When we last left off, I was talking about white America’s fear of slave insurrections and Indian uprisings, and how President Trump is trying to capitalize on that fear to win reelection. But there are other things to be afraid of in President Trump’s America. The President makes no attempt to discourage his “base”—even encourages them with that trusty bullhorn of his—from serving as vigilantes to help fight the rampaging “mob” in cities like Portland, Kenosha, and now Rochester. Has it occurred to him that many of the voters he is trying to win over might fear his vigilantes more than they fear the mob? Does he realize that more than a third of suburban residents are now minorities? I’ll go out on a limb and suggest that suburban women (whom he characterizes as “housewives,” as if he’s still living in an Ozzie and Harriet America) don’t take kindly to legions of his rowdy, gun-toting supporters driving through the streets in souped-up pickup trucks. Talk about a threat to law and order!
If the most recent public opinion polls are correct, Trump’s fear-stoking tactics aren’t working. Worst of all were the McCloskeys, the wealthy St. Louis couple who put on that obnoxious, race-baiting, fear-mongering presentation at the Republican Convention. Their appearance might have worked for Richard Nixon’s “Law and Order” campaign in 1968 (over 50 years ago!), but thankfully America is a different country in 2020. In the meantime, of course, the COVID virus continues to kill more than a thousand people a day and is anticipated to kill over 400,000 by the end of the year based on people not wearing masks or social distancing as they should.
Trump Remains the Greatest Threat to the American People in 2020
What is the REAL threat to the American people as we approach the 2020 election? Hint: it’s not rampaging mobs invading the suburbs OR vigilantes in souped-up pickup trucks; it’s President Trump’s incompetent leadership in the face of a pandemic that isn’t going away anytime soon. (Even if a vaccine miraculously becomes available as early as the end of October as Trump claims, it will take many months to get it distributed and start to feel the impact.)
Despite the Electoral College heavily favoring the Republicans, the country’s evolving demographics are making it harder and harder for them to win the presidency unless they broaden their base—and Trump seems determined to do just the opposite. It’s true they squeaked out several Electoral College victories, but the Republicans have lost the popular vote in six of the last seven presidential elections. (Note: Trump’s ridiculous claim that he won the popular vote in 2016 was debunked by his own appointed commission.)
If you read “We Can Make America What it Must Become” on my website, you’ll see that this humble spirit is not unsympathetic with the grievances held by many of Trump’s supporters. Unfortunately, however, the President’s false promises to make America great (white) again have done very little to solve their true (economic) ills—and are unlikely to do so if he wins a second term in November.