One of the most basic tenets of politics in the age of democracies and republics is that politicians will generally try, as best they can, to appeal to as broad a base as possible. This is not to say that all politicians try to do this at the expense of the things in which they believe, but that they moderate their stance on these beliefs, realizing that compromise is the hallmark of a functioning democracy…and adulthood.
Donald Trump is evidently trying a different approach. Mr. Trump seems determined to reduce his constituency to the absolute smallest number possible, and hope that this will win him a victory in November. Over the space of his entire political existence, Donald Trump has sought to insult, degrade, and alienate every group of people in this country not solidly behind is presidency. It doesn’t matter whether that group is identified by their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, political views, or any other characteristic. If they are not within his base, his hatred and/or complete contempt for them is proudly brandished every day.
Who are these people who make up Trump’s ‘base?’ They are primarily members of three basic groups: conservative christian evangelicals, white nationalists, and gun toters. Make no mistake, together, they make up a significant portion of the electorate, but they also overlap to a great extent, sharing some common characteristics.
Specifically, they are politically unsophisticated with little or no perception of what comprises a republic and its mechanisms of operation through the democratic process. They have little or no concept of the art of compromise, and how this purely ‘adult’ form of conflict resolution serves to preserve and perpetuate a republic. They are poorly or under-educated, and rarely have any college experience. Those who do, lack a unified, holistic, and egalitarian view of the world outside of what is told to them by the governors of the Southern Baptist Convention. The political and religious teachings of this group are, essentially, bigoted, exclusionary, nationalistic, and imperial. Lastly, they are white people who live in a continuous cycle of fear of non-white, non-heterosexual, non-conforming people. This fear cycle peaks when these groups demand equal justice under the law, and equal rights and treatment within society as a whole.
The inherent problem with Trump’s strategy is that in 2016, people either on the fringes of this base, or who simply, for whatever reason, did not want to vote for Hillary Clinton and voted for him, are gone. They have three and a half years of the Trump presidency to completely alienate them from Trump and his personal brand of American fascism. This portion of the electorate reflects the true manner in which Trump has decided to practice this strange reductionism. He has enthusiastically and horrifically driven from him every rational and truly patriotic American who does not worship him, as does his base, but who may have considered supporting him in 2020.
What, then, is the overall strategy? It must be this: Donald Trump is banking on the chaos and destruction that his core base will bring upon America when he loses the election. He will promise and, to some extent, deliver the chaos he promised some months ago when asked what his strategy for reelection would be. He will issue his call to arms; claiming that the liberals stole the election, that they are out to destroy America, and that he will save them if only they will go out and kill, and maim, and burn America to the ground in his name.
I think he will be surprised at how few people will actually be willing to do so on his behalf. It will happen, make no mistake, but we must be willing to absorb this spasm of violence of his core base and continue, as one nation, dedicated to the propositions laid out in our Declaration of Independence, and codified in our ever evolving Constitution. Eventually, Donald Trump will fade into history as a sickening footnote to what can happen to any nation, if the people do not actively participate in its democratic procedures.
When asked what type of government he and the other framers of the Constitution had designed, Benjamin Franklin is rumored to have said the following: “A republic, if you can keep it.” Today, Donald Trump is the greatest testament since Adolf Hitler, that we must rededicate ourselves to keeping it. Related to Mr. Franklin’s attributed statement above is the following: “All it takes for evil to prevail, is for good people to do nothing.” We must, as a nation, in every peaceful and constitutionally protected manner possible, repudiate in the strongest possible terms, the toxic presidency of Donald Trump. We must rededicate ourselves to keeping the republic that Franklin warned us would be constantly under attack from enemies both outside and within our own country. If we do not, evil will triumph.
Peace and Love to All
Christoph Niemand, Citizen X
Excellent