O/T:- Covid Trump

[jackal2]

Ok, putting last week’s events to one side, let’s pretend that those were indeed despicable people who were in no way representative of Trump voters more generally.

I’m not asking you to pretend. You’re entitled to think whatever you wish to think of them.

It seems implicit that you believe these despicable people are representative of many Trump supporters, and I get the impression from posts you’ve made in the past that you think much the same about Brexit voters and maybe anyone who votes for conservative parties. I may be wrong though. If that cap doesn't fit, then I don't expect you to wear it.

Some people who consider themselves “progressives” do seem to regard pretty much any right-leaning view as despicable, even when it is expressed to them in a measured, respectful way. This loathing of anything “unprogressive” manifests itself frequently through online platforms but also in parts of the media and wider society. People who express views at odds with the “progressive” agenda are often subject to scorn and portrayed as outcasts, using whatever pejorative term is closest to hand.

It’s therefore little wonder that many right-leaning folk tend to keep their opinions to themselves to avoid such hassle. But they don’t disappear. In fact, when they witness people who share similar views getting treated to the ire of “progressives”, especially on social media, it makes them all the more determined to kick back through a referendum like Brexit, and elections like the UK General Election and the US Presidential Election.

Amazingly, victories for the likes of Trump, Brexit and Boris Johnson somehow still come as a shock to some “progressives”, who genuinely don’t seem to appreciate how effective they are in creating or mobilising the very voters they despise. That shock then manifests itself in even more hostility towards those who dare to publicly express the “wrong” views or vote the “wrong” way, and the whole thing continues to ratchet up. It’s in this climate that someone like Donald Trump was able to enter the political stage from nowhere, portray himself as aggressively ‘anti-establishment’ and ‘anti-progressive’, and attract around 70 million votes. Twice.

Ironically, having opportunistically profited from the mistakes of the political establishment in 2015, Donald Trump then made the same mistake in return. He ignored or showed complete disdain for anyone who dissented from his views. He didn’t just alienate moderate left-wing folk and centrists, but some right-wing folk too. In the same way that the arrogance of the political class pushed some voters unexpectedly towards him in 2015, his own arrogance pushed some of them back again in 2020.

So how does Biden avoid the mistakes that won and lost Trump the Presidency?

What concerns should Biden address that would indeed demonstrate that he cares about Trump voters and their communities?

You said the other day that you now wanted Biden to push through an intensive progressive agenda, or words to that effect. The problem with that, at least as a blanket policy, is that he is effectively in charge of (at least) two countries within a huge country.

The Democrat-voting states obviously provided his basic mandate, but even within those states will be many Republicans and moderate Democrats who do not want the pace of change to go too fast. Likewise, in the Republican voting states there will be many people fearing that change will be imposed on them at great pace across a huge range of social and economic policy areas, including the ones which always cause the most emotive debate.

If Biden is going to govern for all America, rather than just those who believe in a liberal/left agenda, he needs to recognise these fears concerns even if he doesn’t fundamentally agree with them. He must manage the pace of change differently in different parts of the country, which can be done in America by giving individual states leeway to implement his agenda at a pace that is sensitive to their individual characteristics.

If Biden does this, he is more likely to succeed in the changes he wishes to make, and he is more likely to convince at least some amongst 70-plus million very sceptical (and in some cases angry) people that his intention is not to attack and destroy their culture and way of life, but to gently modify it.

On the flipside, if he imposes policy change too fast in a “one size fits all” way, and is seen to be ignoring those who complain or resist, or worse still treating them with disdain, then he will reinforce the perception that Washington is a remote self-serving swamp, reduce his chances of being a two-term President, and fuel the agenda of right-wing anarchists, much like Trump's attitude fuelled Antifa.