Tonight Donald Trump will be nominated for a third time by the GOP. And unlike the last two runs for President he is consolidating large portions of both the white working class and minority voters who aren’t wealthy behind him. The party of the New Deal, today’s Democrats sound more like Herbert Hoover than FDR.

Much can be said about the Democrats failure to confront the age issue with Joe Biden and the heads in the sand attitude of many Democratic operatives (some of whom might be cynically hoping for a Trump victory to boost their own bank accounts as the fire back up the “resistance.”) I will let others deal with that matter, though my own view is the switch to either VP Kamala Harris or a fresh face should have happened a year ago – and the option of Harris still is there if Democrats are willing to do the tough thing and make the switch. But alas, they probably aren’t. Still there is no good reason to vote GOP, this year or any year BUT I am seeing more and more people I respect shift to the Republicans. So let’s get into that.

Why was this race was close enough to begin with for Biden’s health and age to spell doom? This is because despite how well Biden has done for the working class, core Democrats appear to have contempt for the working class- this allows charlatan/con artist-types like JD Vance and Donald Trump to appear the more empathetic.

Democrats focus on identity has led DIRECTLY to the loss of class awareness and class consciousness. Let me explain. Once you start grouping people by race or ethnicity they lose sight of what unites them- and I am talking specifically of the leadership setting the tone – working class people haven’t lost sight of what unites them whether they are white, black or brown. But the leadership of the Democratic Party, so anxious to identify people based on race or some sort of hyphenated-American category has totally taken the class issue of the table.

Elites running the party of all races have lost sight of what everyday people go through. People working in politics are comfortable making a living, very often in a cocoon – they make money regardless of whether the economy is good or bad and those in Washington DC often have no idea how the private sector REALLY works. This can be said for the GOP also, going back the 1920’s (the self-proclaimed party of the free market was increasingly in the 1980’s dominated by K-Street types that lived in fancy suburban Virginia homes and never had to get a real job in their life) but that’s not the point.

Democrats have become experts at citing economic data or how the stock market is doing – telling the people even if they’re broke, can’t pay their bills and are destitute that they should feel good about the economy and country – because the stats tell us things are good. This is the height of elitism and an old trick the GOP has pulled since Herbert Hoover’s time.

Perhaps I didn’t understand this myself when my living was made working in politics or government relations – because there was ALWAYS money flowing – the donor regardless of the macroeconomic situation gives to the Democratic candidate or allied entity and that money flows down to the consultant.

The boom and bust business cycles don’t impact them. It didn’t impact me until the last few years, making a living entirely out of politics I live direct deposit to direct deposit and often times, like I currently am behind even if I am working like a dog on multiple private-sector projects (which is why you don’t see me write much original content about Florida politics here anymore- I just don’t have the bandwidth).

I’ve noticed in recent years that many of the politicians and political operatives who are comfortable from a financial standpoint regardless of how they grew up and therefore emphasize certain cultural flash-points rather than understanding the core economic problems. And even if they do understand it, the tone isn’t right. This is why you’re beginning to see African-American voters and tons of others on the margins financially consider voting Republican.

Certain immigrant groups, including Indian-Americans contribute to this. Note the chart below. As a member of this group (though I don’t like the hyphenated-American thing), I can speak to this for a moment. Most “Indian-Americans” I know are Democrats – it’s part of their identity.

But why are they Democrats? Because the GOP are “racists,” or “uncouth.” Do many who are successful doctors want to see national healthcare? HELL NO. In fact they’ll argue with you until they’re blue in the face as to how terrible the NHS or Canadian Health Service is. Because of course they wouldn’t make us much money there.

Do many who are successful engineers or business people want to see a fairer tax code and investment in core urban areas where they don’t ever go? No. Do many in this group want improved mass transit? No, because they’re comfortable in suburbia. All of this is fine- it’s their personal preferences based on their personal comfort and life experiences- but make no mistake about it, this has impact on the Democrats messaging and understanding of common people’s problems. I assume this might go for the other immigrant groups near the top of this char as well.

The populist right is filled with grifters but those who know how to take the temperature of populations be it here in the US or abroad.

To a certain extent we this throughout the western world as right-wing authoritarians mix hard-edged rhetoric on issues of identity and race with leftist views on economics and often times foreign policy. Marine LePen’s movement in France mixes a hatred for the other with a strongly socialist economic platform based on entitlement. Trump and Vance do the same here – and it’s working against a party whose operatives default fallback position is to cite statistics or patronize those who aren’t feeling great about things.

The damage a second Trump term will do to US institutions, our leadership abroad, our sense of dignity and most importantly for me the environment and women’s health cannot be quantified. That’s why it’s so important the Democrats most important messengers get their heads out of their cocktail party set, out of their fancy dinners and globetrotting ways and come back to the people.

Make no mistake about it this time – if Trump wins, blame the Democrats who lost total sight of what made them a majority party in this country, not the people looking for answers who naively voted for a charlatan and his faux populist Harvard-educated running mate.