Photo by kellybdc | CC BY 2.0
It has looked for a while as if hardcore Trump supporters would, like the poor, always be with us (Matthew 26:11) – some because they remain bamboozled by the huckster’s spiel and bluster, some because they think (not too unreasonably) that even Trump is better than a Clintonite Democrat (as if there is any other kind), and some because they still think (not unreasonably at all) that there is some percentage in it for them.
The latter group is comprised of members in good standing of “the donor class.” Trump’s donors are among the most venal in creation.
The Donald cares about the bamboozled ones and the ones who hate Hillary above all because they feed his vanity, but only the rich ones really matter.
Because rational deliberation and debate have come to count for almost nothing in the real world of American politics, it is their money that talks, and therefore their support that he cares about.
When they finally realize that the man they have been backing is more trouble than he is worth, Trump will be toast. It was their money, more than his own, that put Trump in the White House; and it is their money now that keeps hardcore Trump supporters on board and that helps sustain support for the GOP, the party Trump nominally leads.
This is not to say that, when they start defecting in substantial numbers that Trump’s days in office will be over. Because our electoral system is “exceptionally” undemocratic, even by the…