Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Politics and Religion
What happens to Trumpism?

What happens to Trumpism?

Last updated on: October 9, 2016 at 8:52 am by Jane the Actuary

What happens to Trumpism? 2016-10-09T08:52:14-06:00 Jane the Actuary

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

MAGA hat; https://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/27149010964; Gage Skidmore via flickr.

Let’s stipulate that Trump will not win the election, that the polling showing him ahead, or at least tied, was a fluke, and that the distance between Clinton and Trump will widen as Americans realize what an incompetent he is, and as he beclowns himself at the remaining debates*, and that the Republican Party will neither find a way to remove him from the ballot nor convince him to leave.

(* The claim I’ve read on twitter is that he’s going to pound Clinton for her support of her husband and her active efforts to prevent the women accusing him of rape, from seeking justice. But how on earth is he going to do this? You know that the moderator is not going to ask a question which makes this a potential response, and the actual questions will largely be asking for support of Democratic campaign issues like free college, state-provided parental leave and daycare funding, increased Social Security, and amnesty, the last of these likely asked by an adorable little girl about her illegal immigrant parents. It takes skill and practice to respond to these questions from a Republican perspective.)

At the same time, there are so many toss-up Senate races that Five Thirty Eight shows basically even odds for Republicans or Democrats controlling the Senate, but, so far as I know, it’s considered rather unlikely that the Republicans will loose control of the House.

So what next?

Donald Trump gained his support because he addressed immigration and trade, and promised his supporters a Wall in both cases — that is, an end to illegal immigration and (basically) tariffs to make American-made products more competitive in the market.

Does the Establishment say,

“This shows that the public cares about these issues and we’d better respond by addressing their concerns, with border enforcement and a re-think of trade agreements.”

“The public cares about these issues, but they’re uneducated and don’t know that increased immigration and trade are actually good for the country, and the real issue is the need for a greater degree of Social Welfare benefits. But, eh, we should probably allocate some extra money for drug-addicted hillbillies.”

“Trump supporters were nothing more than working-class white men. Whites are fast becoming a minority group, and working-class white men are only a subset of whites. Besides, the flame-out of Trump makes it clear that they are ultimately powerless, and they’re racist deplorables anyway, so this election clearly demonstrates that we can move forward with our agenda and ignore them entirely.”

Yeah, my money’s on #3, too.

Now, Clinton has said that immigration is a “day one” priority, and you know that this is the sort of “reform” measure that’s heavy on amnesty, and bumping up the numbers of immigrants, and weak on enforcement. What will the Republicans do? Will they reject legalizing legislation and demand enforcement-first, or at least tread cautiously, knowing that Trump’s supporters are opposed to exactly this, knowing that the polls purporting to show wide public support for “reform” ask very leading questions?

Eh, not so much.

As evidence, the “survey” I received from the RNC in the mail the other day, telling me that my responses were crucial for them to develop their strategy. And, oh, by the way, I should send in $25 or $50 or $500, but at least $15, as the “cost for processing the survey.”

Now, perhaps you’ve received such a “survey” yourself and if so, you’ll know that this is one long series of leading questions. For example:

Do you think that the Republican Party’s core conservative principles of low taxes, less government, individual responsibility, free enterprise and a strong military must remain the bedrock of our agenda as we take our message into the November agenda?

and

President Obama, Hillary Clinton and the Democrats in Congress have made a major increase in the federal minimum wage a top priority. Do you think forcing companies and small business owners to pay a higher wage at this time will help or hurt the economy?

and

Democrats continue to promise voters that the best cure for many of America’s problems it to spend countless billions of new dollars in failed liberal entitlement programs. Do you believe Republicans must do all in their power to block any and all such efforts?

This is awesome. It makes for fascinating reading, and I’m sure the Democrats do something similar, asking questions like, “Should Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party do everything they can to stop the Republican tax give-aways to the wealthy?” or “Donald Trump and the Republicans want to cut Social Security benefits. Should Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party enhance benefits by asking the billionaires to pay their fair share of taxes?”, questions that are meant not as earnest information gathering but as to inspire donations from their base.

But here’s the leading question on immigration:

Would you support immigration reform that included securing our nation’s borders and a path to citizenship for some people living in the U.S. illegally if they would be required to learn English, go to the back of the citizenship line, have a job, pay taxes and pass a criminal background check?

So that’s it right there. The same Gang of 8 bill that aroused public ire and, ultimately produced Donald Trump, is still on the Republican Party agenda. Will they even do anything more than dust off the legislation and re-introduce it?

image: MAGA hat; https://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/27149010964; Gage Skidmore via flickr, Creative Commons license.

Previous Post

October 8, 2016

President Pence?

Next Post

October 9, 2016 My kids are growing up

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Actuarial/Retirement Issues Politics Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 December 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 August 2021 June 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which prophet stood watch on a rampart to hear from God?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Ezekiel Joel Amos Habakkuk