TRUMP

DESPAIR LINGERS 181
aged the most by drug addiction and economic decline were most susceptible
to his message. 568 Eduardo Porter of the New York Times adds
that Trump’s voters were “where the jobs weren’t.” 569 It’s not difficult
to see how Trump managed to capitalize on people’s misfortunes with
a promise to fix their economic troubles, combined with an appeal to
their baser instincts.
Nor is it surprising that the Democrats’ counter-message (“America
Is Already Great”) didn’t play very well in many areas. It smacked
of obliviousness—America is already great… for me. But while life
certainly is great in Seattle and Brooklyn and Los Angeles, elsewhere
not much has changed since 2008, and the Obama economy hasn’t
worked nearly as well for some people as for others.
The election should tell us something important about 2016 America,
then: all is not well. Despair lingers, and if it isn’t addressed, it can
be capitalized upon by self-serving bigots.