Donald Trump recently had a good few weeks which included an acquittal by the Senate. The media lashed out at Republican senators for defending the President and for towing the party line.

Ironically, the only issue around which Trump aligns with the Republican Party is his pro-economic platform. In many ways, he is a new type of leader…taking agendas from both parties’ platforms and creating a singularly new vision for the country.

Trump’s Agenda

Trump is a nationalist. He rejects the big business, laissez faire capitalism favored by the traditionally Republican/Wall Street Journal/Mitt Romney free market fundamentalists. He also rejects the militarism of the George Bush/Dick Cheney cabal that ensnared the nation in so many wars.

Yet, Trump also favors the working class and unions which have been the backbone of the middle class. This constituency tends to be Democrat; yet, has clearly sided with Trump as the Progressive Left jettisoned that same constituency in favor of the kingmakers in media, Silicon Valley and high finance.

The Left’s Agenda

Historically, the Left aligned with the working class while prioritizing free speech and freedom of expression as fundamental liberal values. These values ran as a counterweight to the religious Right, as the Democrat Party promoted itself as the voice of immigrants and the underdog. Its message was less militaristic in nature, having been the party that disliked intervention in foreign nations. Yet, with the advent of Obama and his Administration’s intervention into Libya and Syria, both parties succumbed to the “war state” mentality and agenda. Today, the Left has morphed into a new party that is barely recognizable to traditional Democrats.

The Left, with its counter-cultural message, is now ironically the “Establishment” It rules significant parts of corporate America that favor censorship and public shaming. The Left devalues free speech and due process (remember Brett Kavanaugh?) and has become oppressive in its views, fiercely secular and godless. Although it eschewed what it tagged the oppressiveness of the religious Right, the Left is perfectly comfortable exercising its own form of oppression.

How Trump Crosses Party Lines

Trump is emblematic of a new movement that centers around a constituency that both parties abandoned. It’s why his popularity remains so strong. For example:

When Trump took office he pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Accords ( an accord which helped to reduce climate change) because he viewed the treaty as harmful to American interests and American workers. Companies would be burdened by taxes and regulations that would force them to hire less workers. Trump removed this regulatory burden which has freed up more jobs for everyday Americans. In the 1990’s, Bill Clinton and the Republican party moved on the NAFTA deal which was aimed to help business throughout the U.S. More trade meant more jobs for everyone. But the net result was that many factories moved to Mexico and Americans lost jobs that never returned. Trump killed the NAFTA deal. Unions and workers rejoiced as they knew it was going to help them economically.

In the first example, Trump angered Democrats by killing the darling of climate change advocacy. In the second example, he killed NAFTA, the darling of big business, thereby angering the Right. In both cases, Donald Trump sided with everyday Americans knowing these two policies harmed the lives of his constituency.

Why Trump’s Popularity Grows

Trump is an anomaly, a Republican who favors policies that help the working class. Yet, what so many people seems to miss about him is that he is implementing policies that help all people. He is a politician that actually works for the people in order to make their lives better.

Both parties seem to have lost sight of their role and their job which is to do exactly what Trump is doing, help improve the lives of the people they serve. Forgetting that fundamental purpose leaves both parties wandering in the dark while Trump stands glowing in the spotlight.

Steve Clark

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