Posted on 12/28/2015 2:25:51 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Outraged by what Donald Trump says? You are not alone. No high-polling presidential candidate in the modern era has so intrepidly drawn the ire of so many within the American electorate. And there remains no end in sight.
Yet in rendering one voting bloc utterly apoplectic, he has appealed viscerally to another. The balance of middle ground politics is not, shall we say, Mr Trump’s bailiwick. But America is no longer a middle ground country. We are already scared by our division — and it is getting worse.
The simple truth is, the more provocative his language, the deeper and more passionate his support. He is no dummy; there is a method to his proverbial madness. Mr Trump says — to the growing legions who will listen — what tens of millions of Americans are already thinking. Respect or revile him, the man has hit a vein.
I spent three hours in a deep dialogue focus group with 29 Trump supporters. The phenomenon of “The Donald†is rooted in a psyche far deeper and more consequential than next November’s presidential election. His support denotes an abiding distrust in — and disrespect for — the governing elite. These individuals do not like being told by Washington or Wall Street what is best for them, do not like the direction America is headed in, and disdain President Barack Obama and his (perceived) circle of self-righteous, tone-deaf governing partisans.
Trump voters are not just angry — they want revenge.
Mr Trump has adroitly filled the vacuum of vitriol, establishing himself as the bold, brash, take-no-prisoners megaphone for the frustrated masses. They see him as the antidote to all that Mr Obama has made wrong with America. So to understand why millions love Mr Trump so much, you have to take a step back and listen to why they hate Mr Obama so much.
Here, my Trump voter focus group was particularly illuminating. Some still believe the president is not Christian. Many believe he does not love America. And just about all of them think he does not reflect the values the country was built upon. Indeed, within this growing faction, Mr Trump has licence to say just about anything. As we have seen repeatedly, the more outrageous the accusation, the more receptive the ear.
Mr Trump delights in unleashing harsh attacks on Jeb Bush, the Republican establishment and the “mainstream mediaâ€. His childlike joy in ridiculing his critics is tantamount to healing balm for the millions who have felt silenced, ignored and even scorned by the governing and media elite for so long. Is it any wonder that his declaration of war against “political correctness†is his most potent and predictable applause line?
Straight-talking candidates are nothing new in American politics. From Ross Perot in 1992 to John McCain in 2000, from Howard Dean in 2004 to Sarah Palin in 2008, they rise like a rocket on the fuel of their seemingly fresh and unencumbered aversion to traditional politics. They purport to say what they mean and mean what they say — bucking established electoral trends and ruffling established political feathers. Then they crash. The media turn sour. The message grows stale. The electorate gets bored.
Mr Trump is different. The media attacks on him have been fast and furious. Yet he has defied electoral gravity because the blows are delivered by an institution that is distrusted and an elite political and business establishment that is detested.
Meanwhile, voters consistently tell pollsters like me that negative attacks do not work; they hate the ad hominem assaults. Mr Trump? He dines out on them. As his devotees see it, it is not Mr Trump going negative. It is him telling the truth. And when he fights back, he’s throwing punches on their behalf. He said something outrageous? “He’s simply raising an important issue nobody else has the courage to talk about.†He insulted someone? “That’s just him campaigning. He won’t do that as president.†He changed his position? “That was a long time ago. Everyone’s entitled to change their mind.†He doesn’t have many policy specifics? “He doesn’t need them. He’ll surround himself with smart people.†They will justify any action, explain away any contradiction, and dismiss any criticism because they are so personally and passionately invested in him.
And here is the prediction that will furrow brows on both sides of the Atlantic. Mr Trump’s supporters today will be Mr Trump’s supporters next November if he is still a candidate — no matter what party banner he runs under. Half will follow him out of the Republican Party if he breaks his promise and declares as an independent. For better or worse, his supporters will follow him to the ends of the Earth — or to the White House. Whichever comes first.
What were they thinking? Of course it’s revenge. It’s what happens they trashed, looted, robbed and subverted the the country. What did they expect?
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On the Verge of Vengeance: Historic Political Payback Approaches
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3376130/posts
Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States. …We were warned about this a half-century ago. And we are supposed to clam up and take it, really?
Using these examples tells me the author still doesn't get it.
Must be why he garnered so much support. . .
for 0bama. That’s who he was campaigning for.
Bernie Sanders is an old white socialist/Marxist as B. Hussein is a young black socialist/Marxist.
Idiots who support Sanders are simply willing to take on 4 (maybe 8) more years of Obama policies.
No, after the damage they've done to this country it's high time each and every one of the filthy, corrupt, no good bastards were hot tarred, feathered and hung by their necks!
“BILE”?
I think Duntz is grudgingly “getting it”. He hates it, but possibly he is getting it.
“And people need to be stripped of all of their money and go to jail and actually held accountable.”
I’d settle for having their money confiscated then stripped naked and put on a plane to Germany. Let Angela Merkel cloth and feed them.
Seriously true! Idiot liberal paid by the R Party to foam at the mouth promoting establishment outcomes.
He hates it. He gets it. But it’s abundantly clear.
Trump and his supporters are the real deal. No one - not even Palin - has come close from nowhere to making a huge (I mean YUGE!!) impact on national politics.
He lost me with his ridiculous comment about McCain.
However, I want revenge on the GOPe. Take them out with the trash-especially Paul Ryan. I hope he and his beard get booted out.
Let me give a hint as to how to tell the difference. Are the Trump supporters rioting?
No?
Then what they are looking for is justice.
We’re battling both parties now.
Frank Luntz, shilling his swill at ZeroHedge -- yeah, that's all completely credible.
My point is that Sanders is reaching out to disaffected white voters who are in Trump’s camp. His Vermont constituency has probably given him enormous insight into white, working-class people. He’s smart to appeal to them - Hillary is too dumb to even know they exist. But since he has no money, is a socialist, I doubt he’ll bring too many people over from Trump’s camp.
Please, understand, I have no respect for Sanders’ politics. None what so ever.
Revenge is an understatement.
You can have revenge without going all blacklivesmatter with their looting, rioting, etc. The twitter feed on that idiot Donkey Cartel makes my blood boil. Race relations are far worse under Obama.
I can’t wait until Obama is done with his reign of terror.
I just hope we survive the aftermath of his last few months with all his pardons and executive orders.
I’m sorry, forgive me, but what ridiculous comment about McCain? (It’s been a long day!!!)
And, yes, I too, want the head of Paul Ryan on a platter. Perhaps Laura Ingraham or Ann Coulter can be our Salome!
Zactly!
No one, maybe Patton, but no one, belongs in the same sentence with TRUMP and the word “impact”, on national politics.
The world is watching this man. He is a world leader, just by running. ISIS knows, our whining socialist allies know, and Russia knows. So does Israel.
Bill Clinton knows, that’s for sure. Hillary is too geriatric and self absorbed to get it, yet. Yet! Yet!
Even that odd little Fiorina person, in the perpetual bad mood, she knows. :D
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