Yes, done right, it really could be a deathblow to the Democratic Party. And I don't think you can play this move and succeed without at least a few of the factors that I'd say are currently in play.
Identity Politics is a big thing now. A big, big, big thing. Between Ibram X. Kendi and Richard Spencer being in agreement and the Democrats fearing attacking ACB will look like attacking and accomplished woman and their meaning in current political context it's fair to say Identity Politics is a major go. Trump sure as shit didn't put that hellspawn into play. Nor is he racist. Which makes this play a fair bit hypocritical, but valid and playable in the current climate: The left hoists them up as victims, scream the President needs to do things for them, well, he's generally been doing things that are good and advantageous for both those groups and in ways that are within his legal power.
I'm a anxious type, prone to feeling bad and wanting to help, and five years ago I would've said I was "Somewhere in the middle on the left, maybe closer to the center." Of course, I knew a lot less then, but regardless my mind tells me if you want to argue the oppression of black people in modern America... OK, well, not by the Federal government (though we can definitely discuss the war on drugs and their effects on the black community), but mostly, it's the Democrats. They're the oppressors. Between the pushes for abortion and Planned Parenthood, their cultural control, all the major Democratic run cities and all that comes with that, well, it's not hard to see why anyone living under that would feel oppressed. In that sense, Trump is taking responsibility and saying "Hey, these guys fucked you for countless decades, wake up, pay attention because it's the other guys who are helping you out. Sorry we failed to kick the Democrats out for decades, but not on my watch." Of course, that's glaringly biased in favor of Trump but it also feels kinda true. It's also unfair and race based, and he can only get away with it because he's trying to help all the people in those fucked over Democratic run areas - which is what a President should be trying to do.
That's just my head cannon on this, anyways. Of course it's also clearly to get more of the black vote, or hell just discourage some black people from voting for Biden at least. I don't think this would've flown pre-2016, and it definitely wouldn't have flown in the 70s, 80s, 90s or 00s. But today? Yeah, sure, I can bend in that direction given the political context without feeling my values have taken a beating, but heh, I might just be justifying it to myself the way people can justify anything :)
Yes, done right, it really could be a deathblow to the Democratic Party. And I don't think you can play this move and succeed without at least a few of the factors that I'd say are currently in play.
Identity Politics is a big thing now. A big, big, big thing. Between Ibram X. Kendi and Richard Spencer being in agreement and the Democrats fearing attacking ACB will look like attacking and accomplished woman and their meaning in current political context it's fair to say Identity Politics is a major go. Trump sure as shit didn't put that hellspawn into play. Nor is he racist. Which makes this play a fair bit hypocritical, but valid and playable in the current climate: The left hoists them up as victims, scream the President needs to do things for them, well, he's generally been doing things that are good and advantageous for both those groups and in ways that are within his legal power.
I'm a anxious type, prone to feeling bad and wanting to help, and five years ago I would've said I was "Somewhere in the middle on the left, maybe closer to the center." Of course, I knew a lot less then, but regardless my mind tells me if you want to argue the oppression of black people in modern America... OK, well, not by the Federal government (though we can definitely discuss the war on drugs and their effects on the black community), but mostly, it's the Democrats. They're the oppressors. Between the pushes for abortion and Planned Parenthood, their cultural control, all the major Democratic run cities and all that comes with that, well, it's not hard to see why anyone living under that would feel oppressed. In that sense, Trump is taking responsibility and saying "Hey, these guys fucked you for countless decades, wake up, pay attention because it's the other guys who are helping you out. Sorry we failed to kick the Democrats out for decades, but not on my watch." Of course, that's glaringly biased in favor of Trump but it also feels kinda true. It's also unfair and race based, and he can only get away with it because he's trying to help all the people in those fucked over Democratic run areas - which is what a President should be trying to do.
That's just my head cannon on this, anyways. Of course it's also clearly to get more of the black vote, or hell just discourage some black people from voting for Biden at least. I don't think this would've flown pre-2016, and it definitely wouldn't have flown in the 70s, 80s, 90s or 00s. But today? Yeah, sure, I can bend in that direction given the political context without feeling my values have taken a beating, but heh, I might just be justifying it to myself the way people can justify anything :)