Interestingly Trump is the moderate candidate. He gets republicans and now many people who often voted democrat like black and Hispanic men. He is far more likely to have lower educated and poorer voters. Thats not to say that he has dumber voters. He doesn’t. He has voters who are not programmed. Government employees often have to have higher degrees to advance. They are not smarter. They just spend time getting a degree like a MS in education to raise their pay. They are still just fourth grade teachers. But they have an advance degree to get more pay in almost every state.
But Trump is getting most republicans, and many people who used to vote democrat. And Trump alone is getting them. Because Trump is not the far right person that the media has labeled him. He is the moderate popular candidate that most voters want. He is an outsider. He has been in both parties. And he has donated to both parties.
Trump is moderate. The only thing he is against is the swamp. The only thing he is for, is the average American. But the swamp would have you believe that the average American is far right wing. They know he is not. But “they” control the media. And “they” lie.
I would rather use the word “populist” than the word “moderate”.
I agree with your basic point that Trump represents the average voter - not just one party’s extreme wing. He represents the people vs. the bloated government swamp. To me, they makes him a populist.
I always thought of a moderate as someone who claims to represent the voters, but then when he gets to DC, he compromises with the swamp, he cuts a deal, he sells us out.
Overall great post though - I’m just quibbling about semantics. :-)