America Is So in Play - Donald Trump’s staying power in the polls reflects a change in the electorate only now coming into focus.

[DCPatriot]

America Is So in Play
Donald Trump’s staying power in the polls reflects a change in the electorate only now coming into focus.

Peggy Noonan

So, more thoughts on Donald Trump’s candidacy, because I can’t stop being fascinated.

You know the latest numbers. Quinnipiac University’s poll this week has Mr. Trump at a hefty 28% nationally, up from 20% in July. Public Policy Polling has Mr. Trump leading all Republicans in New Hampshire with 35%. A Monmouth University poll has him at 30% in South Carolina, followed 15 points later by Ben Carson.

Here are some things I think are happening.

One is the deepening estrangement between the elites and the non-elites in America. This is the area in which Trumpism flourishes. We’ll talk about that deeper in.

Second, Mr. Trump’s support is not limited to Republicans, not by any means.

Third, the traditional mediating or guiding institutions within the Republican universe—its establishment, respected voices in conservative media, sober-minded state party officials—have little to no impact on Mr. Trump’s rise. Some say voices of authority should stand up to oppose him, which will lower his standing. But Republican powers don’t have that kind of juice anymore. Mr. Trump’s supporters aren’t just bucking a party, they’re bucking everything around, within and connected to it.

Since Mr. Trump announced I’ve worked or traveled in, among other places, Southern California, Connecticut, Georgia, Virginia, New Jersey and New York’s Long Island. In all places I just talked to people. My biggest sense is that political professionals are going to have to rethink “the base,” reimagine it when they see it in their minds.

more at:  http://www.wsj.com/articles/america-is-so-in-play-1440715262

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[alicewonders]

We might be seeing the seeds of a revolution, one that is long overdue.

 

[Right_in_Virginia]

If you can wade through Noonan's writing, the article is well worth the read. I found this paragraph striking:

Something is going on, some tectonic plates are moving in interesting ways. My friend Cesar works the deli counter at my neighborhood grocery store. He is Dominican, an immigrant, early 50s, and listens most mornings to a local Hispanic radio station, La Mega, on 97.9 FM. Their morning show is the popular “El Vacilón de la Mañana,” and after the first GOP debate, Cesar told me, they opened the lines to call-ins, asking listeners (mostly Puerto Rican, Dominican, Mexican) for their impressions. More than half called in to say they were for Mr. Trump. Their praise, Cesar told me a few weeks ago, dumbfounded the hosts. I later spoke to one of them, who identified himself as D.J. New Era. He backed Cesar’s story. “We were very surprised,” at the Trump support, he said. Why? “It’s a Latin-based market!”

And this one, too:

I said: Cesar, you’re supposed to be offended by Trump, he said Mexico is sending over criminals, he has been unfriendly, you’re an immigrant. Cesar shook his head: No, you have it wrong. Immigrants, he said, don’t like illegal immigration, and they’re with Mr. Trump on anchor babies. “They are coming in from other countries to give birth to take advantage of the system. We are saying that! When you come to this country, you pledge loyalty to the country that opened the doors to help you.”

I'm wondering if we'll get through this election without seeing pitchforks and torches. 

[Bigun]

I like everything about this article except the fact that it was written by Peggy Noonan.

[alicewonders]

I like everything about this article except the fact that it was written by Peggy Noonan.

Peggy tends to go where the wind blows her.

This should tell you something about what direction the wind is blowing.

 

[Scottftlc]

Sometimes tectonic plates do move...seas do change...and tides in the affairs of men too.

It isn't always same old, same old.

[aligncare]

If you can wade through Noonan's writing, the article is well worth the read. I found this paragraph striking:
 

And this one, too:
 

I'm wondering if we'll get through this election without seeing pitchforks and torches.

That second quote is precisely germane to explaining Trump's popularity. Legal immigrants, whatever their country of origin, do not support illegal immigration. Americans, whether born here or naturalized, understand the difference between legal and illegal.

[DCPatriot]

Rush spent some time on Noonan's column today.   

He told us about the time she met him for the first time and she said...."Oh!!  You're the one who reaches all the truck drivers?"