Why Studying Middle East Politics Helped This Expert Understand Trump's Appeal

[no_hypocrisy]

Why Studying Middle East Politics Helped This Expert Understand Trump’s Appeal
Shadi Hamid’s work on “illiberal democracy” helped him see the reasons behind Trump’s rise.


Trump cultivated that urgency by appealing to a combination of white identity, nostalgia and economic concerns, but it gained traction because in arousing those sentiments it made people feel like they were a part of something greater than themselves, Hamid maintained. 

“Our starting point as observers shouldn’t be, why did people vote for Trump? It should be, why did members of the so-called white working class ― why wouldn’t they vote for Trump? Because Trump offers them a sense of meaning, a sense of belonging, that their lives were exciting, that there was something to fight for again ― and that’s a very natural human impulse,” Hamid sai

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“Let’s be honest: The Democratic Party is kind of boring, which is fine because I don’t need excitement in my life, I have enough excitement in my life,” he said.

“But apparently it’s not good enough for many Americans who want something more,” Hamid concluded. “And that’s a very interesting debate within the Democratic Party now, which is, how do we sort of return to a fighting faith that can inspire people.”

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/shadi-hamid-understands-donald-trump-appeal_us_583de952e4b0c33c8e129135?

[Red Oak]

1. Hamid is correct. The Democratic party needs a "fighting faith that can inspire people"

“But apparently it’s not good enough for many Americans who want something more,” Hamid concluded. “And that’s a very interesting debate within the Democratic Party now, which is, how do we sort of return to a fighting faith that can inspire people.”

We need to be a big tent with unified actions that inspire. We need to make the future and dream big.

We have been trending toward being groups of people that yell at each other for not being pure enough.

We have also trended toward being a party of "no we can't".