The 8 best explanations of the Donald Trump-Ben Carson phenomenon

[applegrove]

The 8 best explanations of the Donald Trump-Ben Carson phenomenon

By Aaron Blake at the Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/11/13/the-8-best-explanations-off-the-donald-trump-ben-carson-phenomenon/

"SNIP..............


Democratic pollster Peter Hart:

"America doesn't want a politician. We're sick of career politicians. We did what we were supposed to do. We wrote the letters, we made the phone calls, and they did not listen, and we're out to clean house."



The Atlantic's Conor Friedersdorf, who checked in with dozens of Trump supporters back in August:

Broadly speaking, the men and women who wrote fall into two categories: Those who earnestly believe that Trump is the best choice to lead America and those who are motivated by giddyness at the chaotic spectacle of his success.



National Journal's John Judis, who likened Trump's ascent to others in recent decades by citing political sociologist Donald Warren's "Middle American Radicals" (or MARS):

If these [Trump] voters are be­gin­ning to sound fa­mil­i­ar, they should: War­ren’s MARS of the 1970s are the Don­ald Trump sup­port­ers of today. Since at least the late 1960s, these voters have peri­od­ic­ally co­alesced to be­come a force in pres­id­en­tial polit­ics, just as they did this past sum­mer. In 1968 and 1972, they were at the heart of George Wal­lace‘s pres­id­en­tial cam­paigns; in 1992 and 1996, many of them backed H. Ross Perot or Pat Buchanan. Over the years, some of their is­sues have changed — il­leg­al im­mig­ra­tion has re­placed ex­pli­citly racist ap­peals — and many of these voters now have ju­ni­or-col­lege de­grees and are as likely to hold white-col­lar as blue-col­lar jobs. But the ba­sic MARS world­view that War­ren out­lined has re­mained sur­pris­ingly in­tact from the 1970s through the present.




................SNIP"

[applegrove]

1. I would add that things are not going well for the base, what with union membership down

and government getting out of helping people. They want to vote for a change but Democrats have been so vilified they cannot go there. So they stew for a decade. Then trump/carson come along...seems like they are anti-establishment...and the base falls in love.

[rocktivity]

2. The best explanation is the same explanation

of the Romney - Gingrich - Santorum phenomenon of eight years ago:

They're the piss-poor pick of a VERY piss-poor litter.


rocktivity

[applegrove]

3. I'm with you. GOP got no leadership left, just charlatans or dupes. Nothing in between.