Quote (Budgeting @ Nov 10 2020 01:26pm)
He is clearly not interested in governing.
Its been over a week since the election and he has no interest in reigning in covid, hasn't taken a national security briefing, or anything worthy of moving the country forward.
What gives?
I think that there are a plethora of very valid reasons why people want a second term of Trump--which, in many ways, I read more as a second term of Republican leadership for some. There are definitely many right-wing folks who actively like Trump, and many more moderates who aren't super big on Trump as a person, but are in alignment with him by way of the two-party system and the limitations therein. Some reasons I can think of include:
- If you're from places like the Iron Range in Minnesota or any other areas of 'Coal Country', then Trump is the clear winner in terms of short-term necessity. The left does wonderfully about thinking of thinks at a systems-level, but sometimes does horribly at thinking at a local or individual level. When you have Democrats saying that they're either going to "put coal miners/mining companies out of business" or "ban fracking", it does little to build confidence and a feeling of support in people whose entire families and towns have been built around crude oil, coal, or fracking. Many people in these areas describe themselves as "single-issue voters", and understandably so. Trump is the candidate between the major 2 that at least says that he'll be bringing jobs back to coal country and cementing job security (Whether this happens in actuality is a different story though).
- Trump's foreign policy record from a war perspective is actually pretty good. The United States hasn't entered a new war (at least not a major one that I can think of) since he's been in office. This has been nice to see after more than a decade's worth of unnecessary wars.
- Trump made major in-roads with minority voters that Republicans haven't seen for several decades. This is largely, I guess, a result of push-back forming against the left. Again, the left thinks in a very systemic way at the expense of individual considerations. They've historically treated minorities as a monolith and as tokens, and people are understandably getting sick of that. Even though people will chalk it up as a poor joke, Biden's "If you vote for [Trump] then you ain't Black" is certainly a reflection of the sentiment many white people on the left have with regards to minorities.
- People are very concerned about the role and power of China in international politics, and Trump has taken a very strong, vocal opposition to China's authoritarian practices.
Edit: You don't have 71 million people vote for Trump without reason(s).
This post was edited by Handcuffs on Nov 10 2020 03:47pm