General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Obama Meets With Prospective 2020 Dem Presidential Candidates. Oh My! [View all]Steven Maurer
(459 posts)Plenty of evil people support good candidates when they see their own personal benefit in it or feel they have no other choice (and those candidates also don't press too hard on the parts where they are most evil). Democrats used to be a party that directly appealed to working class white racists. In fact, in the 1950s, the unions were racist too (all but the Wooblies).
Nor is it debatable that racism and sexism drove the 2016 election, not concerns about economic anxiety.
So while I understand that you can sympathize with your friend who got all this enthusiasm for Trump, maybe you ought to ask yourself exactly why he had none when President Obama and the Democrats turned the country around in 2008 from what was looking to turn into a second Great Depression.
For nearly my entirely life, this nation has been in a cycle of; 1) GOP is elected on racism, 2) GOP ruins the economy, 3) White working class racists hold their nose and vote for a Democrat to fix the economy so they can get a job, 4) The economy gets better so they feel safe in voting for racists again. The only way to break this cycle is for either Democrats to start nakedly appealing to evil old racists and sexists, or for us to take the long view.
Even if holding fast to our principles wasn't the right thing to do morally, it certainly is the right thing to do politically. The US is turning into California. And people have long memories about how they were treated. Minorities who become majorities are no exception.