It's the Culture, Stupid

Remember the saying?  In the '90s when Bill Clinton was rolling to amazing popularity, his brilliant if snakelike consigliere, James Carville came up with the saying that proved to be the key to his wins.  "It's the economy, stupid" was tacked up on a wall by Carville and everything they did became focused on the economy.  And the rest is history.  Clinton was the master of triangulation and he could deftly flex to whichever the winds were blowing.  But his focus on the economy never waivered.  He worked hard to pump us his base by manipulating the economy in their favor.  And it worked.  He was hugely popular to his folks and acceptable to many others.  Of course, his deft abiltiy as a politician didn't hurt.  

That focus has diminished over the subsequent 16 years.  Of course GW Bush had 9/11 and a war to contend with.  Obama was very busy dividing the nation and reorienting many of our institutions.  And they both, because of different reasons, wound up accepting whatever the economy would give them.  We had the crash of 2008 and that interrupted a lot of growth.  Obama had to take some extreme measures to ensure that the crash didn't damage his image.  I don't think he was too concerned about the economic impact but more about how it impacted him.

And through all of this, there was a buildup of dissatisfaction throughout a broad swath of Americans.  That is undeniable.  President Trump is exhibit number one.  The fact that we have a President Trump is the ultimate 'fuck you' to the establishment.  I really think that there were a ton of people who voted for him simply because he was an outsider who would shake things up.  And they really didn't care if he accomplished much except to upset a lot of apple carts.  They thought 'what's the worst that could happen?'.  People had been suffering for a long time without anyone appearing to give a shit about their plight.  Why not throw a bomb in the middle of their comfortable, oh so insider lives.  And Trump is the ultimate bomb.  

I saw a pretty interesting article today that somewhat explains this phenomenon.  You can read it here.    Now I know what you're thinking.  David Brooks!  You've got to be kidding me.  But I have a love/hate relationship with Brooks.  Mostly hate.  But every once in a while he writes something that resonates.  I think his explanation of the impact that Trump is having and will have on the culture is pretty spot on.  Now if you've been reading you know I was never a Trump guy and didn't vote for him.  But I was 10,000% against criminal Hillary so I'm okay with him in the oval office.  He has done a few good things (Neil Gorsuch for one), some okay things, and a bunch of idiotic things.  As long as he doesn't go nuts and get us in a shooting war in Korea I'm pretty okay with his attacks on the media and elites.  As Brooks says, "Because of him, a new culture will have to be built, new values promulgated and a new social fabric will have to be woven, one that brings the different planets back into relation with one another.  That’s the work of the next 20 years."  At least if they're doing that, maybe they'll leave us alone.  It's the culture, stupid!