DON’T IRK THE TRUMP VOTERS
Establishment Democrats don’t like to bandy about the “I-word.” They caution that talk of impeaching President Trump will rile up Mr. Trump’s very loyal supporters — who will flock to the polls on Nov. 6 and launch a red wave to be reckoned with. Curbing impeachment chatter could prove a challenge for these Democrats, particularly when billionaire activist Tom Steyer is spending $110 million to counter Mr. Trump through a public interest group called Need to Impeach, plus vigorous voter outreach and a 30-city national tour.
Then there is the news media. Some journalists continue to “demean the electorate,” citing Trump voters in unkind ways writes American Spectator columnist David Catron, who suggests this practice leads to political peril.
“The Left still doesn’t know why it’s losing,” says Mr. Catron, who points out that New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow referred to Trump voters as “Trump’s noxious base,” “beastly,” and “an enemy of the Republic” — while Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank recently noted that “Trump and his Fox News-viewing supporters dock their spaceship in a parallel universe where truth isn’t truth.”
Mr. Catron cites other journalists who demean Trump voters. He also reached back into history to recall Garry Wills — who in 2000 wrote “Reagan’s America: Innocents at Home,” in which the author described Mr. Reagan’s relationship with the voters as “a kind of complicity.”
Mr. Catron notes that Mr. Wills was ”implying that Reagan and the electorate had colluded to commit some sort of crime. The offense was, of course, their mutual refusal to imbibe the propaganda ladled out by the liberal establishment and the media.” Such talk tends to motivate people. “Trump voters are daily reminded that, at best, they are second-class citizens. That pisses them off, thus they pull the ‘R’ lever. And their relationship with Trump does indeed involve ‘a kind of complicity’ to make America great again,” Mr. Catron observes.
Establishment Democrats are cautioning talk of impeaching President Trump because they say it may launch a “red wave” of voters this fall.