Friday, December 11, 2015

Musing About the Disconnect

I've been thinking about the events of the past week, with particular reference to the disconnect between Republican voters on the one hand and their elected representatives on the other. I started to write "leaders" and realized these individuals were leading few anywhere, although they've clearly tried to do so.

They've marched off, loudly declaiming "Follow me!" and, looking over their collective shoulder, discovered darned few following them. You see their leadership failure in the modest poll numbers of their chosen candidates.

We of the grassroots don't believe the party officials have done much representing of our interests. Mostly, they've represented the interests of the big donors who live in gated communities, travel by limo or private jet, and experience immigrants - legal or otherwise - mostly as properly deferential maids, pool boys and gardeners.

Nationalism is on the march, in Europe, Asia, and here. "Make America Great Again" is a slogan appealing to that feeling. Candidates who understand this - and speak to it - have been prospering. It remains to be seen if that trend will continue through November, 2016, I predict it will.