Trump’s vision includes more than his backers

PRESIDENT Trump’s speech to Congress last week rightfully received praise for its tone and aspirational emphasis. What many have overlooked is how much Trump defied political stereotypes in the process.

Democrats have long proclaimed themselves the champion of the poor and oppressed, and derided Republicans as rich and elitist. Yet Trump is focusing much of his attention on helping the poor, the sick, the oppressed — even in many instances where the beneficiaries of his proposals aren’t necessarily people who voted for him.

Trump lamented, “We’ve financed and built one global project after another, but ignored the fates of our children in the inner cities of Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit —and so many other places throughout our land.”

He decried the nation’s “terrible drug epidemic,” and vowed to combat and “dismantle the criminal cartels that have spread across our nation.”

“We will stop the drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth,” Trump said, “and we will expand treatment for those who have become so badly addicted.”

The president called for streamlining the Food and Drug Administration’s approval process for new medicines, pointing to the example of Megan Crowley. At just 15 months of age, Crowley was diagnosed with Pompe Disease, a rare and serious illness. She wasn’t expected to live past age 5. But her father founded a company to create a cure, developing a drug that has now allowed Crowley to live to age 20 and attend college.

“If we slash the restraints, not just at the FDA but across our government, then we will be blessed with far more miracles like Megan,” Trump said.

Calling education the “civil rights issue of our time,” Trump called upon Congress to “pass an education bill that funds school choice for disadvantaged youth, including millions of African-American and Latino children. These families should be free to choose the public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school that is right for them.”

He cited the example of Denisha Merriweather, a young black woman who failed third grade twice. But then a program allowed her to attend a private school where she flourished. She became the first in her family to graduate from high school, and is now working on a master’s degree.

“Every American child should be able to grow up in a safe community, to attend a great school, and to have access to a high-paying job,” Trump said.

He concluded his speech by declaring, “Cures to illnesses that have always plagued us are not too much to hope,” and that “streets where mothers are safe from fear — schools where children learn in peace — and jobs where Americans prosper and grow — are not too much to ask.” “This is our vision,” Trump said. “This is our mission.” Most families of desperately ill children aren’t in a position to become big campaign donors. Minority children in failing inner-city schools can’t vote, and their families aren’t normally part of the Republican base. Addicts and their families are not a strong lobbying force. Yet all those groups are at the center of Trump’s agenda.

That reflects a vision driven not by raw political calculation, but a sense of morality, and most of all by outrage at injustice. Accomplishing Trump’s vision won’t be a partisan triumph for the Republican Party, but a victory for the entire country.