From Deborah Long at The Moderate Voice:
Sherrod Brown had it right with his slogan, “The Dignity of Work”. He was speaking directly to Trump’s disillusioned and infuriated voters. He didn’t speak down to them; he understood what they wanted and what they needed – good paying jobs. Joan C. Williams, author of “White Working Class: Overcoming Class Cluelessness in America” presents a compelling assessment of how the Republican Party led us to Donald Trump. In her 2016 essay entitled: “What So Many People Don’t Get About the US Working Class”, she retold this story, sent to her from a friend:
“The thing that really gets me is that Democrats try to offer policies (paid sick leave! minimum wage!) that would “help” the working class. A few days’ paid leave ain’t gonna support a family. Neither is minimum wage. WWC (white working-class) men aren’t interested in working at McDonald’s for $15 per hour instead of $9.50. What they want is what my father-in-law had: steady, stable, full-time jobs that deliver a solid middle-class life to the 75% of Americans who don’t have a college degree. [Now, about 66%] Trump promises that. I doubt he’ll deliver, but at least he understands what they need.”
Williams goes on to say: “I fully understand why transgender bathrooms are important, but I also understand why progressives’ obsession with prioritizing cultural issues infuriates many Americans whose chief concerns are economic”.
Today, ideas like: transgender bathrooms, opposition to tax-breaks for the 1%, breaking up the big banks, Russian espionage, or # MeToo, won’t make Donald Trump a one-term president because we’re drowning in identity politics and lack a unified message.