Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>Trump's candidacy is all about truthiness - it FEELS like he's rebelling against the establishment, even when he favors longstanding establishment policies.<< His campaign is all about the feels. Anyone who thinks for more than 30 seconds about any of his half-baked nonsense realizes that there's no there there. But deep thinkers are not this man's base. His snake oil act plays to rubes and racists. And unfortunately, that's the folks they have worked long and hard to attract, so there is no shortage of them in the GOP now. He's a reality star, and even though most thinking people realize that there's very little reality in reality TV, it's good enough for dumb people. And dumb people love Trump.
Originally Posted By tiggertoo <<I'm trying to follow the logic that being unhappy with trickle down makes one vote for Trump.>> I understand Joe’s point, but he’s missing one piece of the puzzle, I believe. The base of Trump’s supporters have certainly missed out on the trickle-down effect. Not that Reagan’s economic philosophy has any real merit. But they have for so long been conditioned to believe that is would work---that it is the best and only way to effectively run an economy. So even as they wallow in the doldrums of their financial situations, they aren’t psychologically or emotionally ready to question their core beliefs. It’s similar to how religion works, i.e., if something is proven a falsehood, rather than change the belief, they look for externalities. For Trump supporters, these externalities are things like illegal immigration, environmental regulation, public lands, and (in scarier terms) a paranoia about a “government who is coming to take your liberty.” In a nutshell, Trump is citing these external causes as the reason for their economic issues, and he has a ready conservative demographic very willing to swallow it wholesale. In their minds, it isn’t their beliefs which are wrong, but all of the other external issues that are making their piece of the American pie unavailable to them. To them, it’s a comfort. But, in reality, it’s reactionary. And it’s a page in history that seems to be repeated over and over again during economically unstable periods. So, while we know trickle-down economics is bunk, despite all evidence, Trump's supporters are holding tight unto straws of a failed philosophy to keep it from going asunder. That’s how I see Trump’s rise, anyhow.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Trump as POTUS is not unlike Arnold Schwarzenegger as Governor of California. Arnold came in, with all this bravado, and how these California politicians had to stop acting like 'girly men' and so forth. Problem? He had no clue what he was doing, and those in Sacramento just looked at him like he was a buffoon. Once the excitement of having Ah-nohld in the Capitol, there was no 'there' there. Arnold did a horrible job. And if elected, so will Trump.
Originally Posted By iamsally ^^Being from California myself; I must agree wholeheartedly! And we were lucky enough to have Ronald Reagan too!! >p
