Trump and Nixon have a lot in common. Both are thin-skinned egomaniacs with an enemies list. Both were routinely underestimated by their foes on the left. Both have a rather unappealing personality and demeanor that makes you wonder what people see in them. That said… that’s not why Trump is Nixon.
Nixon was elected in 1968 in response to a rapidly changing world by the exact same voters who elected Trump. Had Wallace not run, those voters would have voted for him as well — they broke with Democrat voting tradition to vote Goldwater in 1964.
We have had a revolution the past 8 years. The ACA while important is less important than the complete turn-around this country has done on LGBT and issues of acceptance across the board. It is as stunning to watch as the sexual revolution in the 60s. And a lot of America whether we like it or not feels completely left behind or left out.
Nixon was elected because he was hostile to a lot of those elements in the 60s and promised a “silent majority” were wanting to put the brakes on things. This is exactly what Trump represents. I argued in a previous diary that Trump baited us while we baited him: that every time he said something outrageous about muslims or other groups, we came back with an intellectually correct message about our inclusive nation — and we doubled down. By the end, he had us talking about immigration in the kind of open terms we were hesitant to use a year before. He exposed us.
Here is the cautionary tale:
Let us not repeat the mistake of 1972: going back to the safe well, believing that surely the rest of America sees what we see in the President — a thin-skinned narcissist who has no business in power. We lost 49 states. The candidate that loses at least 40 states… to Trump...would be Tim Kaine, a middle of the road decent guy who can’t speak to economic justice.
Without the Senate, HRC would have been badly hurt coming into 2018, increasing Republican majorities, and in 2020 a real Republican (Ryan, Kasich) gets elected with huge Republican majorities and does real lasting damage. For now, Trump can serve as a sort of firewall, because he can be played, and perhaps we save Soc Sec, Medicare and Medicaid, lose only one more SCOTUS appointment (Thomas will likely retire under Trump, no big loss), watch him gaffe his way to big 2018 GOP losses and nominate the right candidate to bring us back in 2020.
The GOP Trifecta has been threatening for a long time, and we may be fortunate it happened with an unpredictable Republican at the helm.
But let’s not forget that this is about repeating a message over and over that a large segment of formerly Dem voters did not want to hear, perhaps not out of overt racism, but because of economic frustration.
We can both listen to these and be progressive and inclusive.