Michigan has been poisoned by this act before
On CNN’s State of the Nation, Donald Trump picked New York and Michigan as two blue states as he’ll have a chance of winning if the Republican Party’s immune system continues to fail and the party nominates the most unpopular candidate in recent American history.
Trump spoke in Grand Rapids last year and is dominating the GOP primary polls.
So is there some hope that his “rouse the white working class with racism” strategy could win over the Reagan Democrats in this state in 2016? Sure. He’ll win them over as Republicans have for decades as they lost the state every four years since 1992 — the last time with Obama carrying the state over native son Mitt Romney by 9 percent.
Anyone who has watched Trump demolish his very well-funded opposition should stop assuming there’s no strategy to what he is doing.
He’s unmoored by morals, money or any sense of intellectual integrity or consistency. His outward bigotry and bombast are all the conservative credentials he needs. And his complete lack of fidelity to conservative dogma makes him able to campaign on things people actually want — like Social Security and Medicare.
However there are a few reasons why Karl Rove is pretty sure Trump would cost the GOP not only the White House but also the Senate.
First, for every Democratic working class voter Trump picks up he’ll likely lose a college-educated Republican, especially women, who can’t see voting for someone who reminds them more of Mussolini than Reagan.
And, more importantly, Trump is alienating minority voters the GOP desperately needs to win. Trump’s backers say his anti-immigration blather and citing of statistics of how badly black voters are doing since the financial crisis will help him outperform any recent Republican with African-Americans. These backers seem to forget that Trump is a racist birther who will be campaigning against Barack Obama, no matter who wins the Democratic nomination.
And there’s an even clearer reason why Trump shouldn’t have a shot in Michigan, even if the polls showed him in spittle-spewing distance of Hillary Clinton last year.
Last year the billion dollar baby told the state’s auto workers earn too much money and the car companies should move to other parts of the nation where people would be glad to be underpaid. It’s not quite “Let Detroit go bankrupt” and it could appeal to Michiganders envious of decent union wages who don’t get that depressing any workers’ wages depresses all workers’ wages.
But that’s not the reason Trump would lose Michigan.
Maybe before we saw the damage an authoritarian “moderate” businessman who always figures he knows best could do, Trump might have had a chance here. But the people of Flint understand how dangerous a CEO who wants to run government like a business can be for our health.
The water crisis in Flint is a sharp reminder that that the “CEO who loves to win” act isn’t new.
Playing with government like it’s all some big balance sheet is fine – until your drinking water gets poisoned. Hiring a businessman with a clean desk to run your country is great – until a city drowns. And going bankrupt over and over again may just make you richer – but it’s not game when our Social Security depends on your word.
Trump may be fooling the GOP. But Michigan has seen this act before.
[CC image “Michigan Governor Rick Snyder Political Suicide” by DonkeyHotey | Flickr]
