In One Embrace, Barack and Hillary Demonstrate the Very Thing That Drives
Trump Supporters Crazy
By Adele M. Stan [1]
AlterNet [2], July 28, 2016
http://www.alternet.org/print/election-2016/dnc-barack-and-hillary-demonstrate-very-thing-drives-trump-supporters-crazy
PHILADELPHIA--With the world watching, an extraordinary thing happened on
the big stage at the Democratic National Convention while the world watched:
a black man embraced a white woman. Never mind that he is president of the
United States, a position her party has tapped her to fill. With millions
watching, a black man embraced a white woman. When I was a child, this would
have been unthinkable. And I’m still years away from collecting my Social
Security.
It happened as President Barack Obama, the first black man ever to occupy
the White House, soaked in the ovation given him by the crowd in the Wells
Fargo Center for a speech [3] even his detractors would have to deem a great
piece of oratory. As he paced the stage, waving to each section of the
audience, Hillary Clinton, the first woman to land a major party’s
presidential nomination, stepped out of the wings to join him. The crowd
went wild. As the two hugged, the historical import of the moment came
sharply into view.
While much of America applauds these firsts--indeed, feels redeemed by
them--there are some left behind in the current economy who feel anything
but. They look at the color and shape of those previously banned from
positions of power who are now assuming them and feel anxious, even angry.
The world is not as they were promised it would be. And that television
image of the brilliant black man hugging the brainy white woman affirms
those anxieties.
As the Democrats gathered here, a PAC supporting Donald Trump, the
Republican presidential nominee, began running an ad [4] on cable news
channels designed to play to those fears, promising a restoration of
manufacturing jobs and the revitalization of the steel industry that once
ruled Pennsylvania’s economy. (Details of any plan for doing so remain
elusive.) In this battleground state, Democrats traditionally win in the
presidential elections. But the Clinton campaign is not taking this year’s
outcome for granted, and for good reason: the one demographic category in
which the Democratic standard-bearer is the weakest is the white
working-class, especially white men who do not have a college degree. "In
six polls conducted this month," writes the New York Times’ Nate Cohn [5],
"Mr. Trump leads among white registered voters without a degree by a margin
of 58 percent to 30 percent."
In the video played just before the president took the stage, both the risks
Obama took in pushing for the Affordable Care Act and in bailing out the
auto industry were played up, likely in part as a bid for the votes of
persuadable working-class white men whose concerns he and the Democrats have
sought to address.
In his wide-ranging speech, Obama pointedly spoke of his mother’s white
working-class family in Kansas. "See, my grandparents, they came from the
heartland," he said. "Their ancestors began settling there about 200 years
ago. I don’t know if they have their birth certificates--but they were
there. They were Scotch-Irish mostly--farmers, teachers, ranch hands,
pharmacists, oil rig workers. Hardy, small-town folks. Some were Democrats,
but a lot of them--maybe even most of them--were Republicans. Party of
Lincoln."
Obama delivered a stemwinder that in lesser hands would have been decried as
having tried to do too much. Part character testimony for the nominee,
review of his own presidency, defense of his policy convictions, appeal for
party unity and takedown of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump,
the speech accomplished nearly every goal the president had set. It was so
captivatingly delivered, it wasn’t until Obama got to the end that it sank
in this was his farewell. He was tearful, but not too much so. He was
characteristically graceful. He pushed through his reserved demeanor to show
each segment of his audience love and appreciation.
When Hillary Clinton, in a surprise move, walked onto the stage to stand
with him and wave, the changing shape of society was made plain. Brace
yourself for the backlash, for you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
Adele M. Stan is AlterNet's senior Washington editor, and a columnist at The
American Prospect. Follow her on Twitter: @addiestan [6]
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Hillary Demonstrate the Very Thing That Drives Trump Supporters Crazy [7]
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http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/dnc-barack-and-hillary-demonstrate-very-thing-drives-trump-supporters-crazy
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/adele-m-stan
[2] http://alternet.org
[3]
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-obama-2016-convention-speech-transcript-20160727-snap-story.html
[4]
http://thepulse2016.com/danny-cannon/2016/07/19/watch-new-pro-trump-ads-display-shift-in-gop-economic-message/
[5]
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/26/upshot/the-one-demographic-that-is-hurting-hillary-clinton.html
[6]
https://twitter.com/intent/follow?original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fprospect.org%2Farticle%2Fdoes-ryan%25E2%2580%2599s-endorsement-trump-signal-koch-change-heart&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&region=follow_link&screen_name=addiestan&tw_p=followbutton
[7] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on In One Embrace, Barack ;
and Hillary Demonstrate the Very Thing That Drives Trump Supporters Crazy
[8] http://www.alternet.org/
[9] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
