More people voted for somebody other than Trump than for him, but he got the plurality needed for election. I suspect the bulk of that plurality was made up of people who would not have voted for him had they understood what was in store for them, and if they’d understood the value of constitutional liberal democracy that has promised the life they want. Getting through to them won’t be easy because they’re not listening to and are unaware of reliable sources of truthful information. Four decades of being bottle fed with right wing propaganda has made it difficult for much of the voting public to know the difference between what’s true and what’s not.
In a recent interview, Dana Millbank of the Washington Post talked about reactions to his political columns. They frequently earned him a mailbox full of angry letters from readers who listened to talk radio. Things changed during the most recent campaign season. His mailbox remained empty of readers’ critical reactions. The reason, he said, was that no one was reading anything or listening to anything that was outside of their social media bubble.
Social media algorithms jam us into little boxes of like-minded people insulated from other points of view. We can choose, if we want, programming that offers a variety of political and social thought. As it is, it appears we have chosen not to do that. We are more comfortable sticking with whatever appeals to us. I suppose that’s just habit and a very bad one at that. What I find so discouraging is the ease with which anyone can find news sources that are reliable and limited in political bias such as: The BBC World News, The Guardian, Reuters, AP, and PBS. Legacy news sources such as the New York Times, CNN, NPR, and a number of major city newspapers continue to feature objective reporting with opinion pages reflecting a variety of liberal and conservative views. Many Trump voters have been conditioned to suspect such sources of being “fake news.”
It would be wrong to cast all Trump voters into MAGA. MAGA is not interested in traditional conservative views. Any resource failing to fully endorse their conflicting stories is labeled as left wing socialism, and an enemy of the people. Thankfully MAGA cannot speak with a unified voice. It is divided into three parts: Part 1 is led by libertarian oligarchs desiring to rule for their own benefit in a nation that gives the appearance of being democratic; Part 2 are just plain fascists flying a different flag, and intending to do away with any pretense of democracy while imposing strict controls over social behavior and dissenting voices; Part 3 is the so-called MAGA core of voters who have bought in to every crack pot conspiracy laid before them. Many Trump voters are not a part of the MAGA core. They were simply misled. Some have discovered that and are too embarrassed to admit it. Others have not yet discovered it and will suffer the consequences, finding themselves in the grasp of a dysfunctional government doing very strange things undermining prosperity and freedom. I doubt they’ll believe it until they experience it, and then they’ll be genuinely surprised.
The recent election was an embarrassing demonstration of the inability of liberal and traditional conservative candidates to be heard by large segments of the public because they did not speak in the language of the people. Their message has to change but I fear it will be aimed at the wrong target. It would be wrong to target the libertarian oligarchs, fascists, and rock solid, MAGA core. They are protected from assault by ideological fortress walls. They would like nothing more than to be the subject of attacks from liberals, conservatives, and reasonably objective observers of the national scene.
The proper target will be building a coalition of adequately informed voters who want more than anything to preserve our liberal democracy in a society where the “American dream” is a greater reality for a greater number of people with less extremes of poverty and wealth. It will have to include Trump voters who are not MAGA, who must hear the call in language they understand and speaks to the way they experience daily life. How to learn that language? Engage them, ask them and stop telling them what they should want and believe.