Sunday 16 October 2016

We need a rainbow coalition to beat Trump.

It's hard to pick on what motivates Donald Trump - there's such a big choice.

How about money, fame, immunity from prosecution to start with.

But there is obviously something else and it isn't politics......because in the past he's been closer to the Democrats than he now is to the Republicans. At one time he was friends with the Clintons which probably says more about their bad judgement than about his politics.

Nothing about his personal life suggests that he really has much in common with his bible thumping, right wing, evangelist supporters.

The 'something else', is why Trump is still in the race for President and why he can't be written off yet.

Earlier this year, we went to see the movie 'Ghostbusters' and we had a lot of fun. It was witty, jokey, full of action and CGI effects; it was a real blockbuster.

Despite all that, it hasn't done so well at the box office. A movie like that needs to take about $500 million but it only cleared about £300 million. Sony corporation think they actually lost about $75 million on it but don't feel too sorry for them, they'll make it back on the DVD's.

Their real problem is that they planned sequels and merchandising and all the rest that goes with a popular movie franchise.

Essentially it was a remake of the much loved 1980's movie and that was the problem.

They took the original characters and turned them into women.

Even before it was released there was an internet campaign attacking the script; afterwards at least one of the cast was subjected to abuse and attacks on social media, such that she closed down her Twitter account.

To put it simply, the dads and granddads who saw the original movie in the 1980's didn't take their sons or grandsons to see the remake. It was a distinctly American phenomena but it was very real and you can see the result on the bottom line.

To men who saw the movie when they were young, when all the heroes were men - it was unthinkable that they could now be women.

And (although it's fairly low on the list) sexism is one of the things that motivates Trump - he just can't accept the possibility that a women could be president of the United States.

If you don't believe me - he has a record. When Obama was elected President in 2008, Trump and those who think like him were unable to accept that a black man could be President.

It wasn't meant as a joke and it certainly wasn't funny; he didn't accept that Obama was an American. Trump was the public face of the 'Birther' movement, who claimed that Obama hadn't been born in the U.S.A. and wasn't, therefore, qualified to be President.

Right now, Trump and those who support him, don't accept that a women is qualified to be President either. Which is why he is so rude and contemptuous and why he claims (when he hasn't actually lost yet) that the election is rigged against a poor billionaire like him.

It's why he constantly claims that Clinton "lacks stamina", and claims that she's using "performance enhancing drugs"; because he can't accept that any women could possibly beat him.

Unfortunately, you can see the effect of this in the opinion polls; it's why his support amongst men is much higher than amongst women. 

And it's why Americans need to build a rainbow coalition to beat Trump.

Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

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