I've seen a lot of articles recently saying that Trump's win has a lot to do with the economy and the economic frustrations of the white working class. Essentially, the economy is a lot tougher than it was a few decades ago and people are struggling. Higher paying jobs are harder to come by, and many people now have to work multiple jobs to get by. Clinton ignored this, she condescended to the working class, called them racist, etc., and lost these voters to Trump, who promised to make America great again and bring all the jobs back from overseas.
I think we're onto something here, and this is why I think Sanders would have destroyed Trump. Clinton went all in with identity politics. She ignored the concerns of the economically depressed, and basically pushed the narrative that anyone who doesn't like her is some sort of bigot. I've spoken a lot at length about this on this blog, and heck, it seems to be like...my thing on here. I've already put forward a lot of ideas that would help improve the economic situation for millions of Americans. I don't agree with Trump, but Clinton's arrogance, condescension, and bullying tactics of those who cared about the economy was horrible, and it was a huge reason I refused to support her myself.
Now, Trump. Trump might have talked about making America great again, and tapped into the whole blue collar white working class angst in this country, but at the risk of sounding snobby and elitist myself, I don't think he's going to deliver and I think that the white working class bought into a bunch of lies. I guess comforting lies sounds better than a huge screw you, you dirty racist/sexist/bigot, but it's still not a good thing. Trump reminds me of what my politics were back in the mid 2000s when I was in high school during the Bush administration. There was a lot of ignorance and misconceptions in my views, and you know, those "snobby elitist" liberals often do have a point even if they sometimes go too far.
That doesn't excuse Clinton's arrogance, which was off the charts and aimed at her own base though. This wasn't an election between one ignorant candidate and one informed candidate in terms of economics. This was a candidate between a demagogue who told people what they want to hear and a crooked centrist backed by the monied elites who didn't care what people had to say. Neither option was good.
Look, if you want to make America great again like Trump says he wants to do, you need left wing ideas. The right can't do it, the center can't do it. What made America "great" back in the 60s was all the liberal keynesian economics that were the legacy of the new deal. Stuff like labor laws, unions, social programs. Stuff I'm unapologetically for. If Sanders ran on these things, I think he would have won. But because Clinton ignored these things, and because Trump promised a version of this without having the ideology or policies to back it up, people flocked to Trump.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that Clinton's arrogance and turning a blind eye to the subject was very offputting. When people are hurting, they want solutions, and when democrats don't offer them, the people will turn to a right wing demagogue who tells them what they want to hear. You can't win elections with identity politics. People aren't going to give a darn about privilege if they're hurting. They're not gonna care about the first woman president when they gotta put food on the table. The democratic party dropped the ball bad, and while Trump is no prize himself, at least he promised something to those who are hurting.
I hope in 2020 the democrats come back with an economically populist message of their own and do it right. Or at the very least I hope Trump puts forward some solutions that help people as well. I ain't holding my breath given the republicans in congress, but considering how Trump seems to be flip flopping on everything else right now, I wouldn't put it past him to have a *cough* Trump card up his sleeve. Either way, we are in dire needs of change from the status quo.
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