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Differing Viewpoints Does Not Equal Hate
But forcing equivalencies that don’t really exist is all Trump’s got, and it could work at least enough to make things closer than they appear now
Why do we say that?
• Because a relative of ours, who’s hardly a Trump supporter, commented to us over 4th of July weekend:
“I get the Civil War Generals, but Washington and Jefferson? C’mon!”
We don’t think anything’s going to get our relative to vote for Trump. But he is suddenly thinking at least partly in the way the President wants him to think. And all the President needs is a few people thinking like him flipping his way to get him back to a competitive place. (They also have to start caring next to not at all about the President’s horrendous Coronavirus response, which of course, also has a huge racial component.)
• Because the Washington Post publishes an article entitled: “Trump’s push to amplify racism unnerves Republicans who have long enabled him”. But at least not publicly, they’re not. Which means they think Trump’s approach even now may still turn out to be a “winner”. “The President is stepping forward”, says Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst, who’s up for re-election.
These themes worked for President Nixon in 1968, as he squeezed out a win. Nixon referred to the supporters acquired through stoking fears of “others” taking over American heritage at first as “The Silent Center”. Who then become his “Silent Majority”, a term Trump frequently borrows in Tweets. Sometimes only Tweeting those two words.
We took a lot of heat prior to the 2016 election when we suggested Trump could win, at least partly because a lot of people who would never publicly admit they were going to vote for him will turn out and vote for him. (And also because of maps, which we’ve got some thoughts on this time around, and will write a column about soon).
Thing is, this time around we think there’s also an opposing current: people who will never publicly admit voting for Joe Biden, but will. We think these people will primarily be women in pro-Trump households. But we don’t know how strong this push back will be.
