by David Leslie, Corvallis
The Trump-Harris debate is over. It reminded me of the Trump-Biden debate, specifically, how it was clear that Biden would lose the upcoming election, thanks to his confused and stumbling performance. I had a similar response Tuesday night. Trump lost his re-election bid when he faced Kamala Harris, proving his unfitness to lead our country.
But do not assume that my comments suggest that I dismiss the grievances, inattention, and mistrust that the rise of MAGA has shown the world. I accept them as valid and accurate. I think they result from decades of “policy” that have benefited the wealthy at the expense of the rest of us. For example, globalization has been a great boon to investors, big business, and the elite. Manufacturing moved to countries with low wages; communities lost businesses and people lost jobs. Towns collapsed.
I mark the start of globalization with the Clinton administration and continued with every administration, Republican or Democrat, since. Not something for us to be proud of.
So, what now?
A national columnist recently wrote that Trump/MAGA needed a landslide defeat for a “new” conservative party to be built. MAGA successfully undermined the old GOP. What MAGA has not done is offer any serious model regarding how we should run the country … concepts, policies and programs that could appeal to and benefit most of our voting population. Trump and his supporters remain stuck in victimhood, grievance and anger. It’s time to move on.
My recommendation comes from a Ryan Busse ad I saw: “Yes, it’s okay to vote Democratic this year.”
John F Schneeberger says
Reagan and the Republicans generally were strong supporters of free trade. Clinton adopted this conservative economic policy from the Republicans in order to appeal to moderates. Before this Democrats were always against free trade and were castigated as being protectionist.