Friday, November 4, 2016

Character Ultimately Determines Support for Donald Trump

It's not racism after all?

From the erstwhile balanced commentator Jamie Kirchick, at the Tablet, "Who Goes Trump? What ultimately determines support for the GOP nominee isn’t race, class, or political ideology. It’s character":
It is an interesting and somewhat macabre parlor game to play at a large gathering of one’s acquaintances: to speculate who in a showdown would go Trump. Having gone through the experience many times, I have come to know the types: the born Trumpkins, the Trumpkins whom democracy itself has created, the certain-to-be fellow travelers. And I also know those who never, under any conceivable circumstances, would go Trump.

It is preposterous to think that Trump supporters are created by economic or regional characteristics. The rural white working-class may be more susceptible to Trumpism than most people, but I doubt that preference is inherent. Hispanics are barred, but that’s an arbitrary, circumstantial ruling. I know lots of Hispanics who are born Trumpkins and many others who would support Trump tomorrow morning if given an opening to do so. Trumpism has nothing to do with class, ethnicity, or even gender. It appeals to a certain type of mind...
A certain kind of crazy mind, apparently.

But keep reading.

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