THERE IS FINALLY AN ANSWER TO “HOW WE GOT TRUMP!”

…The strange picture of Trump hugging “Old Glory”

A new book that may be describing Trump’s base supporters.

There is a book that will soon be available at Amazon for your Kindle Reader, or if you want a good, old-fashioned hardcover or paperback. The book’s title is: “Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America”

The author, Chris Arnade, tries to tell the readers that, “This is not a book about ‘How we got Trump’. ” But I have to say, based on what he has written in describing those that are the base supporters of Donald J. Trump, his new book could in fact, be the real and true explanation for exactly, “How America got Donald Trump”.

Where the story starts, is with Arnade’s description of Trump, and his recent speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

At the start of his CPAC speech, Trump warmly embraced the American flag, swaying with it to the tune of “God Bless the U.S.A.” The White House’s official Twitter account actually shared a picture of the moment.  

It must be noted that Trump’s CPAC "lovefest" with the American flag was widely received as being something quite goofy.  The late-night Comedian, Jimmy Kimmel roasted Trump’s flag-hug and his speech.  The CNN commentator S.E. Cupp devoted a whole column to the strangeness of the flag-hug.  But this wasn’t the first time Trump has "plumbed the depths of his heart" for his political messaging.  By his own account, Trump says he loves: “clean, beautiful West Virginia coal,” “the poorly educated,” “the evangelicals” and much. much more.

Arnade describes the people that are the “dyed in the wool” supporters of the president as: “The American people that feel stigmatized, ignored and made fun of.”

Arnade explains his understanding that, “The people in my circles, the bankers, businesspeople and the politicians that they supported, had created a world where McDonald’s was often one of the only restaurant options available for these Trump people.” He also says that, “We make fun of them for going there. We pretend that the addicted take drugs because of bad character, not because it’s one of the few ways they have to dull the pain of not being able to live good lives in the economy that we’ve created for them.  We tell them that their religion is foolish and that they shouldn’t expect to be able to earn a living unless they leave their hometowns.” 

The author takes the position that Trump’s love for these supporters is "a calculated, rhetorically bizarre tactic", and Trump’s belief is that there are, “Swaths of Americans that struggle with a poverty of material resources, (which his policies have worsened).  However, they also deal with a ‘poverty of dignity’ and with emotional destitution that comes from being thought little of, mocked, ignored and dismissed by the mainstream culture.”

Arnade adds that “Learning to see the country differently may help the reader answer questions about the 2016 election.” This new view that Arnade offers, he says, “Has to do with focusing on the kinds of emptiness that cannot be measured, but that nonetheless alters the course of these people’s lives.” 

Arnade says he found that this ‘dignity deficit’ has appeared across "a broad racial and geographic spectrum".  But it’s worth noting that Trump’s brand of his loving approval is always aimed at a very narrow, ‘white slice’ of that racial range.  However, for those Trump people who feel "belittled and dis-affected", that Trump's "affirmation" must be very powerful.  Trump therefore, doesn’t just promise to change their conditions, but he insists that they are good, that they’re worthy, and that someone as important as the president of the United States sees and loves them.

Snuggling an American flag does looks highly goofy.  But if the Trump supporter's primary claims of pride is being an American, and they feel that politicians, celebrities and pundits are constantly dishonoring an important source of their dignity, it likely comes to these individuals as a "welcome hug".   The grasping of the American flag would most likely make the most loyal Trump fans see the gesture as being tongue-in-cheek, though being very earnest in its overall intent.

The author states that Trump may have simply stumbled upon this power that became available to him, just by Trump addressing his base’s urgent need for his affirmation.  It could also be a useful object lesson for other politicians as well, especially as we head into another election season.  It may be that if you remember the old “George W, beer quotient”, that being, the idea that you’re “more likely to vote for the candidate you’d like to have a beer with”.  But that idea needs to be turned around.  It’s not so much whether you think ‘you’ would like a candidate, but in this case, it’s whether you think they would ‘like you’.

The final lesson seems to be that even though that Trump is often callous and cruel, he does know a thing or two about love…at least in its needed political applications.  This so-called love may well have been the basis of his strange rise and stability in popularity, and the basis of his hold on his loyal political base.

The question for 2020 is whether there’s a competitive candidate available who can, or will, convey a better, broader version of what Trump conveys.  It has to be something that is totally affirmative, but also is very sincere, and that it can deal with the perceived wounds of these potential supporters.

But back at CPAC, the real flag-hugging Trump did show up for all of those devoted supporters.  That day they loudly declared that ‘He’s a rockstar’, and his fans then turned the former conservative CPAC conference into the "TPAC" conference, and it then became a 2020 Trump Campaign Rally.

Copyright G. Ater 2019