“Every member of Congress has a solemn duty to vote for what they believe is best for the country and the American people, not their party,†Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said in a recent statement.
And Manchin is completely correct. Some Republicans, like Mitt Romney, have made similar statements.
Unfortunately, the leadership of the GOP and Democratic Party do not agree, putting party before principles. And when they do not support their party, it is very often due to self-aggrandizement and the desire for publicity, like Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.
Our politics has become more divisive as Americans have split into warring tribes over the past few decades — especially since Donald Trump turned into a cult-like figure heading the MAGA movement. Being born in New York City, before I moved to the hill country in rural Georgia, I understand that Trump views himself like a carnival barker — a P.T. Barnum playing all of us country rubes.
However, I have been a Southerner for a very long time. We are not as clueless as Trump believes.
“Act like you’ve been to town before†is an old Southern saying. Whether we lean right or left, we’ve all been to town before. That’s why I am confused as to why folks in Southern and red states don’t all understand how this con man is manipulating us.
Of course, one key factor encouraging Trump’s resurrection is the general malaise that has come over America since the start of the devastating pandemic in 2020, especially in blue-collar states. According to a February 2024 Gallup report, we are now at the lowest level of personal satisfaction in the past 10 years.
This dissatisfaction is reflected in how the public feels about the economy. Public negativity is in opposition to the facts: avoidance of the predicted recession, growing GDP, low unemployment, record stock market indexes and high job growth. But Trump and the right wing are playing us; perception becomes political reality.
Conservative media are zeroing in on past inflation figures, a big issue for West Virginia’s working class, saying it is Biden’s fault. The facts are much different. Inflation is a worldwide phenomenon, and our inflation is half that of the other OECD democracies. However, that is not what the MAGA base, or even many independents, have been led to believe.
Trust in the news media has been in decline since 1972, when it was 72% overall. Now it is half that. The former president’s consistent communications strategy is clear. Unless Trump approves of something reported by the media, it’s automatically “fake news.†But if he says something, it is automatically an “alternate fact,†regardless of the data and truth. And the cult members believe his every word.
And that includes his presidential news conferences about COVID-19 when he constantly misled the public, indirectly helping to kill hundreds of thousands of Americans who could have been saved had they followed CDC protocols and been vaccinated. The numbers show that blue states fared much better than red ones like West Virginia.
What he calls the “mainstream media,†the fourth estate, has been a major leg of the stool holding up our democracy. It’s under attack, and it will get worse throughout 2024. When we leave the mainstream media and look at right-wing propaganda outlets, online and on TV and the radio, reporting about the current administration is consistently negative.
Trump’s strategy is very effective with his base, including many retro conservatives that I know. My friends and many other Americans, especially white, working-class men like those in West Virginia, are looking for a simpler time when things were black and white (literally, in many cases).
The long-term harm that Trump has done to the reputation of the free press, especially among conservatives, is incalculable. We can only hope that more people will wake up to the truth before the election of a “dictator on day one.†And before all of the moderates, like Senators Manchin and Romney, leave politics altogether.
