BOTH PARTIES SHOULD TAKE HEED TO MICHIGAN’S DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY

…The way some people see Hillary vs Bernie

 

Trump draws the under-educated men, Bernie & Hillary draw both educated men and women.

 

With all the problems that Hillary has with those shots at her for the Benghazi scandal and her e-mails, the reality of her against Trump is still pretty clear.  In the latest national polls between Hillary and Donald Trump, the numbers don’t lie.  The most recent Washington Post-ABC News poll showed Clinton leading Trump in a hypothetical matchup among registered voters by 50% to 41%, based on a 21-point Hillary lead among women; Trump led by five points among men.

 

As to whom is Trump being supported by, Trump managed only 27% among Michigan primary voters who graduated from college, but 46% among those who didn’t. And the Trump constituency is very male: Republican Men gave him 45% of their ballots, women only 29%.

 

The Michigan primary where Bernie squeaked out his 2% win over Hillary, it was a perfect example of where white working-class men and the people from little towns and small cities were making it clear from where they are coming.

 

As to the number one issue in Michigan, both parties agreed in their exit pollsters that current trade agreement takes away rather than creates US jobs. The negative verdict on current trade agreements among Republicans was 55% to 32%, as CNN reported; among Democrats, the figures were 57% to 30%. Both Trump and Sanders did far better than did Hillary with the critics on trade.

 

As to the feeling on Wall Street, Clinton’s programs did acknowledge the need to go beyond the political approach crafted by her husband.  But the Michigan defeat of Clinton was just one more example where many voters in her party are still unpersuaded that she is serious about any changes on trade issues.

 

What is becoming clear from the primaries is that the Reagan conservatism is coming to an end.  This is because the Republican voters have given up on the party for giving them the conservatism that the party has been promising.  As for the Democrats, the coming of Bernie Sanders has shown that the Democratic party’s moderation has moved over to the more liberal side which confirms the giant space dividing the two parties today.

 

Both Democratic candidates have courted African Americans aggressively and Sander’s win in Michigan, a state with a large African American population, shows that he is doing better than expected with that group of voters.

 

For the most part, the Republicans have not changed in their political philosophy.  The Republican leadership (not the average GOP voter) is still committed to the conservatism of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. The old statements of commitment to smaller government, less regulation and lower taxes for the wealthy are a horribly familiar chant.  (Especially sad because under GOP governing, the US government always grew more than when under Democratic rule.)

 

Marco Rubio, the losing candidate who is more closely in line with establishment conservatives, today Rubio finds himself totally isolated.  His candidacy is now dependent on his carrying his home state of Florida next week. Most presidential candidates can count on carrying their home states in primaries, but not Rubio.  In the polls, he is double-digits behind Donald Trump. That Rubio is in his current position shows that he has failed in his effort to be all things to all Republicans. He is bleeding more moderately conservative voters to John Kasich and those more ideological and religious voters to Ted Cruz.

 

Who would have thought that a thug like Donald Trump with his outrageous, irate and purported masculine ideology would become such a power within the Republican party?  It seriously shows just how up set the GOP’s voter blocks are and how much the party has been ignoring what their party’s members have wanted from their Republican politicians.   What else would cause for a complete narcissist like Donald Trump to be in the lead in the polls since last Summer?

 

The end primary results in rural Michigan should be bothering both parties.  The social and economic pain that was displayed by the results of the primary for both parties shows just how disconnected the candidates seem to be with their constituencies.

 

As E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post wrote:  “Voters who are geographically and instinctively distant from the power centers and the great metropolises feel ignored and forgotten. Democratic republics do not thrive when so many of their citizens are so alienated.”

 

Republican and Democratic leaders take heed, you’d better be using this time to learn and react to what your people are telling both political parties today.

 

Copyright G.Ater  2016