06.25.16
Are there enough Rust Belt counties?
The people in my peer group of the educated and urban, a group I find myself increasingly at odds with this year would say, no, there aren’t enough Rust Belt counties to hand the presidency to Donald Trump.
A Politico article, touched down in Cambria County, PA, collects some anecdotal and statistical evidence. They visit Johnstown, the place of Slap Shot and the Charlestown Chiefs, previously used as for framing purposes here.
Today Karlheim—blue-eyed, 58, and graying around the temples—spends his days behind the wheel of a giant coal truck, but the declining coal industry has hit Karlheim hard. He’s making $10,000 less than he was just three years ago, he said, and he’s worried about his mortgage. “How do you make those payments???? he asked. This spring, after years of not voting for anyone, in either party, in any presidential election, his anxiety compelled him to cast a vote in the Democratic primary. For Bernie Sanders.
His vote helped the socialist from Vermont beat Hillary Clinton in the county—while Trump won big, claiming more votes than either Democratic candidate …
And he has some bad news for the former secretary of state.
While there are some things that worry him about the GOP nominee—“We don’t know his background,??? Karlheim said, and “He’s a bit outspoken.???—he likes that Trump is talking about jobs. “That’s what we need,??? which is why, Karlheim said, “In the big election … I’m going for Trump.???
“In the past, people here have turned to the Democrats,??? said Chris Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion in Allentown, Pa., 200 miles to the east. “They were the ones who looked after working-class interests, in their minds. But there is a belief that that isn’t the case anymore—and now they’re shopping around for an alternative.???
The interior, and environs around Pittsburgh, will go for Trump the article continues. But it may not be nearly enough to offset the weight of Clinton voters in “more affluent” southeastern Pennsylvania.
A picture of Johnstown’s steel mill could just as well have been looking at Bethlehem Steel from the bridge over the Lehigh River in south Bethlehem when I was there.
It comes down to class war. The Democratic Party has no interest in those left behind by the decades-long shocks of globalization. It’s all right with the consequences.
The presidency of Hillary Clinton will be an anathema to those left behind, despite her statement that “there’s a need for us to pull together to solve the challenges of our country …”
For the Clinton’s, that hasn’t been true for a long time. The words are fine-sounding but unbelievable.
Christoph Hechl said,
June 26, 2016 at 4:44 am
The same, over and over. In Germany, the SPD (socialist party of germany) was long synonymous for being pro workers and unions. While Gerhard Schröder did one thing right by refusing to join the assault on Iraq and improving relations with Russia, ha also demolished important parts of the social security systems, just like his predecessor Kohl had done. That was around the Clinton era.
Today we are faced with a lack of a true alternative for people like me, who are deeply socialist and anti-fascist. For a short while i had put my hope in the pirate party, but they got destroyed, in my opinion, by leveraging modern feminism against them.
I feel a slight joy, when i see the votes spread over more political parties, while still finding it hard to choose the lesser evil.
I wonder what would happen if we introduced a demand to vote, but with the option “none of those” and left seats in parliament empty for the percentage of people who chose that.
George Smith said,
June 27, 2016 at 3:35 pm
I’d go for that idea, particularly if above a certain percentage it would immediately trigger a dismissal of the slate and a reschedule. It would introduce quite the potential for chaos.
I’m reading Varoufakis new book, “And the Weak Suffer What They Must?” Right now I’m on the history of the EU and the wranglings between the French and the German government when the US decided to reindustrialize the latter.
I imagine he must be pretty much despised by the top tier in your country.
Christoph Hechl said,
June 30, 2016 at 2:42 am
I guess that may be right, although, of course, noone would admit it like that.
Then again, anyone who is disliked by that devil in a wheelchair (Wolfgang Schäuble, minister of finance) has at least some of my sympathy.
George Smith said,
June 30, 2016 at 8:33 am
You’d like the book. You can find a copy on kickass — hssst, don’t tell anyone. ;)