Democrats Should Cease Knocking Trump’s Carrier Deal for Their Own Good

Sometimes Democrats just don’t get it. It is as if they have forgotten that politics is the art of persuasion and a politician’s message must first and foremost resonate with the electorate. Democrats are fighting a losing battle by denigrating Donald Trump’s Carrier deal. Carrier has agreed to retain 1,000 jobs in Indiana which they previously announced were moving to Mexico. Bernie Sanders and other Democrats have been decrying Donald Trump’s accomplishment of this deal as both bad policy and bad precedent.

Democrats need to let Donald Trump have his win, as opposition to it is just plain bad politics. The Trump voters clamoring for change are not going to be receptive to Democratic criticism. Democrats do not need to convince other Democrats of the short sightedness of Trump’s approach. Democrats need to appeal to non-Democrats, and in that context, arguing against this deal is politically stupid. To all but the Democratic true believers, it sounds like Democrats are opposing Carrier’s retention of American jobs just to score political points against Donald Trump.

Democratic are concerned Trump’s Carrier deal will set a terrible precedent. They say it will encourage other businesses to threaten taking jobs overseas in order to obtain tax credits or other governmental incentives. Most Americans, and most especially Trump voters, ask how this is different from the status quo. The working class is tired of feeling like pawns. It doesn’t matter if this deal possibly sets a bad precedent because, to most Americans, it seems like a break is finally going in their favor.

Democrats have likened Trump’s deal-making style to Vladimir Putin’s strong arming of Russian oligarchs. They suggest that Trump may have threatened United Technologies Corporation, Carrier’s parent company and a major defense contractor, with unspecified future retaliation. These critics don’t get this is precisely what many want from their government. These voters want the government to leverage its power to help them keep their jobs. This is the exact change that the Trump supporters were asking for. Furthermore, most Americans do not see any menace in Trump’s behavior. To most, this is the same as negotiations routinely undertaken by mayors and governors when trying to retain businesses in their jurisdictions.

From a political perspective, Democrats would be better off conceding Donald Trump his small victory. This fight does not have any real long term implications. It is unlikely that President Trump will be able to stem job losses with one-on-one negotiations throughout the course of his administration. While the exodus of American manufacturing jobs cannot be resolved through a series of piecemeal interventions by the President, Democrats will gain nothing by appearing to stand in the way of such efforts.

Instead of criticism, Democrats need to propose policies that will expand the number of decent jobs for working class people. American manufacturing jobs have largely been lost to automation and other increases in productivity. The simple fact is, manufacturing jobs don’t exist in the same numbers as they once did; not because of outsourcing, but because of productivity gains. Despite the fact that American manufacturing output is greater than it has ever been, it simply takes fewer workers to operate these plants than it did in the past. Moreover, while the program of tariffs proposed by the incoming Trump administration might slow the erosion of a few American jobs to foreign locations, they will also result in higher prices, lower profits, less corporate investment, and an overall net job loss in the American economy.

Despite the fact that protectionist and interventionist trade measures are ultimately bad policy, a significant number of Democrats have advocated support for some version of them. This is the real issue that must be addressed. Democrats should stop railing against Trump’s symbolic gestures and stop advocating support for economic policies destined to fail. Instead, Democrats should be crafting policy proposals which encourage the growth of small businesses as the key to sustainable job growth. Democrats need to craft job training programs to address the nationwide shortfall in skilled trade workers.

Democrats must continue to advance the concept of free public college as another step towards improving the lot of the poor and working class. Keeping college graduates from being saddled with debt will result in greater economic activity and overall business growth, which will lead to even more jobs. Democrats need to present solutions that realistically address the core challenges to our economy while appealing to poor and middle class voters, especially those who become disillusioned with the Trumpian approach. Democrats must focus their energy on laying the foundation for winning the House in 2018, not engaging in battles they cannot win.

Let's Not Eat Sour Grapes This Thanksgiving

Are you a liberal dreading the idea of spending Thanksgiving with a family divided about the recent election? Are you worried about how you are going to deal with the conversation when the focus on food, family, and football is abandoned for a rehash of the election? My suggestion is to resist your urge to refight the quarrels of the past year. Those arguments are done, and there nothing that can be said to alter the votes that have been cast. Instead, steel yourself against your emotional reactions and refrain from lashing back. Rather, use these encounters as an opportunity to gather information; information that will be essential in altering the outcome of elections yet to come.

It is crucial that you restrain your impulse to defend the righteousness of your position. Instead of engaging in a pointless rehashing of facts upon which you will never agree, deflect the conversation. Now is the time to gather knowledge and insights that will help us be more effective in contests to come, now is not the time to change minds. Don't get drug into relitigating the election; try to move past discussions of all that has transpired. Instead, get the Trump supporter to focus on their vision for the future. Get the Trump voter to outline their hopeful vision of what a Trump administration will do over the next four years. Have them describe, in as much detail as possible, their positive vision for the good that a Trump Presidency and a Republican Congress will bring this nation. Resist your natural inclination to refute the likelihood that their Utopian vision will be fulfilled. Instead, probe deeper and gather as much detail as you can. Look for those elements in their vision which are compatible with your own view of a progressive future.

I suspect that you will find some common ground even as you profoundly disagree on the methods for achieving it. For some, that common ground may include a vision of a vibrant economy in which workers make a decent wage; an economy in which each generation’s prospects are better than the last. With others, that common ground may take other forms. The key is getting to the root of it.  I believe that some element of common ground can be found once you get down to specific, practical outcomes. And, of course, there will be many elements of their vision that you do not share. That is ok too as it is not realistic to believe we can come to terms on every issue. You must be strong and not engage in battles that cannot be won. Use this as an opportunity to develop skills and to gain knowledge that will aid us in being more persuasive later on.

Be prepared to hear bigoted and potentially ugly opinions. I do not believe that all Trump voters supported his bigotry; many supported Trump in spite of those views. But it is likely that a portion of Trump supporters did shared his bigoted views of the world. While this past election cycle has eroded social inhibitions governing the expression of bigoted ideas in public, it has been my experience that those inhibitions seldom extend to internal family interactions anyhow. I know I have endured the bloviating ‘Archie Bunker’ protégées at family gatherings at one time or another. This Thanksgiving, don’t try and change their minds. Instead, try to glean an understanding from whence their concerns lie. Is their bigotry derived from closely held animus? Or does it derive from fear of external threats, the absence of any real experience with these ‘others’ and a perception that some groups are being singled out for special treatment and privileges which they find inherently unfair?

In the coming elections, progressives will need the votes of many who supported Trump if we are to flip the House and Senate, and to eventually take back the White House. We must win over some of these voters if we want to retake State Houses and governorships. We may never win over the true believers, but we must find ways of appealing to those that can be persuaded. Progressives must understand the visions and desires of the Trump voter and those with Republican leanings. Where possible, we must addresses the concerns of those who currently oppose us while still remaining true to our progressive values. Our goal should be the construction of a platform those individuals we currently are not reaching can support despite their differences with us on the particulars of some issues.

Our arguments going forward must acknowledge the negative perceptions held by the other side. Progressives must counter the other side’s perceptions, not with name calling and condescending arguments, but by telling a more compelling story that won’t get blocked by an automatic defensive reaction. We must emphasize how the positions we advocate will achieve outcomes that we and they both desire. But this can only be achieved if we understand exactly what they perceive our differences to be and where we have the potential for common ground. We must find a way to stop exclusively ‘preaching to the choir’ and instead actively address arguments that speak directly to the core concerns and visions of the Trump voter on which we can agree.

I firmly believe that Republican and Trumpian policy outcomes will come to be viewed unfavorably by those who voted for them. The most likely results of their proposed policies include attacks on entitlement programs, assaults on worker’s rights, and moves that erode individual constitutional protections. None of those outcomes are going to be popular. This country’s foreign and trade policies over the next four years are likely to result in widespread instability abroad and economic upheavals at home. We must remain engaged and try to mitigate those negative outcomes, but there is only so much that can be achieved from the minority seats at the table. As a result, these unfortunate outcomes will present an opportunity to shift to a new, more effective direction.

Progressives need to be prepared to deliver a better alternative that will resonate with the future disillusioned Trump voter. We must offer solutions that speak to the concerns of his supporters. We need to begin working now on an agenda that speaks to the core concerns that we all share. We need to package that agenda so that it clearly resonates with the persuadable Trump voter. The information you gather at these Thanksgiving encounters, and throughout the coming months, will be the essential building blocks required to craft a program that speaks to disaffected Trump supporter’s core concerns while still remaining true to the progressive vision for America.    

Sometimes I don’t know what to feel…

Sometimes I don't know what to feel
Everything I thought that I knew starts to look so unreal
There's a ringing in my head that keeps me awake at night
Sometimes I don't know what is right
…
Sometimes I don't know what to do
Someone said the world's going to end and I think its true
I thought there was some love in the world
But I guess I'm wrong

Todd Rundgren, 1973

It has been more than a week since Donald Trump won the election. I still can’t shake the feelings of anxiety and dread that Trump’s election has spawned in me. I am racked by alternative feelings of dismay and the desire to do something, anything to prevent this national electoral temper tantrum from wrecking permanent damage to our country. I am still obsessed with the news, but it has yet to give me comfort. I have begun blogging, posting incessantly on Facebook and Twitter, to the point that I am alienating my less political friends. Last Wednesday I went to a political rally just to regain the sense of community with those who share my concerns. At least at the rally I felt like I was participating in something that can impact elections down the road.  

I am not generally a reactionary or alarmist by nature, but the folly of the 8^th of November’s decision seems so blindly obvious, that I can’t wrap my head around the idea that anyone is satisfied with the result. To me, Trump is so obviously unfit, yet he is going to be the President of “these United States”.  Everything I have read suggests that more than 60% of people who voted for Donald Trump agreed that he was unqualified but they voted for him just the same. I cannot seem to square those facts in my head.

What is at the core of my unease? I fear Trump’s impulsive and ill-considered foreign policy rhetoric will continue while in office with destabilizing effect. His belligerent tone towards our Allies, his rhetoric destabilizing NATO unity, his unilateral rapprochement with Russia, and his insistence of economic protectionism above all else might all be the source of disaster due to predictable, but unintended consequences. His language has the potential to embolden our enemies to action which might lead to military crisis. It is just such destabilizing forces that resulted in the last two World Wars.  

Donald Trump’s pathological focus on Muslims as a de facto terrorist threat lacks any nuance and is out of proportion to the facts. It is true that we are in direct conflict with a small number of radical Islamic terrorists. But, Trump’s lumping of all Muslims in that camp erodes America’s ability to harness essential cooperation from our Muslim allies. Moreover, this belligerent, un-nuanced stance actually aids the terrorists build support by enabling them to paint America as a threat to mainstream Muslims. And Trump’s rhetorical hostility has not been limited to foreign Muslims. His insistence, without evidence and in the face of clear evidence to the contrary, that Muslim Americans are harboring and cheering terrorists is dangerous. I worry this might be an omen of a coming unAmerican and unConstitutional pogrom.

The history of other nations suggests that fear mongering is a force that can be harnessed, either intentionally or unintentionally, to cause a nation to abandon their constitutional system’s protections of individual liberty. The constant fear mongering and hate expressed in the campaign, which appears to be supported by significant numbers of my fellow citizens, moves us incrementally towards conditions that erode our freedoms. Unreasoned reactionary rhetoric could lead us towards policies that suppress religious freedom, free speech, freedom to assembly and the abandonment of due process. These rights are the bedrock on which democracy is built, and once diminished; there is no clear path to bring them back. 

Many of my fellow citizens believe my concerns are a baseless over reaction. Maybe I am wrong, but I just cannot see how these apprehensions can be dismissed. I know that there could be a difference between the rhetoric of the campaign and Mr. Trump’s conduct in office. I recognize that the Trump administration is likely to draw upon experts which could act as a moderating influence on the actual behavior of a Trump presidency. However, during the campaign, Trump did not appear to be constrained by either expert advice or even facts, which does not bode well for the new Administration’s moderation. Part of me recognizes that my feelings of impending doom are, at least in part, irrational. The bigotry, misogyny, and all round vulgarity of the election could all have been theater. The normal bureaucratic organizational inertia and Constitutional checks and balances still exist so the most radical proposals floated during the election are unlikely to occur. Of course, everyone said a Trump presidency would be unlikely, yet here we are.

In Columbia, Maryland, I have heard American Muslim parents tell me their school children have expressed fear they and their parents will be forced to leave this country or worse. These young first- and second-graders heard the campaign rhetoric that was spewed and it has affected them. The immediacy of these parents concern and fear moved me. I heard others tell of random acts of hate and bile directed at people of color by folks who appeared to be emboldened by Mr. Trump’s victory. This is not the America I love.  I know we are so much better than that as a nation, and I can’t understand why so many of my fellow Americans were able to callously disregard the bigoted undertones of the Trump campaign to select him as our President.  

In this past election, I was not an over-enthusiastic Hillary supporter. I did think she was well-qualified and would have made a good President. Despite her obvious flaws, and in the face of the likely specter of more investigations and gridlock, I felt Hillary was a vastly superior choice to Donald Trump. I tried to give Donald Trump a fair hearing once it became clear that he was a real force in the Republican field. I listened to his speeches and interviews and I tried to understand what it was that made him so wildly popular with so many. To my ear, Trump was a hyperbolic, bigoted and incoherent demigod, unmoored by facts, with no real plans, and who appeared to be largely unprepared to lead this nation. And I was shocked as he continued to win over greater and greater numbers of voters. To me, his populism made no sense. Now Sanders populist appeal I understood. At least Sanders was talking about issues that I thought mattered to most Americans: jobs, the growing wealth divide, the lack of affordable and livable housing for the poor and lower middle class, a higher minimum wage, affordable higher education, and a single payer health care system. Trump didn’t seem to me to have any clear, realistic plans for any of these issues, yet he seemed to resonate with many Americans just the same.

I am normally extremely optimistic about America and our collective future. I take pride in the way the country has risen above past mistakes to create a free society in which increasing numbers have an equal opportunity to succeed. I strongly believe in our Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the equality of all peoples before the law.  I pride myself on being open and objective, and I am actively looking for signs of hope. I truly want Donald Trump to succeed because his success is America’s success. I want to believe that my concerns are baseless, but right now, I just feel glum. 

Sometimes I just feel so alone
I don't want to admit to my friends that I feel confused
I wonder what I'd do with myself if the world was gone
Something makes me stay on my feet
Don't you dare admit to defeat
And if I tell myself it's all right
I can comfort myself through the night
And watch another day dawn
And everything will be cool

Todd Rundgren, 1973

The Interesting Thing about Twitter – It is a Two-way Communications Medium

On Sunday, President-elect Donald Trump said he intended to keep using Twitter while he was in office. Like many Americans, I am horrified that President Trump will persist tweeting his childish, boorish insults. It portends to be just another embarrassment in the stream of national embarrassments that will come to define the Trump presidency.

The reports from the first days of Trump’s transition planning certainly don’t bode well for the nation.  Already we have seen Trump recklessly sucking up to Russia before he has even settled on a national security team. It is no wonder that his top national security advisor, former Congressman Mike Rogers, has already jumped ship. Another dark portend is the appointment of the alt-right movement leader Steve Bannon as Mr. Trump’s chief strategist. Steven Bannon has been widely denounced as a xenophobic, white nationalist and his participation in the new administration is a slap in the face to all who accepted at face value Donald Trump’s lie that he “will be president for all Americans” so we can “come together as one united people.”  Fat chance!

If the campaign has taught us anything about Mr. Trump, it is that he is extremely thin skinned. He spent a good bit of his time on Twitter going after anyone who dared criticize the magnificence that is “The Donald”. Just yesterday he called out the New York Times because they dared to quote one of Donald’s foreign policy mutterings about nuclear weapons made during the campaign.
Well, Twitter is a two-way communications medium. I call on everyone to flood @realdonaldtrump with tweets telling him exactly what you think about his leadership so far.

Show leadership @realdonaldtrump and denounce the hate and violence being perpetrated in your name #wearestillhere

‘President for all’ Ha! @realdonaldtrump Steve Bannon as your strategist proves the lie #wearestillhere

It’s a blind trust, not blindly trusting @realdonaldtrump; drain in the swamp of your glaring conflicts of interest #wearestillhere

Where Do We Go From Here

If you are a Progressive and you don’t like the outcome of this election, then join me and do something about it. We need to overhaul the Democratic Party so that more American’s feel that it is addressing their concerns. We need less divisiveness and less knee-jerk reactionary responses to every thought we don’t like. What we need to do is to be engaged and organize. I don’t mean taking to the streets with anger and destruction. Coming together is great, but it should be done peacefully and with respect for differing views.  Anger is ok, but anger should be directed into productive action or it will work against us. It is misdirected anger and frustration that got Trump elected. That and apathy.

This was the most divisive election in my lifetime, yet more than 45% of eligible voters didn’t bother to cast a ballot. In past presidential elections, you could argue that there wasn’t much difference between either of the candidates. While I don’t agree, if you truly believed that was the case, then perhaps you could rationalize not voting. But this election was different.

This election was different. The two Parties provided clearly different choices but were alike in one respect. They both selected polarizing, un-liked and unlikable candidates. The vast majority of American’s didn’t want either candidate. But, a lot of American’s wanted to move in a different direction and the Democrats didn’t persuade them that they had the answers to their concerns. And I know that Clinton won the popular vote. However, I think many of the folks who voted for her were holding their nose in the same way that many Trump voters did.

Whether or not you like the Electoral College, it has been a feature of our system since the beginning. The system was not rigged (as asserted by our President elect), it operated as designed. Both Parties knew what was required to win the election. Whether the Electoral College system is the best we can do is a question for another day. The point is, every vote was counted in accordance with the rules, Democrats just failed to mobilize the votes where they needed them the most. Senator Elizabeth Warren said “There are many millions of people who did not vote for Donald Trump because of the bigotry and hate that fueled his campaign rallies, they voted for him despite the hate. They voted for him out of frustration and anger and also out of hope that he would bring change.”

Our system still works, but the Democratic Party is out of touch and we must address the overall lack of voter participation. We need to engage in dialog (which means both listening and talking) and we need to do a better job of persuasion. We still have free speech, a free press and the right to assembly. Our system of checks and balances still exits.  Our representatives still respond to popular pressure, especially if they think you are motivated to vote.  The key is organizing and persuading others to join with you. That is seldom possible when you start by name calling and not truly hearing what others are saying. Free speech isn’t pretty and people have some pretty terrible notions (including me I suppose). However, the point of free speech is that it allows differing voices to be heard. Sometimes what you hear will be appalling and you will be shocked and dismayed. Sometimes you might learn something that matters. Sometimes you might even be persuaded to change your mind.

The point is, according to the exit polls, many people who voted for Trump didn’t agree with much of what he was saying and didn’t care that he didn’t have concrete plans. They felt that he heard their frustration and was more likely to do something “different” than the status quo. Now to me, that is a scary thought, and I voted accordingly. However, I wonder how many Trump supporters could have been peeled off if any attempt was made to listen to them? What would have happened if the Democrats had ran a candidate that droves hadn’t despised for decades? Was the hatred of Hillary Clinton rationale? Perhaps not, but it was real, and it got in the way of persuading the non-ideologically fixed voters (you know, the undecided) from considering the Democratic platform.

Remember, there was very little substance in Trumps agenda and he has a history of wildly changing his views on both sides of every issue. The real substance is in Paul Ryan’s plans. And, like it or not, the Speaker’s platform is widely popular with the majority of Americans who turned out to vote. In this election, more votes were cast for Republican Congressman than for Democratic congressmen, and that has been true since 2010.  I think that is root of the frustration that brought Trump into office.

For the past six years, the majority of American’s felt like they weren’t being heard. The Democrats didn’t organize and perused those voters that they had an alternative that addressed their concerns. I think much of Ryan’s plan will be terrible for our country, and many of the Republican supporters will soon have buyer’s remorse with both their choice for President and Congress. But that buyer’s remorse will not matter in next Congressional races or in the next Presidential contest if the “loyal opposition” doesn’t listen, learn, organize and persuade.

Mr. Trump said many things during the campaign that concern me, but I believe a lot of that was ill considered ephemeral thoughts that will fall away in the face of the practical obstacles of governing. His authoritarian leanings scare me, but I have faith that our institutions will not bend and break under such pressures. The government is complex and the real challenges our country faces cannot be solved with posturing, gesturing, and braggadocio. I did not vote for Donald Trump, but I am an American, and he is going to be the American President.  It was wrong when Republican’s tried to invalidate President Obama’s legitimacy, and it is wrong now. But, every action has a reaction, and radical Republican policies will quickly erode any support the President and the Republicans have due to the very consequences those programs will beget.  I hope and trust in the little ‘c’ conservatism of our county. Radical change is hard, the minority has a role in the process of government, and there certainly isn’t a consensus for much on the right. Change will need to make it through those wickets.

Now I truly hope the Mr. Trump and the Republican Congress succeed in Making America Great. I personally thought it was great already, but more greatness can’t be bad. I am a patriot and I believe in the American system and the promise of the American Dream. I will give this new administration a chance to win me over. I will evaluate each policy on its merit and will support those that make sense and I will oppose every action that strikes me as wrong. I plan on staying engaged and energized.

The Democrats have 24 months to find candidates who can resonate with the people to unseat the Republicans in Congress. They have 4 years to get their stuff together to take back the White House.  We must band together to chart a more compelling alternative vision.

I believe in a Progressive vision for America. I believe all Americans should be treated equally before law and in all public endeavors no matter their race, ethical origin, sexual orientation, religion or creed. I believe in an America that has freedom of speech and freedom of religion. I believe the Second Amendment provides for the right to bear arms but I also believe it also provides room for sensible gun regulations. I believe in an America that is strong enough to maintain stability in the world but that does not commit our Armed Forces to unending, ill-defined conflicts. I believe that all Americans should be able to work and feel they are progressing to a better future. I believe we must encourage entrepreneurship, encourage small businesses and capital investment. I believe in 
capitalism and market driven resource allocation that is constrained by sensible regulation that dampens capitalism excesses. I believe in taxes because we must collectively pay for the common defense and to advance the common good. However, I believe the government must spend our tax dollars wisely. Every program and every department must be under pressure to perform and deliver in the most efficient means possible. And some governmental roles cannot be outsourced. I believe that the profit motive has no place in our criminal justice system. I believe we can do more to make our Justice system fair for all, and I believe we can be more sensible in the application of criminal punishment. I believe in universal access to healthcare whose delivery and availability isn’t governed by a profit motivated health insurance industry. However, I also I believe that, with the exception of the defense of personal rights, incremental progress is better than radical change and that all change must be tempered by the consideration of, and compromise with those with whom we disagree.

Moreover, I believe most Americans share some of my vision, and I believe we can engage in a dialog to bridge the gap where we differ. I believe the Democratic Party, as the Progressive movement standard bearer, can build a movement that manifests this vision and that takes back the levers of power if all like-minded individuals stay engaged and focused on that end.