All Presidential candidates make promises. But Trump’s have seemed to be more ridiculous and unrealistic than most–building a wall to keep Mexicans out; bringing back factories with high-paying jobs; deporting all immigrant criminals during his first hour as President; and vastly increasing spending on the military while radically cutting taxes, for starters.
Some of his supporters take these promises literally: they genuinely believe that Trump can sign some paper and big factories paying $100,000 annual salaries to workers will instantly appear. Mexico will pay for that Wall and Americans will be paid high wages to build it (and go on getting those high wages for life). Tax revenues can be cut drastically, and yet police protection and military spending will be increased.
Other Trump supporters may realize that these promises are unlikely to be fulfilled. But they still support Trump-----because they are confident that he will do the one thing that won’t be expensive for the government to provide, yet will mean the world to them:
Trump’s implicit promise is that he will give white straight Christian males the status to which their birth entitles them: First Class Citizenship. And what makes a particular level of citizenship First Class is, of course, the existence of Second Class (and below!) citizenship.
In the past couple of days there’s been a lot of argument around the question, is birtherism racist? And why did Trump go on working the birther angle for so many years after “forcing” Obama to petition the state of Hawaii to release his long-form birth certificate?
…Trump made his political career by asserting his entitlement to the deference of any black man: he claimed his right to make the black man Show His Papers. Because Trump outranks any black man. This is what Trump’s birtherism was all about–not just about delegitimizing an African-American President (though it certainly was that), but more importantly, about upholding the birthright of any white Christian straight male to force a black man to show him deference.
That’s the promise Trump has made to his followers: White, Northern-European-ancestry straight Christian males are, of course, at the top. But even if you fail to be at the very top (white Northern European straight Christian male), you can still claim your rightful dominance over those below you.
Look at all Trump’s positions, and how they fit in with his implicit promise to defend those who wish to assert dominance over those ‘below’ them:
[ul]
[li]—Women who don’t like being harassed at work can just leave those jobs–Trump will support the right of men to do as they like with the women working for them. [/li][li]—Non-Christians will have to prove that they hold the “correct” values if they want to enter this country–Christians have the right to enforce their values on non-Christians.[/li][li]—Christians (males, even) who fail to have white Northern European ancestry, and who came here without proper papers, will have to leave and maybe then get to come back–even if they came here as small children. Those who came here without proper papers but who are of Northern European ancestry won’t be put through this upheaval and humiliation. Northern Europeans have the right to look on with disdain as Christians who fail to be Northern European are called names and/or deported.[/li][li]—Christians (males, even) who fail to have enough white Northern European ancestry (e.g., have substantial African ancestry) will have to get used to having a “C” for “colored” put next to their name when they apply for housing, jobs, etc–following in the glorious tradition of Trump’s own businesses.[/li][/ul]
This is Trump’s pledge to his supporters: If you are a white person of a certain degree of personal insecurity, the idea that those “below” you in rank (the black, the Hispanic, the Muslim, the gay, the female, etc.) will have to bow their heads to you when you enter a room, must be irresistible. Trump will make those people official Second Class Citizens—with the “C” next to names, the “extreme vetting,” the deportation forces, the roll-back of sex-discrimination laws and women’s health care, and all the rest of the measures he’s promised so far.
The promises about high-paying factories and Wall and other improvements requiring massive spending while government revenues are slashed, may fool a small fraction of Trump supporters. But the promise of being able to expect your officially-designated “inferiors” to respectfully step aside for you, bowing and apologizing, is a potent motivator. It’s the most naked appeal to ego any politician has ever made: “you will be a little king in your own world as long as you make me king over the USA.” That’s powerful stuff–powerful enough to bring Trump’s voters to the polls with rabid enthusiasm.
Hillary Clinton cannot make an equivalent promise. All she can do is try to expose the game.
(Credit to MSNBC contributor Touré Neblett, whose remarks on yesterday’s AM Joy got me started on this line of thought.)