fascinating article https://nyti.ms/2FQb10Y Can Democrats Follow #MeToo to Victory? Thomas B. Edsall JAN. 18, 2018 Many think the issue of sexual harassment — embodied in the #MeToo movement — will work to the advantage of Democrats in upcoming elections. A mid-December NBC News/Wall Street Journal Survey gave the party a three to one advantage over Republicans on the matter. But it is hardly guaranteed to do so. Views of sexual harassment and of gender issues generally differ sharply by age, sex and partisan allegiance — all of which create substantial unpredictability. The issue has the potential to accelerate the growing discontent among well-educated white women with the Republican Party. But it could also intensify hostility to the liberal agenda among conservatives, particularly white men, many of whom view women’s complaints of discrimination as “an attempt to gain advantage” in the workplace. More at the link. But this caught my eye: In an email, Alex Castellanos, a veteran Republican media consultant and Trump loyalist, put forward his view of why Trump and his supporters are immune to the attacks of the #MeToo movement: Trump displays unalloyed masculine strength. His supporters do not care if he is predatory, insulting, or offensive as long as he is never in doubt, especially if he is kicking the limp Washington establishment around. Trump’s instinct-driven behavior confirms that he is the archetypal alpha-male, the unfiltered reptilian brain, concerned only with sustenance, survival or sex. If anything enters his world, they know he must either eat it, kill it, or mate with it. That’s why they like him. For about half of America, that is terrifying. For the other half, Trump’s strength is the only thing they can count on to protect them from return of the elite bloodsuckers who would devour them. Castellanos continued, heating up his rhetoric: Trump’s supporters don’t expect his unrestrained id to ponder the details of briefing papers before he eats the red meat in front of him. As long as Trump displays strength and grabs the media, the establishment and America’s adversaries by the p***y, he’s the T Rex many of his supporters want. Love that analysis. Wonder what folks think.
Agree w the parts you quoted, but I think slightly more than half of America is horrified by the guy's act. Kudos to you for including incredibly ugly author photo in article about male sexual power and the reptilian brain.
Further thoughts: strongly agree with author that if Dems try to exploit #MeToo politically, it will largely backfire. Identity politics of all stripes keep backfiring for them in the heartland. Who won in rural Wisconsin recently? Yes, the female veteran who preached decency, kindness, and economics. That's the ticket. Not hammering the other party for being various -ists.
Agreed. Let Hollywood carry that mantle (actually like the job many in Hollywood are doing to reform that culture). We’ve seen what is working in these off year elections. Hell a transgender woman got ejected in a purple state by focusing on Infrastructure of her district. People care less about the social/cultural issues and more about what is best for their local and personal wellbeing. Whoever is running against Ted Cruz next year (the race that affects us all the most here locally) probably shouldn’t focus on #metoo in order to win Texas. The state of Texas has much more diversity than Cruz’s far right nonsense politics. You should easily be able to beat his brand with more moderate poltical issues with the diversity we have in Texas. Thats just an example of what is a winning or losing formula to really be serious about winning back the House and maybe having a chance at the Senate.
Agreed. An SJW will suffer in the general. Right now though, hopefuls are going hard left to get a base and then will go back to the middle after the primary. I doubt we will hear about metoo from a candidate after they're nominated.
A common misconception about the Edsel product line is that was named after Edsel Ford, son of Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford. In actuality its aesthetics and name were modeled after Times political reporter and noted Karl Malden impersonator Thomas B. Edsall.
A bi-monthly topic on NPR generally goes into what the Democratic party stands for and apparently the public still has no idea beyond the general abstractions. Oh sure, people know what they're against... What struck me while reading the first half is that a lot of these issues are touchy for everyone involved and it's hard for any big tent party to maneuver without stepping on the toes of the people inside (i.e. juggling tolerance and engagement with Islam against their gross and inherent misogynistic values). While true for both parties, it's more evident for the Dems who have lost poorly at the state and federal levels while they seem to have the numbers to do so much better. There's merit in the accusation that the Democrat tent has become "illiberal" to speech in the manner of how they silence opponents or dissension. There's been personal and professional conversations where a topic of injustice reaches a fever pitch that no sense of appeal or overture to the other side ever makes through. It becomes too binary and tunnel visioned, and while I can agree or understand the ultimate intentions, I also know it'll alienate and ostracize people outside the lines rather than to approach, reconcile, and reintegrate. Maybe that's moot and the reptilian brain has won the day. As in the Bible, it's eye for an eye before both sides start asking for forgiveness, if that should ever happen. That's the game in a nutshell.
Damn, sounds like me. I think one on one, I can take Trump in anything though besides insults. He's extremely good at giving petty insults and ruining you with it, I cannot compete. SIL
That should go in the public polling thread. If you have a poll on how many people want to sex the president versus past presidents, this is the place.
My bad. Although, my guess is that JFK would still be at the top of the "how many people want to sex the president" list as well, and the Dotard would still be last.
