Bernie Niemeier
bniemeier@va-business.com
OurView from the Publisher
Who’s the real Trojan horse? I
magine a most imaginary conversation that could have taken place shortly before the unpleasant- ness of the 2016 presiden- tial campaign began: “Bill, this is The Donald returning your call. Hope you’re doing super.” “Well, gosh, um, that’s just it. I need your help. You’re such a great support- er, and you know, this next presidential race — it’s re- ally Hill’s time. And me, I just can’t wait to be back in the Lincoln bedroom.”
“Yes, that’s gonna be great, that’s gonna be fan- tastic, terrific! How much? You and I both know it takes somebody else’s money.” “Well, this time it’s more than money and a few ap- pearances. Here’s the prob- lem; it’s this Bush thing, this whole Bush-Clinton dynasty thing. Our family legacy is on the line. If it comes down to a choice between stupid and crooked, we’re just not sure who America will pick to win.”
“Yeah Bill, I get that. People are so unpredictable. You’ve got a legacy; it’s huge; it’s huge, terrific! You know I love winning.” “Right Big D, and that’s just it — gosh, you’re so big, sooo popular; people just love you! The whole ‘Ap- prentice’ thing, just master- ful! And Obama, that whole birther thing, ridiculous, bril- liant! You’ve really got it all dialed in.
“Here’s the catch: we need more of this. We need you to go under deep cover and run for president as a Re- publican. You’re great under the covers, right? It will totally annihilate their party. We both love winning. It will be fabu- lous, fabulous for your ratings. We’ll both win! Super!
Photo by Mark Rhodes
“How about it, Donald? You can’t say no. Remem- ber, the Lincoln Bedroom? It’s yours or mine; it’s ours ei- ther way! Win-win! You’ll be big, really big! Too good to be true, you can’t say no!” “Bill, gotcha, super, su- per idea, let me think, you know me, that doesn’t take long. Just between the two of us, right? Let’s get to- gether soon on one of my many, many courses, we’ll have to put the kibosh on golfing together for a while after this goes live. This is gonna be wonderful, won- derful...”
Okay, so much for the
hypothetical. Maybe this isn’t exactly how these cam- paigns started, but fast-for- warding to the spring of 2016, the primaries have un- folded with the same result. Following his loss to Ted Cruz in the Wisconsin prima- ry, Donald Trump called Cruz a “Trojan horse for GOP bosses.” But, who’s the real Trojan horse? The Trump candidacy has splintered the Republican Party, repeatedly foreshadowing an indepen- dent run in the general elec- tion, which would eliminate the possibility of a Republi- can majority.
Less attention has been focused on divisions among Democrats. Who knows what kind of negotiations between Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren resulted in Warren rejecting the idea of a run this year.
Still, almost inevitably, Bernie Sanders has risen as a standard bearer for disaf- fected Democrats — coming across as the kind of crazy grandfather that every kid finds hilarious — and also ir- resistible. Sanders may not be a Trojan horse, but he’s certainly gotten the camel’s
nose into the tent.
The elite Republicans and Democrats alike have proven themselves Washing- ton-centric. They’ve com- pletely lost touch with their respective voter bases, which are shrinking demographi- cally and shrinking away from both parties’ worn-out elec- toral platforms.
For example, it’s well documented that church at- tendance has been shrinking for decades, yet evangelicals still cling to the idea of a ma- jority, even a white majority. On the policy front, trickle-down economics, popularized during the Rea- gan era, have never per- formed as promised. If any- thing, they’ve contributed to economic inequality. The wealthiest Republican loy- alists have reaped rewards. The less-well-to-do have waited three decades for the party’s populist promises to materialize. Their patience has served their party well, but it’s now past the break- ing point.
On the Democratic front, clinging to a mono- chromatic black and white worldview for votes in the South, as well as a labor- centric paradigm for votes in the Northeast and Upper Midwest also is increasingly outdated.
Decades-old, civil rights- driven loyalty is much to be admired. But how ironic to see the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement dur- ing the final term of the country’s first African-Amer- ican president. Ongoing growth of Latino and Asian voters is dramatically and permanently altering the politics of race.
Much like shrinking church attendance, labor unions have been on the de-
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cline for decades. Today, even Michigan is a right-to- work state. Policy-wise, pro- tectionism is just as much a broken populist promise as it is a failed economic one. Traditional thinking on independent voters is that they ultimately side with one party or the other. That may no longer hold true. The number of so-called inde- pendents is on the rise; in- creasing extremism in both major parties has alienated voters.
Late July will bring the political conventions. The Republicans will convene in Cleveland, followed a few days later by the Democrats in Philadelphia. Imagine this very imaginary scenario: A brokered Republican Con- vention leads to a third-par- ty candidacy. The following week, Democratic dysfunc- tion pops loose a fourth candidate. The camel’s nose comes out of the tent. Now who’s the real Trojan horse?
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