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Robert B. Reich: How Democrats can stop Trump (and prevent future Trumps)
The Baltimore Sun ^ | May 2, 2018 | by Robert B. Reich

Posted on 05/02/2018 6:59:09 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer

Why did working-class voters choose a selfish, thin-skinned, petulant, lying, narcissistic, boastful megalomaniac for president?

With the 2018 midterms around the corner, and prospective Democratic candidates already eyeing the 2020 presidential race, the answer is important because it will influence how Democrats campaign.

One explanation focuses on economic hardship. The working class fell for Mr. Trump's economic populism.

A competing explanation -- which got a boost this week from a study published by the National Academy of Sciences -- dismisses economic hardship and blames it on whites' fear of losing status to blacks and immigrants. They were attracted to Mr. Trump's form of identity politics: bigotry.

If Democrats accept the bigotry explanation, they may be more inclined to foster their own identity politics of women, blacks and Latinos. And they'll be less inclined to come up with credible solutions to widening inequality and growing economic insecurity.

Yet the truth isn't found in one explanation or the other. It's in the interplay between the two.

Mr. Trump isn't the cause of what's happened to America. He's the consequence -- the product of years of stagnant wages and big money's corruption of our democracy.

If they really want to stop Mr. Trump and prevent future Trumps, Democrats will need to address these causes of Mr. Trump's rise.

(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: hillarylost; liberalism; midget; progressives; reich; robertreich; socialism; tds
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Robert Bernard Reich is an American political commentator, professor, and author. He served in the administrations of Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton. He was Secretary of Labor from 1993 to 1997. He was a member of President-elect Barack Obama's economic transition advisory board.

1 posted on 05/02/2018 6:59:09 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
"Why did working-class voters choose a selfish, thin-skinned, petulant, lying, narcissistic, boastful megalomaniac for president?"

It wasn't working-class voters who chose Obama.

2 posted on 05/02/2018 7:00:33 AM PDT by circlecity
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

The death panel advocate.


3 posted on 05/02/2018 7:01:32 AM PDT by Retired Chemist
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

tl;dr: MOAR SOCIALISM, MOAR RACE HATRED, MOAR PUSSY HATS! DOUBLE DOWN! DOUBLE DOWN!

I hope they listen to this moron.


4 posted on 05/02/2018 7:01:35 AM PDT by Luircin
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

“the product of years of stagnant wages and big money’s corruption of our democracy”

So, Reich admits Obama was failure.


5 posted on 05/02/2018 7:01:38 AM PDT by caver
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Why did working-class voters choose a selfish, thin-skinned, petulant, lying, narcissistic, boastful megalomaniac for president?

They did not. She lost.

6 posted on 05/02/2018 7:01:45 AM PDT by going hot (happiness is a momma deuce)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Why did working-class voters choose a selfish, thin-skinned, petulant, lying, narcissistic, boastful megalomaniac for president?

We will never know. But enough about Obama...
7 posted on 05/02/2018 7:02:49 AM PDT by Blogger (The causes are the left are never about caring about an issue. ItÂ’s always about power.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Why did working-class voters choose a selfish, thin-skinned, petulant, lying, narcissistic, boastful megalomaniac for president?


I thought Hillary lost the election /s


8 posted on 05/02/2018 7:02:51 AM PDT by CIB-173RDABN (US out of the UN, UN out of the US)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Translation: “Death to America!”


9 posted on 05/02/2018 7:03:41 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

I have had it up to my naval with that guy


10 posted on 05/02/2018 7:04:03 AM PDT by al baby (Hi Mom Hi Dad)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Try not to put up a lying, sick, drunken psychopath to beat him. But I can’t imagine who that would be considering people from Cory Booker to Bernie Sanders.


11 posted on 05/02/2018 7:04:37 AM PDT by miss marmelstein
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To: CIB-173RDABN

Sucks when you can’t punch above your height, doesn’t it Reichhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-UH?


12 posted on 05/02/2018 7:06:25 AM PDT by gr8eman (Since God has been banished from our classrooms, Satan has filled the void.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Stand up Bobby! Oh, sorry. You are standing up. LOL.


13 posted on 05/02/2018 7:06:43 AM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (#NotARussianBot)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

That’s it—just keep calling all white people racists and push for more socialism.


14 posted on 05/02/2018 7:06:58 AM PDT by Telepathic Intruder
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To: al baby

He is a sawed off, half-assed, died in the wool socialist.


15 posted on 05/02/2018 7:07:35 AM PDT by AlphaOneAlpha
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

I think the dems should take what Reich has to say here as gospel - run with it!


16 posted on 05/02/2018 7:07:39 AM PDT by jonno (Having an opinion is not the same as having the answer...)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Interesting how someone who thinks he’s got all the answers can be so clueless.


17 posted on 05/02/2018 7:07:59 AM PDT by neverevergiveup
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

I think the Democrats would be better served trying to determine how to prevent future Clintons.


18 posted on 05/02/2018 7:08:39 AM PDT by DoodleDawg
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Why did working-class voters choose a selfish, thin-skinned, petulant, lying, narcissistic, boastful megalomaniac for president?

I don't know, why did you work for him? Oh.. I see you are projecting Bill Clinton character on to Trump.

19 posted on 05/02/2018 7:09:07 AM PDT by MNJohnnie ("The political class is a bureaucracy designed to perpetuate itself" Rush Limbaugh)
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To: circlecity
Why did working-class voters choose a selfish, thin-skinned, petulant, lying, narcissistic, boastful megalomaniac for president?

Because the alternative was voting for a selfish, thin-skinned, petulant, lying, narcissistic, boastful megalomaniac who committed unthinkable crimes, subverted the republic, committed sedition and treason, ran her own shadow government for personal gain, sold her office as SOS for hundreds of millions through phony "charities," enabled her serial rapist husband to avoid prosecution, and is the whiniest bitch sore loser America has ever known. That's why.

20 posted on 05/02/2018 7:09:46 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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