be the right choice. Please hear me out.
I don’t write a lot of diaries here, but I have been around a long time . . . I think since W’s first term. I’ve actually had a few diaries make the Rec list, so maybe I should weigh in a bit more, but life . . . .
Anyway, like many of us, in my own puzzlement, I have talked to a lot of people trying to figure this out and trying to understand what corrections need to be made going forward to win again (and it really is all about winning in the end). What I learned compelled me to write a diary, so if you will follow along . . . . (this is where I miss the orange croissant)
Some quick background: When MoveOn asked who they should endorse, I said Bernie. When Bernie had no path to victory (I think he was hurt by his fairly weak foreign policy responses, but just my opinion), I became an enthusiastic Hillary person. My son, while committed even more strongly to Bernie, ultimately cast his vote for Hillary too. But we live in the liberal bastion of Bay Area California. The subsequent finger pointing meta-pie fights are not helpful, but I think Kurt Eichenwald makes some good points. The other bits of background: I grew up in Amarillo, Texas – a city that elected a member of the John Birch Society as mayor when I was in high school and a city that remains a bastion of evangelical conservatism – and I remain in touch with a lot of friends from that high school, now geographically dispersed and across the ideological spectrum.
Aside from a lack of enthusiasm in our own base, why did we lose so many white, working class voters (whether in the rust belt, the industrial Midwest, Florida or the “heartland”? This is a part of the phenomena Van Jones has called “whitelash.”
There were several factors that lead some people to vote Trump. Economic fears, xenophobia (which takes many forms, as I will discuss), a sense of being looked down upon by “elites” (again, this bears further discussion) and a sense of not being heard. (foresterbob touched on some of this in a diary earlier today)
The economic fears are those we have discussed . . . a middle class with stagnating wages and disappearing jobs. But while there should be some sort of solidarity across racial and ethnic groups, people who might engage in an organized attempt to get the super wealthy class to fund (through taxes) infrastructure projects and education subsidies while also demanding higher wages and national healthcare are instead divided by xenophobia.
Now this xenophobia I am referencing is not simply between these white voters and “foreigners,” but between white voters and the “other.” There are parts of the Midwest where there are very few people of color. And many times, their perception of people of color is defined by what they see on television (often FOX News). Therefore, they see “rioters” when Black Lives Matter protests a police killing, without understanding the very real circumstances BLM is protesting. They project their own fears about young, black males as criminals or see people of color as welfare cheats or lazy (from generations of television programs and films), but bristle at the accusation that they might be racist. White privilege is blind to itself, it is all they have known and, lacking context, they are offended that someone might suggest that they are biased. (By the way, I had never heard the word “kike,” until I went away to college. A Jewish friend got angry at me when she thought I was making a joke after I responded to her question of how I would feel if someone called me one by saying, “I don’t know, what does it mean?” We all have our cultural bubbles.)
Add to that element of xenophobia the overlay of the notion that their deeply held religious beliefs are under “attack.” Whether by 9/11 and ISIS, “home-grown” terrorism like San Bernadino, gay marriage, seeing a woman wearing a hijab, or the “war on Christmas,” there is enough change that they feel frightened and embattled (whether there is danger or not).
Next there is the being looked down upon by “elites.” There is, quite honestly, an element of jealousy involved here. A lot of feeling left behind is being out in South Dakota (or Kansas or rural Wisconsin, etc.) and wishing you were somewhere else. But for your lack of a college education, you might prefer to live in California or New York, etc. But that lack of a college education doesn’t mean you are a bad person! And how dare those people in their fancy house on the beach or their Connecticut mansions or those movie stars tell me they know what is right for me! My faith in God trumps their college degree! I work hard, they just sit around and think! And meanwhile, many of their children – the best and brightest – are drawn away to the urban centers by jobs and a brighter future. Perhaps their way of life IS under attack?!
Which leads directly to their sense that no one is listening to their pain/fears/concerns for the future. Given their xenophobia (as I have described it), there is the perception that those urban, liberal elites of the Democratic party are listening only to the concerns of Black Lives Matter, or Vota Latina, or unions, or Muslim immigrants, or gay people. These Trump voters (and yes, many are frightened at the loss of white privilege) want someone to listen to them, to tell them they matter.
The divide in America grows. We are split down urban/rural demographics and this must inform our thinking and planning. And, the phenomena I am describing suggests that selecting a black man . . . a Muslim, black man to lead the DNC will only reinforce their stereotypes (remember that many believe we elected a Muslim, black President). Think of how we have reacted to Bannon’s position in the Trump administration. I am not writing here to reject Keith out of hand or even here to lobby for some other particular candidate. What I am pointing out is the situation as I see it and suggesting that we must consider carefully what message we send to voters we lost in 2016, those that we won, those that were unmotivated and those we would like to win back. If we choose Rep. Ellison to head the DNC or not, we need a strategy to address these voters and I think we needed to start talking about how yesterday.
