The Donald Trumps Political Correctness Again

The dissing of Donald Trump was dealt another blow on Tuesday as the maverick billionaire registered 35% support in an eight-candidate race in the New Hampshire Republican primary, this after winning 42% support in a CNN national poll just prior to the Iowa caucus the week before. His continued popularity is said to be reflective of racist, sexist, and even Nazi ideas finding favor with stupid voters, in contrast to his establishment rivals, whose lesser support derives from their principled promotion of (try not to gag) a sensible consensus. 

Although we can't support his candidacy, we at Legalienate do not accept that Trump's popularity lacks all logical basis or is somehow unreflective of democracy. It's perfectly logical and also democratic in that it is going AGAINST what the establishment media and candidates are saying is right and true and so, and has had Trump at or near the top of state and national polls for over seven months, in spite of continuously negative media attention. The logic of his support may be superficial, but it is hardly senseless.  Everyone knows that the American people have been told forever that the U.S. "is the greatest country in the world," while at the same time it can no longer be denied that the American middle class is in substantial decline, which means to most people that the U.S. is no longer the greatest country in the world. So Trump the billionaire comes along and says he can restore the U.S. to "greatness." He doesn't need a lot of specifics right now because his rivals are the ones who have been instrumental in assaulting the middle class, which Trump has not been. So the initial logic for his support is that at least he's not a conventional politician reciting sound bites someone else has crafted in order to manipulate the electorate. As for democratic support, on immigration there is strong democratic sentiment against continuing to let in millions of largely poor, uneducated people without legal documents, and letting in millions more with documents, but with all of the hassles and problems that mass immigration entails in a time of middle class decline, and with no end in sight. Again, Trump doesn't need specifics, since he is the only candidate independent enough to even raise the issue of there being social costs to mass immigration. (Who knew?)

 The establishment's inability to do anything other than cry "racist" or "misogynist" or some other politically correct pejorative at this tells everyone else that power has no answers to popular concerns, and is in fact contemptuous of them in this and many other cases. That neither deserves nor is it likely to win majority support in a time of rising political discontent.