Donald Trump and the Rise of the New Dixiecrats

[Octafish]

Donald Trump and the Rise of the New Dixiecrats

by Goldie Taylor
The Daily Beast, March 2, 2016

It’s not just the Republican fringe that loves Trump—his appeal to white working-class Democrats could shake up the general election.

SNIP...

The current Republican frontrunner has been able to accomplish something that Wallace, in his living days, could not. In the months since Trump announced his candidacy for the GOP presidential nomination, he has singlehandedly built a bipartisan, largely white coalition of conservatives who are attracted to his nativist brand of economic populism. For them, the fine details of actual policy proposals appear to be less important than the notion that Trump is the one who can take their country back.

Much like Wallace—who was a Democrat—and despite his inconsistencies on the issues, Trump has tapped into a reservoir of resentment. He gives voice to the grievances of his supporters in a way that no other viable candidate for national office arguably has or can. As Trump continues to intensify his rhetoric, he has revealed deep fissures between the Republican establishment and the party’s grassroots. But his support does not stop at the water’s edge.

Those measuring Trump’s electoral “ceiling” should look again. There was certainly a ceiling on how much support Wallace received nationally. And, without a doubt, there is a cap on how high Trump’s stock will rise. But Trump is getting some unanticipated help—from Democrats.

Feasting on a public mood that is strikingly similar to what fueled Wallace, backing for the billionaire businessman has crossed the partisan aisle. The Trump voter is buoyed by his proclamations that he can “make America great again.” One constant refrain is that he “tells it like it is,” a thinly veiled reference to the way Trump eschews politically correct speech and frequently deploys bigoted, divisive language.

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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/03/02/donald-trump-and-the-rise-of-the-new-dixiecrats.html

The author makes a good case the USA has become a "Hate-ocracy" with goons manipulating the masses through quips perfect for mass media.

[Whiskeytide]

1. The only Dems who might cross over ...

... In numbers large enough to make a difference in the GE might be southern white males. Maybe. Meaning Trump would win the Southern states by a greater margin. His cross over appeal is not a threat. Dems not getting out to vote in swing states is.

[Octafish]

2. He's connecting on an elemental level, where myth beats rationality.

I hope you are correct, Whiskeytide, and that most voters will know a scammer when they see one.

The voters I worry about get most of their information from the tee vee. They may not understand why, but they relate to a demagogue who makes them feel he has their "best interests" at heart, whether by keeping Social Security and bringing back jobs lost to NAFTA, etc.

NY Times Dissects Donald Trump’s Rhetoric for a Week: ‘Demagogue Stoking Fear’

Newspaper looks at 95,000 words said by GOP frontrunner in a week; finds he’s preying on anxieties of enemies and minorities — including the first black president

MEDIA | by Jordan Chariton
The Wrap on December 5, 2015

The New York Times published its findings from a wide-scale analysis of Donald Trump’s rhetoric, showing a Republican frontrunner who’s catapulted to a commanding lead by “borrowing from some demagogues of the past century.”

Patrick Healy and Maggie Haberman tracked 95,000 words uttered by Trump over one week, coming from speeches, rallies and interviews.

What they found was a pattern of Trump using “potent language to connect with, and often stoke, the fears and grievances of Americans.”

The key takeaway was that the real estate mogul leverages the use of divisive phrases and harsh words while putting forth violent imagery.

SNIP...

” ‘We vs. them’ creates a threatening dynamic, where ‘they’ are evil or crazy or ignorant and ‘we’ need a candidate who sees the threat and can alleviate it,” said Matt Motyl, a political psychologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago who is studying how the 2016 presidential candidates speak. “He appeals to the masses and makes them feel powerful again: ‘We’ need to build a wall on the Mexican border — not ‘I,’ but ‘we.’ “

Another pattern the Times observed was Trump’s penchant for attacking people rather than ideas or policies — something TheWrap has chronicled for months.

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https://www.thewrap.com/ny-times-unprecedented-dissection-of-donald-trump-words-demagogue-stoking-fear/

People -- males in particular -- have wanted and responded to a leader on a white horse since the dawn of history. That's why the Oligarchs went to Gen. Smedley Butler, USMC.