The political pundits say that Donald Trump’s natural base is less-educated, lower-income, blue-collar white people. Maybe so, but I know one Ivy-educated, middle-class, white-collar Democrat who’ll vote for Trump: me.
I’ve been voting for 40 years, and I’ve never voted for a Republican. That’s about to change. Because it’s not just poor people who’ve been hit hard by a mismanaged economy and one-sided trade deals. The middle class has been under attack for decades. Real incomes peaked in 1999, and they’ve been trending down ever since, under both Republicans and Democrats, all in the name of a spurious concept called “free trade.”
Let’s take a concrete example of “free trade.” Last year, I worked in the information technology department of a major car company. There were hundreds of foreign technology workers in the IT department. Every one was taking a job from an American, and it was all perfectly legal under the H-1B visa program endorsed by George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Only two candidates have opposed that program: Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump.
In fact, Trump and Sanders share many positions. Both opposed the Iraq war. Both opposed NAFTA, the TPP and other ruinous trade deals. Both support raising taxes on the rich. Both decry Wall Street’s bloated compensation packages and tax loopholes.
After the Wall Street crash scuttled the U.S. economy, I didn’t work for nearly two years, burning through my 401k, and waiting anxiously for unemployment checks. Millions were in the same boat. The Obama administration didn’t help us, but it bailed out the banks.
Hillary Clinton condemns Wall Street’s excesses, yet her top three individual contributors are billionaire hedge fund managers. She received hundreds of thousands of dollars from closed-door speeches to the likes of Goldman Sachs, for which she won’t release the transcripts. She and Bill bought their daughter a $10 million apartment in Manhattan.
Perhaps Clinton isn’t on the take. Perhaps it’s all just a coincidence, and she would rein in Wall Street. But she gives every appearance of being the distaff side of a power- and money-mad couple, Lady Macbeth in a pantsuit.
Donald Trump is self-funding his campaign. He doesn’t have a super-PAC. More importantly, he is a dealmaker. For the last eight years, the Republicans have been the Party of No, paralyzing Congress and threatening to shut down the government, while Trump has been developing properties and creating jobs.
Establishment Republicans condemn Washington as “broken,” and regularly lambaste federal employees as lazy. Trump is investing in Washington, rescuing a landmark government building and recasting it as an elegant hotel. He worked closely with members of the federal bureaucracy, and praised their cooperation. This is a Republican who knows how to get things done in Washington.
Trump has a big mouth. I wish he hadn’t said Muslims should be banned from entering the country, or insulted Megyn Kelly. But balance the crude remarks against the real-world effect of his positions. Staying out of the Iraq war would have saved the lives of 600,000 Muslims. His support of Planned Parenthood, alone among Republi can candidates, may protect the health of thousands of women. His record of support for LBGT rights is unquestioned.
This year was supposed to be the first in decades in which the California primary would affect the outcome of a Republican presidential campaign. Didn’t happen, but this middle-class Democrat will be switching parties to help Trump win California, and I won’t be alone.
Lee Todd, who has degrees from Yale and USC, lives in San Marino.
