There are the people that are solid right that will always vote Republican, no matter what.
There are the people that are solid blue that will always vote democrat no matter what.
Neither of them will really decide the outcome of an election.
The only votes that really matter are the swing votes that could go either way….
Lets consider Trump’s win… How did the trump administration convince so many people in this country to vote for Trump, despite Obama being a decent person , the Obama administration not being terrible, the country not be that bad off as a whole, and Hillary not really being that bad either?
The administration capitalized on a lot of people that were ecobomically left behind, and painted a picture that the previous administration did nothing about it, and it was far more interested in helping other people out then them. I I suspect many people think Trump is a horrible person, and don’t completely agree with most of what he says and does…But they still voted for him…because they promised to make their situation better. Make America Great Again….
And everything that had been happening, to a layman who doesn’t understand the global economy, doesn’t understand how trade works etc, bought into all this that this administration so far has delivered on…
*curb immigration and illegals because doing so, you will do better economically
*tariffs, because they will protect your job
*repeal Obamacare because it’s costing you afortune and doesn’t help you
*tax reform, becuase you will benefit more from a standard deduction
Now, add a relatively decent performing stock market, good employment numbers and wage growth as reported today, add a few stories about US companies hiring more, and a president that goes on record telling people to boycott Harley Davidson because they are sending jobs overseas….this id the perfect narrative that a person in middle America wants to hear. yes they think their financial situation will get better because of this… And these are mostly all the swing voters that decided the presidential election.
What sort of story can the democratic party put into these voters mind to convince them otherwise than stay the course? Care about DACA, immigrants, and I dare say Russia meddling? I don’t think so…. In fact some people might even think russian meddling was good if it put trump in office which ended up helping them financially…. I know it’s crazy, but it is what it is….
You see ZK…you and I are probably in a completely different world from a lot of these middle Americans…. you retired early…Im close to retiring.
neither of us will be drastically affected economically no matter who is in charge. we don’t need to worry about how to put food on the table, or paying medical bills, etc. the majority of other middle Americans aren’t so lucky….they have no choice. and so they will gladly trade off anything else if it means their survival is at stake. If you were in this situation and had a choice between letting your family starve or supporting and adminstration that promises to make you whole by taking away benefits from someone else, most of us would do the exact same thing.
The democratic party ,I am afraid, had not offered a compelling alternative yet to these swing voters, as disgusting as some of the things trump administration had done or proposed to do… And the current economy had not gone worse significantly to convince this swing voters that an alternative path is necessary….and part of this is just due to sheer luck that our economy has not fallen apart yet and probably won’t all the way to the mid term elections.
If the economy did fall apart before the midterm, there would be a point of blame, there could be a story about the reason why things are bad is because of this administration, and the democrats would have the opportunity to propose an alternative path that swing voters could be convinced might be helpful versus the current one, that has failed … Unfortunately, that opportunity just doesn’t exist yet imho
