Who’s a Card Carrying Member?
Let me be clear. Since the day I took my famous escalator ride in 2015 to announce my presidential campaign, the Democrat harassment, fake news attacks, and blatant lies have never been about me. Their target was you.
The liberal swamp hates the idea of people like you {your name here} being in charge of America, and there is no line the won’t cross to prevent that from happening. Just look at the Phony Witch Hunt – NO COLLUSION.
In 2016, I was your voice, but YOU were the one that took our country back and made the liberal swamp and political leaders furious.
Now headed into 2020, we have to remind them that this is your country, not theirs.
Since you’ve been such an important part of our movement, I wanted to give you the exclusive opportunity to become and Official 2019 Trump Executive Member and receive your PERSONALIZED membership card. – Trump Fundraising Letter – 4/13/19
President Trump’s campaign sent out an email this week, offering donors a chance to become “executive card members” of the Trump Campaign. It’s fundraising, and every campaign from Trump to “Mayor Pete” is desperate for money. It’s not just for the cash: donating money is the surest way for a campaign to assure a vote, and capture an email or phone number for further campaigning.
We “Liberals of the swamp” point out to the “perfect storm” of the 2016 election. The combination of Hillary Clinton’s weakness as a political candidate despite her strength as a government leader; Russian interference both in social media and in stealing Democratic emails; Republican voter suppression in key states; and possible Russian manipulation of the actual voting process (we still don’t know): it’s easy to say that it can’t happen again.
But, as my nephew-in-law is quick to point out (to my irritation) in our late night conversations, Trump did appeal to a lot of Americans who felt left out by the government. They saw the emphasis on the cities, the truly poor, the environment, the “Wall Street rich;” but not on them. They felt like Democrats in America didn’t care, and they voted accordingly. While they may not have been able to afford to be a “card carrying member” of the Trump Campaign, many wore the badge, or more specifically the red “MAGA” hat, and cast their vote for Trump.
Democrats could (and did) argue that the bailouts of 2009 that saved the auto industry and the finance markets saved jobs and everyone’s savings. But somehow, Republicans who actually voted for those bailouts, were able to make it the “Democrats fault” by 2014, and the Trump Campaign could say they weren’t even involved.
Democrats argued that the Affordable Care Act provided insurance to millions, added benefits to all, and put pressure to hold insurance costs down. But costs still went up (though not as much as they would have) and it was easy for Republicans to inaccurately conflate the rising costs of “Obamacare” with their own increasing health care costs, even if that wasn’t true.
The Trump campaign was somehow able to lay claim to patriotism, dividing Americans between “Black Lives Matter” and “Blue Lives Matter” when, in fact, we should recognize that we want police to be protected, and we want discrimination in law enforcement to stop. Those are not mutually exclusive. The Trump campaign was not the only ones to be “Proud to be an American,” but somehow they claimed it.
Right or wrong, Democrats lost those arguments to many Americans in 2016. It wasn’t only to the “card carrying” Trump supporters, it was also to those working class white Americans who were convinced that Democrats represented “others” but not them. In short, the Trump phenomenon was able to fill a need for a significant portion of Americans, and, like it or not, over sixty-two million voted for him.
The lesson for 2020 is pretty clear. While liberals, including me, would like to see the investigations move forward on all fronts, Congressional, Judicial and in the press; the reality of American politics is that to a huge proportion that is at best a sideshow. They either don’t care, “…all politicians (or business men) do that…” or they feel like the investigations have taken precedence over their needs.
Democrats running for 2020 seem to get it. Their emphasis is how to make America better for Americans, including the working class voters that felt left out by the Party in 2016. Their talking about the issues Democrats should always be pushing: that many Americans haven’t seen an increase in spending power in years (what liberals would call income inequality) working far over forty hours a week, often at more than one job, to make ends meet.
They’re talking about the cost of education, both for themselves and their kids. When a candidate for President is still trying to pay off their own student loans (several of them) they bring reality to campaigning. It’s not just about their own loans, how can any parent look forward to their child’s future when, with or without college, it’s likely to include crushing debt.
And they’re trying to convince Americans that the future can include changes to protect the environment that can create new jobs and industries. They are presenting a future where Wal-Mart’s automation (using robots for menial store tasks) isn’t a threat to employment, but an opportunity for advancement. They are trying to present the future as a place of hope, not to be feared; America as already “Great,” not needing to be made “Great Again.”
The Trump campaign has found a way to mesh with many Americans who feel left behind. While not all of them will become “Executive Members” or be “card carrying Trump supporters,” Democrats will have some convincing to do to reach those millions who are disaffected. You can’t control the weather, and perfect storms happen more than once. It’s up to Democrats to reach out to everyone, to make sure we are more than just the party that’s against Trump.
