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Why Criticism of Trump fails and Why the Democratic Message Fails to Reach so Many People [1]
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Date: 2025-03-20
Drooling MAGITES storming the Capital for Trump.
Democratic messaging is mainly ignored by way too many Americans, a cold hard fact the Chuck Schumer’s Leadership remains in both denial of, and of doing something about, beyond MSNBC.
How Else Could . . .
How else could the worst winning presidential candidate in over 250 years have been able to win not once, but twice!
Take the time and talk to some Americans. Yes, some did vote for him because they sympathize or were entertained by his many prejudices, arrogance and cruelty towards these groups. But many people did not vote for him because they’re ready to join the KKK, the Nazi Party or they believe it’s time we had a strongman dictator who reflects similar biases.
At Least 1/2 who Voted for Trump . . .
I’d estimate that as many as half of Trump’s voters are long terms victims of another very common and equally dangerous malady which drives them to vote foolishly and ignorantly. And even more suffering from this malady who did not vote for anybody!
Historically, as many as forty percent of those eligible did not vote in a presidential election. I hear lots of folks at KOS excoriating this group for their laziness, stupidity and/or ignorance, but it must be said that most of the political classes were fine with this reality and not pleased if there were too many sharp witted voters around who understood who these Party’s were beholding to. And could see through their many lies, broken promises and pandering to upper class interests.
The unaddressed problem can be described as . . .
. . a long term fundamental alienation and dislike for all things political. It’s based in part on a deep seated mistrust regarding the endless rhetoric of broken promises by politicians over generations of voters. Year after year the same unresolved issues are debated before them. Politicians are trusted about as much as a used car salesman. This has been passed down from generation to generation, largely because neither of the two dominant Parties have taken on the task of providing fundamental changes in our economic system to lessen or eliminate the intractable problems which face many of us and make us miserable.
Because of this, most Americans are extremely alienated from politics, not just the MAGA crowd. In fact they hate politics and consider it a dishonest profession. No one on my family voted for Trump, but they all have a very low opinion of politics and politicians.
In addition, Republicans have wiped up the floors deflecting Trump attacks by Democrats with spot on messaging from a mass psychological perspective, despite the truth of 99% of Trump criticisms.
Republicans Have Won the Messaging Wars
It’s not just ignorance and pandering to various biases that attracts people to Trump. Republican propaganda has locked onto this alienation and decimated the Democrats in the eyes of many folks. Schumer’s wing of the Party is the one that controls the financing as well as the messaging, and they are clueless when it comes to developing successful propaganda, messaging and understanding the mass psychology behind the problem.
If they don’t trust you, maybe it’s not all because of the very successful messaging of the Republicans, but because of deficiencies in your own messaging and policies.
Band Aids Rather Than Tourniquets
If you are maintaining that Democrats have done some major reforms legislation and other decent things, that cannot be denied. But recently? The Party now has many more progressive and forward thinking members, but how many /bills included fundamental reforms have we had lately aimed at the causes of the problem?
Republican friendly anti-Obama Care poster.
I’ll give an example with Obama Care. There was a struggle for fundamental change and a National Government Sponsored Health Care System (single payer), but wealthy interests used their influence in both Parties and racial and scare tactics to get one eliminated as a possibility.
Sure, Obama Care was better than what preceded it, but it also kept private profit making insurers clearly in the picture and today the Health Care system is still disliked, too expensive or out right hated by most Americans.
And one more. It was Democrat Bill Clinton who forcefully argued we should end welfare as we know it. It was primarily designed to pander away votes from Republicans, not to really end welfare by providing a job for every American with enough of a wage to support a family. It’s not that much different from many other reforms passed that were half-hearted, stale loafs of bread and never intended to really fix the problem, but better than doing nothing although otherwise without real teeth.
The Last Major Reforms
Money now rules Congress.
A string of major legislative reforms occurred the 1930s, mainly precipitated by intense and popular union led pressures. Many years later, there was passing of the Civil Rights Bill in1965. Gay marriage rights and woman’s rights have been passed by some State constitutions, but nothing at a federal level. In recent years, many of our wealthy individual and corporate elites have cemented their influence over Congress and have been attempting to reverse these reforms, primarily via Republican Party influence and pressures.
But it should be said, some of these same reactionary forces also have their fingers in Democratic Party policies. Schumer’s recent turnaround to overturn cloture and thus support the Republican Budget in the Senate is an obvious example of this influence at the highest levels. A concession for nothing in exchange, leading to a betrayal of the only bit of electoral leverage the Democrats have left.
Today these reactionary forces helped put Trump in the White House, to use a wrecking ball of unconstitutional “executive orders” to finish off what’s left of them.
Why Reforms Lately Have Been So Weak
New Deal worker,1930s.
While there is more than a single reason, the 1930s and 40s saw the last great left leaning worker’s union struggles which pressured government and FDR, a much wiser and humane president than typical, to support major legislative reforms and changes. Most politics as practiced today do not attempt to make risky major reforms that would displease their wealthier financial backers without pressure and the union movement is much weaker.
While we hardly have a socialist government, it’s a huge, publicly owned operation bigger than any corporation or wealthy individual and can be pressured to serve as opposition to corporations and the wealthy elite’s agendas as it supposedly has a responsibility for the general good. It also has trillions of the country’s wealth. These simple facts are never explained or validated with the voting public, something you’d expect from a Party interested in maintaining the general welfare and neutralizing Republican attacks aimed at the existing government.
The ignorance of the masses is not all their own doing.
So if you wanted an answer as to why the Republicans pathologically despise and hate government and someone like Trump was supported by fellow fascists like Eton Musk, here you have it. They want the people of America to be completely under the corporate and mega wealthy thumb.
Schumer and Party Leadership face a choice.
Which raises a major avenue of weaknesses of Democratic messaging. They may want our votes but are they willing to actually represent the class interests of the working, middle classes and the poor? The answer is a weak “yes” but only so far as the system will allow. This may be arguably better than nothing, but Trump’s election TWICE is an ominous warning notice that somebody is doing something wrong.
A Crossroads?
I believe the Democratic Party is at a crossroads and must quickly choose a side in the battle against Trumpian/Musk/Oligarch sponsored fascism. Waffling or collaboration with the Republicans will lead to their irrelevance.
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