Where does this man get his news? The TImes should begin including this information in all the profiles!
I found this man interesting because he at first didn't seem like a jerk. But then he pops up with the Fox party line. Or maybe it is just his anti-immigration stance that Trump reflects that he likes. I confess to reading mostly "liberal" news sources, but they tend to also include what the other side is saying. It is hard as a liberal not to know what the Fox crowd is hearing and thinking because it is reported by everybody ad nauseum. The Fox crowd doesn't read the Times or The New Yorker, for example, both of which have some of the most substantive reporting around.
Ask your interview subjects whether they listen to Sean Hannity. that will tell us more than anything.
5
“The thing about him,” Kennedy tells me, “is that there’s forward energy. He’s like a horse with blinders at the Kentucky Derby. If there’s another horse in the way, knock it out and ride the rail. I listened to him, on immigration, on draining the swamp, on lobbyists, and I liked that. As I recall, it was ‘We the people’ not ‘We the empowered.’ ” Now we know what people power is but above isn't it.
One huge flaw in this article -- this former Democrat was not asked which networks and radio shows he utilizes as his news and media sources.
The transformation of this now-Trump person follows the path outlined in the numerous depictions of "how my father became brainwashed by Fox News (with a bit of an assist by Rush Limbaugh)." One of the best known portrayals is reviewed here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidalm/2016/03/25/review-the-brainwashing...
There is no excuse for failing to inquire about what caused this change ...
More's the pity ... one more reason to regret the loss of the Fairness Doctrine and insistence that the public airways fairly cover civic issues.
75
In 1970, I was one of the guys taking care of those *de-armed* and *de-legged* soldiers, in a bunker dug into a hillside and bermed beneath three feet of sandbags, 12 to 24 minutes after they were wounded and 12-24 hours before Mr. Kennedy saw them in the air conditioned hell of a clean and bright hospital. I remember taking my bandage scissors to cut the last 1" strand of skin tethering the boot and foot of a sergeant (who could have been a model for a Bill Mauldin sketch) to his knee. Everything else in between was strewn on the jungle floor a few miles from where I stood. I wrapped the raw stump in gauze and carried the sergeant back to a Medevac chopper for the transfer to 3rd Field Hospital in Saigon. It's possible we worked on the same man.
That incident, along with a handful of others (Nixon's belated announcement that American soldiers had "just" invaded Cambodia being the final straw), turned a Republican into a Democrat.
Nothing I have seen from that day to this would get me to vote for the Republican candidate for president. Certainly not Trump. "Go beyond the noise!!!" My god, man, that is all there is to Trump: Noise. He lacks morals, intelligence, humility, curiosity, any degree of calmness and the empathy needed to be even a competent leader of something so small as crew of ditch diggers. And this man, who makes Nixon look like a celibate saint, is the President of the United States?
I have greater hopes for my country than this.
172
He is not the only sentient intelligent being who has twisted himself into a pretzel to justify the unjustifiable. Trump is exactly who he is, he doesn't hide his racism, his disrespect of women, minorities, non white christian or nonchristian immigrants, etc., etc. The people who voted for him and then turn a blind eye to offenses that they would not tolerate if inflicted on themselves or their loved ones are acquiescing to it all.
The Holocaust in Europe happened precisely because people opted not to believe the horrors they saw with their own eyes ( violence against otherwise innocent law abiding citizens, attacking, destroying and usurping personal and private property, shipping masses out to camps, breaking up families, etc.etc., just because Hitler convinced them "the aliens" were the cause of all their problems.
History is repeating itself once again as Trump has touched on the hidden racist attitude that has existed in the US since before he revolution. Most Americans are not racists but there is a segment of the population that has a feared the loss of the good old days when "those people" were properly kept where they belonged.
When people turn a blind eye and still condone the reprehensible actions of the few, people, they are just as guilty.
T o white America I say this: there are enough non white US Citizens, by birth or naturalized, who will soon become the majority of the population. This change is unavoidable. Get used to it. Live and let live.
84
If this is a long spiel to get us to the point where many Democrats already are: that we need someone younger and less shopworn than Biden or Sanders then why not say so at the start? I know people like Kennedy; if they haven't seen Trump for what he so obviously is by now, they will keep voting for his ignorance and chaos. As long as you don't talk politics you don't see the ignorant and, yes racist, drivel that they lap up. Trump was absolutely right: he could shoot someone in the middle of 5th Ave in broad daylight and they would still vote for him because they, like most victims of unrepentant con artists, don't want to acknowledge that they were conned. They are entranced by the bluster and love the fact that he "says it like it is" only that it isn't the way it is.
You may not want to call him a deplorable but the reality is that he voted for and still supports a man of complete depravity and ignorance. That's not what people who love this country do. And, you, a person whose family escaped the Nazis, should recognize more than most that Kennedy is very like those Germans who voted for the Nazis. I grew up in a family like yours and I learned very early how important it is not to be conned by slogans and fake news. Clearly Kennedy has learned none of that. I'd call that deplorable.
89
The problem with Mr. Trump is simple. We do not get to pick and choose which Trump we get. We may like his stance on draining the swamp during the campaign but the drainage from the swamp was pumped into a cistern now refilling the well of the Congress and the White House. Alleged wife-beaters and child molesters are only cast aside which called out by (most recently foreign) media.
My plan for the Democratic platform in 2018-2020 is simple. You give us something and we give you something back. Here are some bullet points:
- A program of obligatory national service for two years after high school or at age 20 for non-graduates. Join the military, the Peace Corps, become a teacher, work in a nursing home, rebuild our national parks, whatever.
- Attach a green card to the back of every doctoral certificate awarded to a non-citizen.
- Pass a Federal act to mirror California's DISCLOSE Act. Those who fund politicians will be clearly identified.
---(continued)
29
There can be nothing honorable in a man who excuses a known liar and deliberately places his country at risk by voting for a glorified con-man out of anger
74
Maybe he's an honorable man but he's got so many blinkers on when it comes to Trump he's blind as a bat. Trump lies as he breathes, beginning with the birther lie about Obama and telling so many others -- what was it, the NYT counted 2,000 or 2,500? -- one cannot keep track. He has not drained the swamp, he's turned it into a cesspool. And he is daily weakening our democracy with his ethics violations, attacks on the press and judiciary, his admiration for dictators and blatant disregard for the constitution. Those who see no evil, hear no evil and sit by or admire while evil is done are as evil as the evildoer.
48
Of course, he doesn't see himself as a racist. No racist sees themselves as one, just as no wife beater sees themselves as an abuser, and no murderer sees themselves as evil.
There's no way for Democrats to reach people like this, and it's a waste of breath to try. Much, much better to try to reach the energized left. Get out and vote!
60
"“There are too many people running around who have no business being here.”
And this is honorable? Since when did naked xenophobia become acceptable? Is it a reflection of the parlous times we are in, that anybody that does not support Nazis is called 'honorable'?
42
One of the commenters writes: "Mr. Kennedy thinks Trump is not a racist because Mr. Kennedy is one."
Nothing in this article leads me to believe that Mr. Kennedy is a racist, but here you have commenters, maybe because of their own vile hatred, calling Mr. Kennedy a racist... because why? Because the man holds a political view different from their own? Because the man has a different life experience from their own? It's really shameful on the part of "John" to make the accusation, and the Times shouldn't allow it.
15
No one who supports a racist, sexist, serial sexual assailant is an "honorable American."
42
Anti-immigrant backlash has been a recurrent theme in American history since our founding. Nakedly racist immigration policy ended (mostly) only in 1965. If you look back at the Act of 1924, it severely restricted Africans, Jews, Italians and Slavs, and banned Arabs and Asians completely. The puzzling thing about this voter, and 62 million others, is how a thrice-married, draft dodging, serially bankrupt, willfully ignorant libertine conman became their false messiah. This is the man who is supposed to deliver America from its current ills?
Well, at least he’s not part of the hated elite-you know, those people who live in fancy skyscrapers in NYC and hobnob in Palm Beach in the winter...
27
If nothing is learned in recent decades, one thing is that normally intelligent folks (mostly white men) can be manipulated by a steady stream of biased media into near idiots. It's not that Democrats don't deserve some scorn, especially since Bill Clinton, as the party has turned from the working class but to see Trump and/or the GOP as the solution defies all logic. Now the Left is being asked to dance around the bubble dwellers so as not to offend by speaking the truth. The Dems need a strong Progressive message and they need to reject the myth and fear of being a fringe element. They are mainstream - act like it!
29
If you love Trump. If you willfully remain blind to the pure evil of the man. His racism,sexism, homophobia, anti all but straight white men who call themselves Christians. If you love Trump? You are not honorable.
36
I don't even know what to say in response to this kind of willful delusion.
37
I know a hundred guys like this fellow; I'm related to 5 or 6 of them. They are all salt of the Earth and would give you the shirt off their back. If your car was stuck in a ditch in the middle of the night, they are the guys and gals you'd call. They'd show up. You know their Dads and Mothers and watched their kids play sports. They can fix things, make things and when someone dies, they bring a casserole, and its darned good. But, somewhere along the line they lost the thread of what this country is and should be all about. Maybe they're not overtly racist but they think Mexicans should go back where they came from and blacks should stay in their place. They maybe voted for Obama, but grew disillusioned when it turned out he didn't have a magic wand. It seemed a good idea at the time. Now they watch FOX, listen to Rush and, if they are on Facebook, they only see posts from folks who agree with them. Maybe they are not irredeemable, but if we listen to them, this country will go around a bend that it maybe can't turn back from. Most, like my people, already live in a state or region that is almost lost and they only see solutions, like Trump, that will pull the whole country over that edge. See them there, with their signs, and hear their chants and shouts; they are right behind him at all his rallies.
81
This gentleman is just like all the Trump supporters that I know personally--delusional. He's been fooled by Trump's persona. There isn't anymore there there. The racist, bigot who excuses wife-beaters and pedophiles that he either likes or thinks can do him good politically is all that there is. The smell of corruption from DC--both the White House and GOP Congress is overwhelming. The rats are jumping ship--whether because they can't pass their background checks or whether they know political Armageddon is coming, Mr. Kennedy is wrong here--there is nothing and no one to respect in this administration.
47
The Democratic Party has nothing to learn from Kennedy, who is clearly not that bright. (He doesn't believe Trump is racist‽ He clearly hasn't been paying attention.)
He won't trust the Clintons, despite very no evidence of corruption on their part, but he trusts Trump, a pathological liar who is known to have repeatedly refused to pay his subcontractors.
If there is a "horse with blinders" here, it's Shannon Kennedy. The Democratic Party has nothing to learn from him.
54
While possibly not entirely in the category unmitigated hogwash this opinion piece comes pretty close. "...he could charm hungry pups from a meat wagon.”, "... wouldn’t spend a nickel to watch the Statue of Liberty swim back to France!”
"...scrappy, can-do fighter who’s known hard times and believes there’s no substitute for a day’s work." “Trust the Clintons? Not with the Lord’s breakfast, he says." "If I thought he was a racist, I’d be off the train so fast you’d have to mail me my shadow."
Mr. Kennedy is a true Trump supporter.
35
Great insight into how many Americans view Trump. They hold their nose and hope for the best. If the Democrats run Biden, Clinton, Kerry or anyone associated with the Clinton/Obama axis they are toast in 2020. What they need is fresh blood from the South or Midwest...ideal candidate....youngish, military veteran, middle-class background, quality education...governing or major corporate experience...could be male or female....campaign strategy would be to make Trump look like a perverted, old uncle...which wouldn't be hard.
18
Finding a poster child example of willful ignorance and stupidity proves nothing.
The fact that trump is destroying the very pillars of government that the Kennedys depend on is tragic.
They follow trump for the same reasons that the Germans followed Hitler. The lies make them feel good - and even superior to the people they hate.
Coates writes about this when he references "The Bloody Heirloom" of slavery.
Hate is the opium of the masses - and trump, Hannity, Eichmann and Himmler leveraged that very well.
40
I agree that the Democrats needs someone who can appeal to all Americans but can all Americans agree that sexism and misogyny are bad? If not, don't nominate a woman. Can all Americans agree that Nazis are bad and racism is wrong? If not, then don't nominate someone who is Jewish or black. And let's not forget the Russians' role in the last election. 21 states were targeted. Will the Russians promise next time not to interfere?
8
this country deserves to go down the drain -
12
“He’s served his country. He’s a patriot. He’s no “deplorable.” He’s smart.”
Add gullible to the list of Kennedy’s characteristics. I understand what he’s yearning for, but in supporting a schoolyard bully cum used car salesman for president, he’s either delusional or deplorable.
33
So Mr. Cohen, You gonna be marching with Mr. Kennedy if that person in the White House gets his parade down Pennsylania Avenue off
the ground ?
9
I will begin to respect the office of the Presidency again when Trump and Friends are gone. Of course Kennedy is pleased with Trump. Trump is the "President of His Base" -- only. Per Kennedy: "If I thought he was a racist, I’d be off the train so fast you’d have to mail me my shadow. " Really? Think about it long and hard - what do you think Make America Great Again means? If "white" is not in your answer then you are delusional.
Democrats WON the popular vote with a decidedly flawed candidate. Trump was elected because of GOP gerrymandering practices that are now proving to be illegal. Why do you think Trump is so focused on the "legitimacy" of his presidency? Even he knows it was rigged by the GOP and the Russians.
19
The vulgar ape has told 2000+ documented lies since assuming the presidency. Apparently the "major" is OK with that. I ain't.
28
Kennedy sounds like a likable, down-to-earth guy. Basically, what he's saying is that after eight years of Mr. Cool Intellectual Be-Nice It's Complicated President he was ready for a rumble. I felt a little of that desire for a shake-up too (not enough to vote for him), but what we've gotten is a shakedown of the little guys. He's talked one game and played another. He's stacked the deck for the winners, made the rich richer, and kicked people who were already down. I thought he was really going to take Wall Street down a notch, but he hired Wall Street. I thought he was going to stop wasting money and lives on stupid, winless wars but he's rattling sabers and pumping up the military with billions more to waste. Sure, he talks like a thug with a fifth-grade vocabulary. He doesn't care whom he insults. He waves the flag. He entertains. He's not Obama and he's not Hillary. That's all.
16
What will it take to persuade this man Trump is a racist? Charlottesville means nothing to him? Palling around with Bannon is ok? Putting devout Confederate Beauregard Sessions in charge of the Justice Dept? The plight of Puerto Rico is of no consequence? T’s characterization of Haiti and African countries? His use of Ben Carson as a token? His birthed slander against Obama? What does this “patriot” make of T’s affection for Putin and disinterest in combatting Russian interference with our election? Oh, that’s not racism, it’s just plutocracy, so it’s ok. . .not buying Kennedy’s “honor” or smarts. Maybe he’s naive, if not deluded.
17
I think a visit to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” written in 1963 would shed some much needed light and insight into the clouded judgement of Mr. Kennedy in today’s Trump world.
In this letter King offered a very pointed critique of what he saw as white moderates who were unwilling to truly commit themselves to helping bring about change, who as he says “who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a ‘more convenient season’.”
I personally think that Mr. Kennedy, if pushed to truly express his innermost thoughts, would admit to embracing the mindset of those back in 1963 Birmingham of which King struggled to understand, that which prefers to wait a while before doing what truly needs to be done.
As King wrote, “Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”
13
This article does prove one thing; people like Kennedy will never be swung over to reality. Donald Trump could indeed shoot someone in NYC and still be above the law. There is no way Kennedy could vote and support O’Bama on one hand, and then turn to Trump on the other hand for the reasons he uses in the article. You know what has really happened to Kennedy? Ask a Patriot Muslim who always loved this country and then one day blew up a building and killed people. Forget the present terminology of being Racialized which is really a cop out for not using your brains and wisdom to search for truth. If people like Kennedy are going to be our salvation to win the next election, then count me out! I still prefer to use Truth, Beauty & Goodness as my criterion when voting.
9
You put your money on the wrong horse, sir.
Sure, there are points in life, often older age, where the "let's shake things up" motive buries care and good sense, but Trump is not the man to carry the torch. He is utterly, completely unsuited and unprepared for the presidency and he refuses to learn.
If you listen to Trump when he is interviewed, he says it himself. Last week, he talked about the presidency involving "heart", something he said he didn't need in business. "Just get your money" were the words he used to describe his prior life. Earlier, he talked about how difficult the job is and "Who knew things could be so complicated?", like health care. Well, shucks. We all knew because, unlike him, we've been paying attention for years, not just a matter of months.
I can respect the man who states his opinion, but that doesn't mean I need to respect the opinion. What kind of idiot brags about the size of our nuclear button? What president deliberately, repeatedly taunts a dictator who shows every indication of being mentally imbalanced? What president has ever used his office to personally attack individual private citizens with whom he disagrees? What president has so blatantly used the office to build his wealth?
The next election is not about how much the Democrats need to change. It is about whether citizens want an undisciplined, reckless demagogue to continue to damage the presidency and America's reputation around the world at the risk of nuclear war to boot.
14
Being smart and serving one's country does not make one un-deplorable. Anyone still supporting this dear leader doesn't know the difference between real patriotism and his own ...self-delusion.
12
Mr. Kennedy may or may not be "honorable," but he is certainly not very bright. He puts his trust in a con-man (while proclaiming that the Clintons are corrupt) who has colluded with the Russians to destroy American democracy. Are you sure he isn't a graduate of Trump University?
16
Dear Shannon: Do you drink water from the Great Lakes? Good luck with that!! EPA is now the vast toxic dump. As for Trump, he's one of the guys who used to put signs up, barring entry to your ancestors (and dogs). He's the guy who will forge title to your home if he has to, and replace a real judge with one his golf buddies. Do you go to church? My advice it so seek out that priest in the OTHER parish who's still loyal to Pope Francis.
12
Hey, Mr. Kennedy, do you know that when your military buddies were having their limbs blown off in Vietnam and you were stitching them up, your hero The Donald was getting bogus medical deferments for -- get this -- bone spurs in his heels. Funny, those heel spurs kept him out of the rice paddies but not off the tennis courts.
DJT played you and your fellow vets back then, and he's playing you again right now.
22
We’re learning about the current administration from Omarosa on yet another reality tv show. This is the preposterous state of the US under Donald Trump.
I’d say this “honorable American”, like all those still defending the hyperbolic fraud in the White House, has purchased a lifetime ticket to the wrong side of history.
Oy.
12
it is not honorable to be an ignorant citizen. It is shirking your responsibility to your country.
136
"He’s also “a fighter, a scrapper, the kind of guy who says ‘damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.’"
All Trump supporters (those who are not already wealthy and don't care how they get more) whose interviews I have read in the past year have made similar statements. I've got news for them. He is not doing it for YOU.
Also, you always hear "He said he is going to do this and do that". But when he says something racist, vulgar or clearly untrue, suddenly it's, “Don’t take him at face value."
Can't have it both ways and be taken seriously. Good God, how flat out deluded are some of these people?
157
In attempts to be “balanced” the Times sure can waste some good reporters and the readers’ limited time on subject matter that is pure malarkey. I don’t want to know why some guy is tragically enthralled with the likes of the weasel in the White House.
97
Shannon Kennedy for POTUS!
7
Wow. Does this guy actually read and listen to whats going on? How does a guy who worked on a Vietnam era military hospital ship not notice that due to the policies there of "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" was the exact reason so many young men were on that ship or worse in body bags? That whole war was fought with recklessness and a "who cares, if we need that hill,we're gonna take it if only a day" attitudes. All founded in what we now know (Pentagon Papers,) was nothing more then trying to save face.
Saving face is Trump! All he cares about is himself!
"...along came Trump. “The thing about him,” Kennedy tells me, “is that there’s forward energy. He’s like a horse with blinders at the Kentucky Derby. If there’s another horse in the way, knock it out and ride the rail."
A horse with no jockey! The jockey is the moral/ethical compass, the restraint when nerves and eagerness cause a horse to go too fast, not make a break when it opens. Trump has no moral compass, no steadfast ethics, and is always running, arms windmilling, when walking is demanded.
A horse doesn't win without a jockey and host of trainers and groomers! Which Trump has, but ignores. Plus, he collects similar types of horses around him - some rogue, most not up to the tasks, but full of false hubris.
Mr. Kennedy needs a reality check. Plus I find his affected, too-Irish colloquialisms annoying. I grew up with those older Irish guys, quick to turn a phrase, but when challenged empty of facts.
117
Hopefully the good Mr Kennedy will read the comments of this article and learn what he is missing from state run tee vee
55
"Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead"?? So it's okay to taunt and threaten another nuclear power's leader just to win approval from people like this guy? And face value is not how Americans have traditionally elected their presidents. Without substance, character, ideas and policy goals, men aren't trusted with the presidency, except this one time, and its already a disaster.
Americans must take this president at face value because he says what he thinks. His words contain no subtleties at all. If this supporter says "don't take him at face value", he's admitting that the man is a liar and cannot be trusted. This supporter's praise is just parsed nonsense.
As for respecting the office of the presidency, does this sitting president respect his office? Didn't he refer the White House as a dump? Yes, this man is a patriot and served his country, something the president refused to do when called to serve as a young man. As for going beyond the noise, that's all this presidency is, just noise, Fox News and nothing else.
59
Did you ask him about Bernie?
23
The Democrats have no real strategy to address the issues that got Donald Trump elected in 2016. The proof will be all the Trump-bashing from commenters of this op-ed. By the time the comments section is closed, there will be 1,000 descriptions of Trump-loathing; the same as those from the 1,000 Trump-related articles that have been published by the NYT since 2016. Nothing but one big echo chamber. Shannon Kennedy voted for Obama twice; then voted for Trump. But Democrats won't discern anything from that fact. We'll just keep hearing how much Trump is hated. Keep up the good work NYT...you're doing your part to make sure the Republicans retain the White House in 2020.
25
Give me a break, Roger.
This guy isn't into racism? Trump campaigned on and has governed on the most overt racism since the Civil War. And "America First" is literally a fascist slogan.
I am really tired of these portraits of Trump supporters, as if any of this dishonesty, bigotry and incompetence were somehow normal. Our country is so far off the rails with Trump in the Oval Office, we can't even see the rails from here. Just please stop.
103
“Hating with a vileness that’s very un-American” is an apt description of the president Mr. Kennedy so fervently supports.
63
That people like Mr. Kennedy can overlook the fatal flaws of Trump and his administration .....well......we're doomed.
47
Unconvincing apologia possibly paving the way for a grand recocilliation between Trump and what seems to be disillusioned zLiberals and democrats!
Having gone too far in what seems to be an unsuccessful theresumed intelligenciais reconsidering itsfuture course!
4
When someone follows his blind preference, without logical justification and acts or decides based upon simple prejudice.
What is deluded.
14
Challenge Mr. Kennedy, for one month, to stop attending to all right wing media like Fox and to read the New York Times and listen to NPR radio.
35
Kennedy is a poster child for the kind of person who can alter his color-blindness test so that he sees a 5 where there is an 8. He blithely rolls over the Obamacare complaint without a by-your-leave for the Republicans who either pushed it off the rails, or refused to do what was necessary to make the exchanges competitive. Off he flits to the anti-Obama candidate simply because he “tells it like it is.” That’s fine at his dad’s bar...but not in the White House.
65
Imagine your self adrift in the Atlantic, and you could choose either Trump or Biden as your sole companion. Or picture a family holiday dinner, and you could invite either.
We'd all pick Trump. Easy. Right?
I'm surprised that Mr. Kennedy, having spent time in the service, puts so little value on character and leadership. Is that because he's so smart?
28
Mr. Kennedy obviously believes that the illusions candidate Trump campaigned on, such as draining the swamp, caring for the little guy and putting America first are how President Trump is governing.
The actual President Trump has flooded the swamp by filling his administration with Goldman Sachs alums, incompetent people, unethical people, Russian hacks, racists, domestic abusers, and his own family. The GOP tax bill was standard GOP reverse-Robin Hood upward redistribution of income. If Trump put America first, he would respond vigorously to Russian attacks on our democracy.
And Mr. Kennedy doesn't think Trump is a racist? Trump is the architect of the birtherism movement, claimed there are "good people on both sides" in Charlottesville, picks fights with NFL players, African American representative Frederica Wilson, and stocked his administration with Jeff Sessions, Sebastian Gorka, Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, and John Kelly. Trump attacked an American judge of Mexican descent.
Sorry, Mr. Kennedy. You're wrong.
65
Mr. Kennedy, like too many voters you have confused trump the man with trump the image. I've been watching him long before we wound up with his big mouth and poor judgement as president......especially his army of lawyers (starting with one Roy Cohn) cheating others out of their money and his long history of draft-dodging lies and maneuvers (really.....bone spurs!?). One only has to look to his army of PR handlers turning him into a TV personality to see the shallowness, poor intellect and even poorer grasp of historical reality that now moves this country into a very uncertain future. Please, see him as he is not as what you want him to be or do and kick him to the curb so we can find some real leaders.
34
Like most voters Mr Kennedy is rendered stupid by his emotions. He doesn't want to admit that he was conned, and he doesn't want to lose hope. Liberals are the same. They still can't see that they were conned by Obama. He was a smoother liar than Trump.
In fact there is no hope as )ong as we stuck with choosing between Ds and Rs, and they have gamed the system to prevent other parties from breaking in.
22
Since Mr. Kennedy accepts the outrageous conduct and lies of Trump, I suspect he is capable of the same. He did get his photo in the NYT and an article devoted to him in the OpEd page on a Sunday. We are to believe him stating he voted for Obama, the antithesis of Trump? You have to have a portion of the Trump psyche in order to support him. I suspect Mr. Cohen was hoodwinked just like the people who voted for Trump.
24
OH yes, another candidate like Jimmy Carter.
This guy is the typical delusional Trump supporter who has been taken in by Trump's con job. There's no hope that any of this type of voter will ever have the intellectual ability to critically examine all that Trump has done to America and represent us as laughable to other nations who used to look upon America and it's president as both for a moral symbol and reliable democratic partner.
30
Letter to Dems, liberals, far-leftists, Antifa, La Raza...:
Please keep making the rights of illegal immigrants your number one priority.
Please ask Nancy or Chuck to make another 8 hour protest speech for illegals. Please keep stating as David Brooks (NYT opinion writer) did last week - 'immigrants are better than American citizens.' The last sentence of that article explained why Trump got elected.
Please nominate a very liberal leftist candiate for President in 2020 which seems to be where the Dems are headed, despite the fact that this country is majority moderate with the remainder leaning more Right than Left.
Please continue everything you are currently doing so that Trump will be re-elected in 2020. Thank you so very much. Keep up the good job.
12
If this gentleman doesn't see Trump is a racist or see any of the other myriad reasons he is utterly unfit and a threat to our national security, the Dems can stand on their heads and still not get through to him. He has drunk the Kool-Aid. No one can change his media habits for him. Sad.
34
Either Shannon Kennedy hasn't been paying attention to Donald Trump these past 30 years or he's a lousy judge of character. You don't vote for a self-absorbed charlatan to run the country just because he says he hates the people you hate. That sort of discernment elects demagogues.
30
Sane thoughts this time.
1
Mr. Kennedy is smart? On the face of it he sounds unnaturally stupid. Nonetheless, he got one thing right, however unwittingly. There are a good many people who have no business being here. The problem is that an inordinate number of them are in the West Wing of the White House.
28
Mr. Kennedy actually voted for Hillary, as did all who voted in NYS because... electoral college.
3
I'm sick of being told we have to respect the feelings of poor, middle-aged white men. Haven't we been doing that for 242 yearsin this country?
30
Yes - thank you very much -
"The same old, same old (for example, Joe Biden) won’t work"
Where were you and the rest of the New York Times cabal when Bernie Sanders was running?
Actually I looked it up. When it came to Bernie Sanders you did some good writing and reporting. But some of your NYTimes colleagues were unfair towards Bernie.
7
Oh please. Here we go again. Poor Shannon Kennedy. A good man driven to vote for Trump because he just couldn't face voting for the untrustworthy Clintons. Much better to vote for a misogynistic, racist, xenophobic, self-dealing, lying, con man. I suspect that if Shannon was truly honest, he would admit that his own deep-rooted misogyny (and possibly racism and xenophobia as well) is the real reason he supports Trump. Test my hypothesis, Roger, by asking him what he thinks of Nancy Pelosi.
35
The fact that so many voters ‘wouldn’t trust the ‘Clinton’s with the lords supper’ but somehow find Trump trustworthy, is baffling to any thinking, objective observer. Trump is an admitted Fraud as regards Trump University, a serial bankrupt, a proven liar in matters great and small, a man who reneges on his hardworking suppliers, a man so incapable of telling the truth that his attorneys will not allow him to be interviewed by the special counsel.
As for overt racism, must he wear a robe, pillowcase and burn a cross?. The subject of this piece states that if he thought Trump a racist he would ‘drop him in a moment’ (or words to that effect).
Well, to my mind the mere fact that Trumps entree into national political discourse came about as a result of denying President Obama’s citizenship and ‘American-ness’ based upon his name and his racial makeup is more than sufficient proof of racism. His Company’s Consent Order regarding housing discrimination, his call for the death penalty for the Central Park rape defendants, his ‘my African American’ comments..... all have, at best, been churned up by him to appeal to white-fright driven voters, at worst are accurate displays of his own racist pathologies.
Racism and the exploitation of the racism of others is....racism. America, or a great chunk of it is effectively living the Reality TV life. Eyes open, reason and critical thought on hold.
36
Hogwash. Supporting DT -- with all the cruelty, racism, misogyny, ignorance, and anti-American values that that entails -- is by definition dishonorable. The only minimally acceptable excuse for supporting him is stupidity.
31
You are very good at such concrete illustrations, Mr Cohen. This is a precise and very convincing description of America – or rather, of some aspects of it.
Your talents lie in such articles. Please go on like this and don’t waste your time with your Grand Theory of The World pieces.
3
"And what of the president’s racism, lies, warmongering outbursts, vulgarity, and attacks on a free press and the judiciary? “Go beyond the noise,” Kennedy tells me. “Don’t take him at face value."
Cohen is being played. He takes Kennedy's words at face value. He voted for Obama twice? Sure he did.....
Notice not a word about the women issue and Trump. Kennedy has issues.
17
No details. OK. So you think you profiled this guy, but you did not write why he supports this guy other than random feelings. "Brash, horse knocking horses, look out I got torpedos." Ya said you listened to him, but you didn't ask "why the why." This pres provided no details as to how he was going to do anything. And his supporters provided no reason for voting for him other than they liked his cap.
13
“ A whiff of got-the-system-rigged elitism from the Democrats will be fatal.”
Shifty Schiff. Trying to prevent Americans from getting getting a whiff.
Americans have had a sniff and can see why Schiff, the unlucky stiff, is all in a tiff hoping against hope that Democrats don’t go over the cliff.
Regardless of Shifty’s riff, intentionally as clear as a glyph, the people know the diff.
1
This article reminds me of another one about wives sticking with husbands that regularly assault them......
21
When ever Mr. Cohen has impressed for a few columns (usually about Europe) in a row he lands a true stinker. Weird,
There is zero interesting about this gentleman he writes about, but a lot wrong with him. If that guy's super limited horizon and basic me-me-me attitude is what Roger wants us to aspire to then I'd say, no thanks.
11
Kennedy speaks for me One time Obama voter now for Trump Would have voted Sanders but never Clinton The Democrats née to focus on Purple states
2
ah, yes, the old "honorable" line.
and brutus is an honorable man.
- julius caesar.
not every trump voter is a white supremacist, just as not every white person in the jim crow south was a white supremacist. but every Ttump voter felt it acceptable to hand the fate of the country over to one.
- ta-nehisi coates.
21
So ... what are the odds that Pelosi's eight hour soliloquy on behalf of Dreamers is going to win over Mr. Kennedy?
78
Mr. Kennedy sounds naïve. He believed, and still believes, Trump's bluster about bringing jobs back and "draining the swamp". He doesn't see that all that was just a scam to get Trump some eyeballs and ratings. Trump never wanted the presidency; it fell in his lap. Now he has people like Kennedy still buying what he's selling. Why? What results has he gotten? Not to mention the racism implicit in his statement about "people running around who have no business here".
I believe that racial animus is at the base of Trump's base of base supporters. If it wasn't for Trump's racial foghorn, Kennedy and those of his ilk wouldn't be supporting Trump. White identity politics.
28
Mr. Kennedy mistakes the raw energy he sees in Donald Trump's attacks on all and sundry for actual competence.
Trump is incompetent. He can't keep a staff together. The ones he has are even less competent than here is, and most are raw grifters. He doesn't read. He gets his ideas and information from Fox and Friends. He doesn't pay any attention to real experts, using his incompetent (and utterly unvetted) son-in-law as his chief strategist. Our foreign policy is in shambles.
I am sad that there are well-meaning people out there who have been blinded to the danger posed by Trump. They will regret their choice.
31
" on draining the swamp, on lobbyists,"
So where is Trump on those issues? I thought so.
16
Voting for Trump can be excused. Continuing to support him one year into his presidency cannot. If this " smart patriot" has not learned the dangers we face because of Trump's presidency he is certainly not to be courted by the Democratic Party.
24
Sorry, but if he can’t see that Trump IS a racist and unfit to be President a year in, I can’t agree that he is smart. No rational person can review the past year of Trump at the helm and think it to be a good thing. This is not a Republican or Democrat issue, it is an issue of seeing the big picture and stopping the damage before we leave a tattered and broken country to our children.
29
This is nail on the head. Statistically, there have to be millions of Obama voters who switched to Trump, as incredible as that seems. These people clearly aren't racist, unlike the typical member of Trump's base. The base will never be large enough politically to make the nut. But the Obama-to-Trump swing vote did tip the scales to Trump, and could tip them back should a Democratic candidate be able to find a way to speak to them.
The task is clear, but the way to accomplish it is not. The successful candidate will have to be strong enough to stand up to the ideological purists who would drag the platform so far leftward as to assure defeat. He or she will have to step visibly away from Soros, Hollywood moguls and every other popular bugaboo of Fox News. He or she would have to rebuild the party of Roosevelt while shedding the baggage of Clinton and Weinstein. That will be a difficult coalition to rebuild, but not to attempt it would be to assure yet another defeat by the unholy coalition of racists and plutocrats that Trump has managed to build.
4
This is a worthwhile column, although I find it very difficult to take anyone who still supports Trump seriously. Does the majority of the country need to? That’s a good question. It seems that the hardcore Trump supporters (35%?, give or take) will support him no matter what he does. It’s fair to ask why someone like Mr. Kennedy supports Trump, and Cohen is right to point the finger at Democrats’ failure to reach voters like Mr. Kennedy, who voted for Obama twice (though I would quibble with his mention of Biden, who I think would have won handily. I believe Hilary Clinton was the wrong candidate for 2016, to put it mildly).
But there’s no question that there are millions of people who have not been well-served by either party, and the ‘throw all of them out’ mindset was a crucial factor in Trump’s victory. I think the Obama Administration’s failure to aggressively prosecute Wall Street executives after the 2008 crash was a major policy and political mistake. That’s the real issue in American politics, and every voter, no matter how ill informed, knows that the Democrats are only marginally less beholden to big money interests than Republicans.
13
yes, mr. Kennedy is nice man. But he doesn't see Trump's racism, or manifest unfitness for the job. Yes, it's a shame he's deluding himself, but I hope the Democrats don't waste another election pursuing voters like him.
14
trump's "drain the swamp" catch phrase still appeals to people like Shannon Kennedy. The problem is, trump's drained swamp is now a quagmire of rotting debris, muck and dead things.
17
The Kennedys are long gone. The Democratic party does not need them. The GOP is a minority party. The Dems lose because they do not vote.
10
Trump is a master at telling people what they want to hear and promising that he'll give it to them, when all he cares about is himself. Shannon swallowed this snake oil, and he's from New York and should have been on to Trump from the start.
As for Trump's racism? What more evidence does Shannon need? He's right, respect the office, but the officeholder has to respect it, too.
11
I married into an Irish Catholic family from Syracuse in the early ‘90’s. Trips to visit were frequent. It’s great town that has seen its economy disintegrate.
I was a Republican but began to drift when the Reagan era tax cut and union busting madness began in earnest. My father in-law was a Dem stalwart. We discussed politics and he took the Dem party line. I would suggest that despite the GOP’s worst behavior, at least they understood the need to improve the economy so we all would have jobs; the Democrats didn’t get it. I never liked Clinton and when the Lewinski scandal broke, I liked him less. I expected a negative response about the affair from my father in-law but instead he defended him. I wrote it off as a party loyalist.
When Pataki was elected, I thought the GOP would make some positive changes and we'd see the economy improve. The net result was the usual corrupt NYS, no change in the life of working people. When McCall ran for Governor in '02, I was ready to vote for a Dem, we needed a change. I told my father in-law what I planned to do.
McCall lost. On my next visit, we discussed the election and I said how I had voted. I pressed my father in-law and after some questioning he said that he voted for Pataki.
We are all the product of our upbringing. Of all the burdens we carry as Americans none is heavier than that of racism. I have no doubt Mr. Kennedy is an honorable man but he needs to look at Trump and see him for who he is and how he acts.
7
I too know honorable people who support Trump. The mistake they make is to assume other people are also honorable. I think the other mistake they make is to somehow assume words are the same as deeds.
7
You think Syracuse is bleak? Try driving through some of the villages north of Syracuse. (But before you do that, see if you can get your hands on photographs of what the area USED to look like in the 1950s, 60s and 70s so you can get the real perspective.) I swear to God, just yesterday I was thinking to myself how the NYT should do a report on one of these places and here you are today, with this piece.
The truth is that is is beyond depressing to see a once thriving middle class American haven morph into a depilated, outdated, and forgotten patch of America. Which is sad--because the area has much natural charm and could be, with thought and planning, a real tourist attraction or a destination for a major company. Certainly the infrastructure is still intact--it's the people and the jobs that have dried up. Where are the jobs? Overseas. Where are the people? North Carolina. Georgia. New Jersey. NYC. Almost every family up there has lost a young one to the South, where jobs are plentiful and futures still have promise.
Anyway.
I really appreciate this perspective. It is refreshing and it makes me feel better about some Trump supporters. As I know quite a few people from this region, this is a profile that resonates with me. I really appreciate you writing this.
5
The democrats have held themselves out as the party of the people but they have failed to provide solutions for the average American. Clinton, Obama, they talked a good fight, they tried, it didn't happen. At the same time, they made mistakes, on trade policy, on immigration. And would Hilary have been any different with a Republican house and Senate? The fact is that whatever you might think of Trump, no matter how crazy things get (short of a war), he remains the best hope people like Kennedy have for a meaningful change in their circumstances.
2
Almost all of the commentators here critical of Kennedy are ignoring the fact that he voted twice for Obama. Until they understand why, they won't understand why we're now stuck with Trump.
3
Patriots are not immune to willful ignorance. Great people, some of the best I know, are terrible Americans, having almost no grasp of the constitution or how it is applied in government today, and don’t seem to care. I fear a message that appeals to such logical inconsistency as put on display by this obviously good and honorable man.
194
I wish the Times would spend even half as much time showing Trump voters that they’re supporting a racist liar who’s picking their pockets as it spends explaining to the rest of us that voters this deluded still exist.
9
It is a remarkable level of cognitive dissonance that allows Kennedy and other Trump supporters to remain loyal to this president. Yeah...he is "brash" and a "rogue", okay he lies constantly, makes racist remarks, believes Nazis can be "very fine people", grabs women "by the pussy", disregards the rule of law, and seemingly wants to be emperor, etc., etc., but that is "just noise". But he "has forward energy" and "I listened to him on immigration, on draining the swamp, on lobbyists and I liked that". So what the president SAYS has more meaning to Kennedy than what the president DOES? Kennedy describes Trump as being "like a horse with blinders at the Kentucky Derby". I'm afraid it is you, Mr. Kennedy, and others just like you who are wearing the blinders.
29
Nice try Rog.
3
“There are too many people running around who have no business being here.”
I wonder if he is talking about the Irish?
23
It never seems to occur to Mr. Cohen to ask Mr. Shannon what he thinks of what Trump is actually doing: trying to abolish the ACA with no replacement ("national health service" indeed), baiting a nuclear-and chemical-armed country with childish insults, appointing white billionaires to his cabinet and administration, slashing our environmental and consumer financial protections, etc. "Don't take him at face value"...and yet Mr. Shannon is doing exactly that. If the New York Times is going to respect the Trump voter enough to interview them they should probe a bit more to see if they look beyond the propaganda, don't you think?
27
As you suggest, Kennedy, let's look beyond Trump at "face value" and instead at his actions, not words. On that score, he's:
- a narcissistic, racist, misogynist
- guilty of treason at worst and, at best, shredding the constitution and the country for his own ends
- ignorant, due to a combination of a lack of intelligence and a lack of curiosity
- incapable of managing anything, as evidenced by his long record of business failure before assuming the presidency
- insecure and embarrassing
- relinquishing America's status as the sole global superpower
In short, he's a dope. The only thing we agree on is respecting the office of the presidency. But that doesn't mean we have to respect the president individually. Respect is earned, and he doesn't deserve it.
21
An honorable man does not support bigotry in high office.
23
Low information voter as thinking man. Trump has disgraced the office more than any other occupant in history. Racism, lies, attacks on our institutions, our allies, our former presidents. Not to mention the likely criminal acts through money laundering and possible collusion to undermine our elections. And enriching himself in the process. Plus bad policies. But, you know, Trump’s confident and blunt so that erases everything else. LOL!!!
17
Sorry, while we must respect and listen to all Americans, to suggest that Trump is draining the swamp, is moving the country forward or that his clearly racist, sexist, lying bravado is not only acceptable, but reason for support, is irrational. The tell here as to why he supports Trump is his hate for Hillary which he now irrasicably can’t give up even though are no more Clinton’s running for office. Sure he loves his country and served honorably. So how does he then get behind at any stage a draft dodging conman. Finally, if he can’t see the abundant evidence of Trump’s racist bigoted nature, Trump would have to wear his white hood to convince this guy. No he’s not deplorable, but his Archie Bunker view of America sure is.
19
Pretty sad when an intelligent columnist exalts a person who's almost all gut and no brains when it comes to politics. I'm sure he's every bit as decent as Mr. Cohen suggests, but that simply isn't enough.
Substance matters much more than swagger.
And when the substance (DJT/GOP) is a mix of fraudulent and virulent ... and the swagger is mostly bad acting (in both senses), one has to be chary about making the tent big enough to bring the likes of Mr. Kennedy back into it.
What kind of "tent" would be big enuf for bigots - oh yeah, most of them won't actually race bait in mixed company - and the 70-90% of blacks and Hispanics that the Democratic part needs to TURN OUT?!
When a man - Mr. Kennedy, in this case - says that "The tax cut will be beneficial," we're dealing with something much worse than gullible or under-informed.
If the Dem. Party changes its spots enough to bring back folks like him, they will kiss off growing millions of young and not so young activists ... who think that gov't should address national problems - and [wouldjabelieve?] maybe solve some of them.
Yes, hedge fund guys will still fund the Party if it self-amputates its left leg, but even Trump might have a chance in 2020 if anyone took Mr. Cohen's suggestions seriously. Mr. Kennedy makes for good copy, but the 40% Trump has bewitched ... he OWNS. The Dems will come in a weak second if they try too hard to rope in people like Mr. Kennedy, a 2018 version of Archie Bunker.
9
A scurrilous, multi-year, repeatedly asserted campaign against Obama's birth in Honolulu (documented contemporaneously in that city's newspaper) was merely "noise"? Please. You don't mention Mr. Kennedy's age, but we guess 70, or thereabouts? Why is, ahem, "maturity" a consistent feature of the Trump supporters I encounter?
7
There is no worse blind than the one refusing to see, or worse deaf than the one unwilling to listen, or see reality as is...and not as you want it to be. The evidence that Trump is a vulgar bully and a consummate demagogue is beyond any reasonable doubt. I suspect that Shannon Kennedy has a closed mind, and a newly developed loyalty to a swine. It goes to tell you, stupidity is in ample supply.
8
“If you tell them what they want to hear, they don't bother to try to see.”
5
If he equates Trump as a horse with blinders on running the Kentucky Derby, then he must be the blind jockey riding the horse. Together they will crash and be done with. Good riddance!
9
Kennedy is entitled to his beliefs...as we all are. Delusional or not. Grounded in evidence or not.
3
Is this guy "honorable"?
If you say so.
Men like this are full of the same sanctimony that they love to accuse us blue state liberals of, and have succeeded in deluding themselves that Trump and men like him actually give a rat's tuchus about "draining the swamp" or making life better for anybody beyond who they can see directly in front of their face on a daily basis.
But I do agree with your conclusion, we need a guy like Sherrod Brown from Ohio, not a one note faux-revolutionary like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth "the system is rigged" Warren. If we go down that road, we will lose again.
7
that Mr. Kennedy doesn't KNOW that trump is a racist tells me more than I care to know about those who endorse this narcissist at 1600! Indeed the Dems must be aware of those who don't think quite enough or at all to see, and somehow cut through 'fix-it' fox truly fake news ...that's the question , how?
Start now to take back the vote all the voters, local offices, get as tough as need be without dropping to the lowest road taken by the 'right'!
Kennedy honorable? yeah maybe, I'd need to know more about all the circumstances before making that determination, yet I suppose suffice to say at the very least he did serve!
8
HE is like a horse at the Kentucky Derby. But NOT the end that wears blinders. What is it with aging white Men, and their infatuation with Trump? The Money, the Women, the attitude? SAD.
13
One is prompted to recall why democracy is preferable to autocracy by this. Mr Kennedy voted out of self-love I think. He sees a lot of himself in Mr Trump but he is mistaken. There's more than a passing physical resemblance but the Donald is not "a fighter, a scrapper" like he imagines him to be. Donald did not serve. Mysterious bone-spurs in his feet got him a pass. To think "[h]e's draining Washington 'of people with contempt for the people they represent'" is frankly delusional. Draining it of stagnant water and filling it with toxic waste perhaps? Too bad Mr Kennedy won't read today's column by Gail Collins. Just sad.
7
Kennedy is just a normal fellow disgusted by the disgrace and diminishment visited on the country by the Dems. The perseverance of guys like that is a basis for optimism for the US.
2
A wonderfully colorful, "average American", who'd make a far better president; Shannon has his country at heart
2
He is initially proud Syracuse was a place thriving with immigrants, and now he does not want any more immigrants? He is upset at Obama and Democrats for Obamacare, he would seem to have not needed it looks to me he would have been on medicare, which is free health insurance. Please NYT reporters follow up on statements of these individuals you highlight.
7
If he voted for Trump and doesn't see that he is a racist who is destroying our environment and, if he had his way, our democracy, Mr. Shannon is not all that smart. And if he doesn't realize Trump is a traitor, then he is not very smart on that account either. Actually, nothing in this article makes me think Mr. Shannon is smart. (And Syracuse is more than just a bleak town)/ Trump is a conman. Mr. Shannon is conned (and, like all people who like Trump, either stupid, racist, or a traitor)
7
As with so many, this pundit focuses on Trump's outlook (racist, misogynist), his lies, his vulgar attacks. Why not the policies that are being enacted on his watch? Why do so few journalists ask probing questions of their everyman sources?
Shannon, like so many other voters, liked what he heard from the Donald on the campaign trail. Th hard charging, swamp draining, man of conviction that Shannon voted for was and is a fraud. When will men and women of good conscience who voted for and continue to support the destruction of American Democracy, wake up and shake off their denial?
3
Supporting Trump is not honorable.
7
No matter how hard our journalists try to fathom and analyze the Trump voters like Mr. Kennedy, it does not make any sense that these people who may represent America and Americana could vote for such an incompetent dimwit of a President. Political and economic views are one thing but common sense and empathy are another which obviously neither the occupant of the WH and the people who put him in office have. The presidency will turn out to be the gravest error in this country's history. An error which will be difficult to fix because in the long run America will have lost one fundamental thing: its purpose. If Mr. Mueller does not come out with something tangible soon, like an indictment for this President and his cronies, we are doomed. Next November is too far away and we cannot wait till then. Maybe one day the Trumpista voters will realize that they have done great harm to their country.
4
So Mr. Kennedy wants a "strongman." Unfortunately strongmen become dictators. Dictators worship their own power and use any method to keep it:
corruption of the judiciary, prison and assassination of opponents, control of information and media.
Trump is a master manipulator who understands voters emotional needs and gets votes without any plan to solve our problems.
My prescription: #1 universally available and affordable family planning and birth control for every woman in the USA who wants it. Unwanted children cause chaos and stress for their parent(s) and are at greater risk of abuse and neglect which often lead to mental illness, developmental delay, educational dysfunction, addiction and criminality. Cheapest way to prevent some of our most difficult to treat problems. #2 public information campaign about the dangers and prevention of traumatic brain injury including mental illness #3 Change education: require every school receiving federal funds to provide one
hour of physical activity every day: good for their brains: they learn better and behave better and will be physically healthier for their entire lives. Even better make that activity old-fashioned square dancing: great neuromuscular learning, excellent social interaction, safe, and cheap. Also, no big cultural arguments about square dancing. #4 bust up the media trusts: monopolies kill competition, cause inflation, and are not democratic. More!!
Honorable American? That sir is hyperbole. You have profiled an American citizen with a stated opinion. He is one of over 330 million of us. Why is he honorable? I disagree vehemently with this American's opinion. Does that make me less-than-honorable?
I cannot possibly know what your intended goal was to include the loaded word 'honorable'. It does leave with more questions than answers as to who you professionally and/or personally believe are honorable Americans.
3
“There are too many people running around who have no business being here.” - Shannon Kennedy
"If I thought he was a racist, I’d be off the train so fast you’d have to mail me my shadow." - Shannon Kennedy
"The Democratic Party should listen to him [Shannon Kennedy], or risk losing in 2020." - Roger Cohen
Dictating who can be where based on race Is Racist - no matter how many times you say it's not. No, the Democratic Party should not listen.
8
I'm sorry for his loss...of the bigger picture.
5
Trumpism is a cult and poor Mr. Kennedy has inadvertently become a brainwashed member. We know this because:
Everything Trump/Fox/Limbaugh says is easily proven wrong, yet Kennedy is totally blind to this. This is called cognitive dissonance and is the reason why trying to reason with a Trump supporter is useless, in fact it is no difference than trying to reason with a Scientologist, a Moonie or any other cult member.
The answer: forget the 30% Trump base, appeal to the 70% who understand and flip the congress in 2018, than the presidency in 2020.
6
Comments to this article are SO depressing. "Kennedy is stupid." Guess what Dems, 80% of the electorate is "stupid" by your definition. How's that 20% working for you? Even if you throw in 80% of women voters it's still nip and tuck. The number one Dem priority in 2018 is taking back the Senate. That alone would save the Court and save the future, at least short term. Ask Heidi Heitkamp and Claire McCaskill what the Party's message b/t now and November should be and act accordingly. My guess it will sound a lot like Mr. Kennedy's, with a big dose of anti-misogyny thrown in.
3
I hope we can all agree that the same old Bernie Sanders & his sycophants won't work.
3
Thumbs up on today's column! I don't know if Mr. Cohen remembers, but we had a huge disagreement back in 2003/2004 about the so-called benefits of the Iraq War. How did that turn out, Roger? Anyway, hitting the reset button (in no way an endorsement of Biden), you are on the right track for 2020. But will the Democrats get it? Doubt it with Nancy and Chuck and the rest of the coastal elites in control, as you cogently point out. Maybe, you can have a positive impact on the Democratic Party with your columns? I hope so and agree with you.... this time.
1
Thank you for your service Mr. Kennedy.
1
The last paragraph describes Bernie Sanders.
4
Sorry, Roger...given these comments, I guess the Democrats won’t bother coming up with an economic plan that could help middle America. Identity politics is their path to oblivion. Man, it would be so easy to get this ship back...Opps, did I say, “Man...”...mea culpa!
1
How many of us are sinking into a deep depression caused by this disgusting man and praying for the day Mueller's investigation rids us of him?
1
With all due respect, Mr. Shannon is in denial.
2
Can we please cut it out with yet another look into the "mind" of a Trump voter article? Democrats shouldn't be wasting their time trying to appeal to people like Kennedy, its not worth going after the vote of someone racist enough to genuinely believe that Trump isn't racist.
7
What is the media fascination with Trump Voters (and the Tea Party before them) but not the Resistance or the Bernie wing? The NYTs even ran an article about "What are women doing with all those old pink hats?" in the week before the 2018 Women’s March....BEFORE covering the March! If I want to know what Kennedy from Syracuse thinks, it’s very easy; I can turn on Fox News. But where are the profiles of the millions of folks (largely women) organizing on every level to turn the GOP out? If the Dems get the vote out, they may literally save our Republic and yet, their story isn’t interesting?
5
Shannon Kennedy is wrong. So is Roger Cohen. If Democrats have to be more Trump-like to win the White House, then this country is heading into the dustbin of history. Roger Cohen is essentially calling for more racism, more misogyny, more lying. And Shannon Kennedy is okay with that. Shame on both of these men.
5
Yes it's true. Not all of Trump's marks are uneducated hillbillies. Neither were Bernie Madoff's. People aren't conned because they are stupid, the are conned because they want to believe something. But they are wrong nonetheless.
4
" “There are too many people running around who have no business being here.”
Says WHO?
These folks can rationalize their hatred for minorities and immigrants all they want so as to not appear to be "bad people", in their minds as it were.
That doesn't change the fact this country is the Red Man's Ground. If you are not a Native American, then you have no "business" decided who has the right to be here.
18
There is no honor in being a Trump supporter. Trump’s racism, misogyny, and penchant for violence is not “noise.” It’s who he is. In supporting him, you support that vision of America. That is dishonorable in every way.
29
Democrats are already halfway down a rabbit hole for ‘20. I fully expect us to shoot ourselves in the head again. Why? On the coasts we believe so fervently, hubristically, in the rightness and inviolability of every clause of our cause, that we are willing to keep losing. It is beyond vexing.
8
Old white men voted VERY BIGLY for Trump because old white men always vote overwhelmingly Republican. Overall, senior citizens won the election for Trump. At the core rests nostalgia for an “exceptional” America that never was. In its heyday in the 40s and 50s Syracuse was a kind of working man’s paradise, if you were white. For people of color life was as unjust as in the jim Crow south. The senior citizen vote gave Trump the Presidency, that is the least forward looking, most unproductive segment of the population. Disclaimer: I am 74, male, and live in upstate NY.
25
"He thought Obama could be “a breath of fresh air,” and was initially in favor of “Obamacare,” until it “went off the rails because the exchanges were not competitive.”"
Goodness, did he ever think why? Republicans of course.
Did he not think saving us from great depression, saving the auto industry, the financial industry, stopping the loss of 800,000 jobs, etc. was something.
Did he not consider Republicans deciding on the night of Obama's inauguration to block any and everything he tried to do might not be the best for the country facing the disaster GWB and the Republicans left Obama.
I guess not.
30
I would like to see as much focus by my beloved New York Times on those who are not happy with trump as there is on those who are happy with him. "Go beyond the noise" indeed. All trump is, is noise.
24
" He’s draining Washington 'of people with contempt for the people they represent.' ”
The Democrats can isolate Trump-supporter suppositions, such as this one, and pick them apart with unambiguous examples exposing the truth.
On the other hand, the Dems had plenty of time and express warnings but failed miserably to react to the pre-electionTrump threat with their own counter-bluster.
As the much-loved Pres. Clinton said "Stupid is as stupid does." Oh sorry, that was Forrest Gump. Clinton did add in his 2 cents in on the definition of "is".
2
I didn't even have to open this to know that this "one honorable American" is a white man. It would take all day to note all the holes in his arguments about Obama, the Clintons (esp. after the GOP just passed Hillary's budget), and Trump, or Cadet Bone Spurs as my new hero, Tammy Duckworth calls him. But I've always said that people vote for the personality, not the platform. Reagan, W. Bush, and Obama all had it. And were not challenged over being "too shrill." I'm thinking it could be Duckworth next. Go Tammy!
9
So the lesson for Dems is clear. Find candidates who can be seen as fighters, scrapers, down to earth, common-sense, men and women. Don't preach, don't label, and most of all, present solutions, not complaints.
11
"A whiff of got-the-system-rigged elitism" by democrats is fatal? Holy moly, Trump and conservative voters should be covering their noses to avoid the stench of republican elitism.
7
Shannon Kelly, your subject in this article, lacks the ability to discern the facts from the cacophony that surrounds trump. He has also failed to develop marketable skills or sense, business or common. He and many others fail to recognize that the horse and buggy along with the 1900s are gone. Indeed, what happened to the Bar that this alcoholic owned?
Finally, when the dust clears from trump’s reign, the country, and the Republicans may find that our Republic lay in ruin.
9
This line, in particular, left my jaw on the table:
“Then along came Trump. ‘The thing about him . . . there’s forward energy. . . . As I recall, it was “’We the people’ not ‘We the empowered.”’”
Think about that. This average voter’s gut reaction when watching Trump vs. Clinton was to say, “Hmm, he’s with the people and she’s with the empowered.”
Sometimes the simplest explanation is the correct one: This voter isn't rational. Why can't we just say that and deal with it?
20
"was initially in favor of “Obamacare,” until it “went off the rails because the exchanges were not competitive.”
Perhaps Shannon listens to Fox too often - as retired military his health insurance is paid for ( his pension guaranteed too, unlike many working Americans). Obamacare was bending the health care cost curve downward until Trump and minions began chipping away at what they could not repeal.
Maybe Shannon should get out of Syracuse and the Fox News bubble for a bit. Sure he did serve his country ( as did many many millions of us, some of us liberal Democrats). He's a typical American, a patriot only if you use the word lightly. Well spoken should not be confused with "smart".
The last thing the Democrats need to do is take advice from Trump supporters who decry elitism while supporting the emperor and his billionaire cabinet as they drive our nation to ruins.
17
It’s the idea that Trump’s forward motion, just ramming forward with “blinders on”, is a good thing that most disturbs me here. You can’t be president of the United States with blinders on. You cannot blindly ignore decades of science and research to bring back “beautiful clean coal” (which doesn’t exist), or to deny the existence of climate change, making America an outlier in the world for the first time in my lifetime.
You can’t put blinders on to an economy that continues to reward the wealthy while, in a very JD Rockefeller-like way, throws dimes on the sidewalk for the rest of us.
You can’t put blinders on to the experience of African-Americans who should be happy that they have an unemployment rate that’s still nearly double that of white people, while at the same time ignoring the fact that racism is very visibly bubbling up to the surface, that crimes against blacks are increasing (often perpetrated by law enforcement) and going unpunished. Or blinders on to the lives and aspirations of Dreamers, so that you treat them like bargaining chips, not human beings who want to live in and be part of the only country most have ever known.
You can’t put blinders on to the inalienable right of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” that goes beyond just having a “job, job, job.” It’s all of these things that Trump tramples because he is a one-trick pony with blinders on. Mr. Kennedy and all the rest of us deserve a lot better.
12
Perhaps Mr. Shannon is not aware that "Donald" appears to be missing a few buttons. My father, named John but universally known as Jack, was so charming that he managed to seduce Venus, by winking at her from his crib, causing Mars to snort.
100% Irish American, he went to Ireland to discover his roots, and the Anglo-Irish liked him so much that they were happy to let him sleep with their women.
It was Tommy, a young toiler, who lived in the shack up the lane who told me at seventeen, the locals had some reservations about this charming American. America was introduced to this reader by a reunion of friends in Co. Clare, where my admirer removed his clothes and threw himself into the Shannon River. We returned to The States.
The only person I have loved bore the married name 'Kennedy'. Her family, staunch Republicans rooted hard in the soil, worked hard to achieve the American Dream; her father had a dream when barefoot at a young age from a family of eleven siblings, he knew that one day he would have the white house.
His eldest daughter, was a bit of a turncoat in his eyes, going Democratic and moving to New York to take up the humanitarian cause. Shannon Kennedy and she would have got along fine, but she would have loved President Obama, and it would have been tears galore over what is happening to her Country these days.
4
If you want to understand why so many voted for (and continue to support) Trump, just read the comments here. Thank you to Shannon Kennedy for sticking his head above the parapet. Folks here might do well to listen.
7
Weak. You can't just tell the man's story without injecting the standard Resistance assertion that Trump has "sullied it with mendacity, bigotry and autocratic contempt for the Constitution". That's your opinion Mr. Cohen...which we already knew. Why bother feigning that this is about Mr. Kennedy?
2
I am a Syracuse native, no disrespect to the War Veteran, but his views are misplaced. Trump pushes, blusters through because he doesn't know what he is doing, He asks Congress to fix things, because he doesn't have the leadership skills, knowledge, ability or interest to commit to governing this nation. I will give Trump credit for things he is bringing out and opening real conversation all societal's dirty laundry - racism, misogyny, domestic and sexual abuse, nepotism, aging with fast food and obesity. There will be day of reckoning in November of 2020, for sure, it will be kicking Trump back to his tower.
7
How can a patriot support Trump , especially a vet who I’m sure thought he was defending what he thought was america and the concepts that govern this country ? Trump has thrown under the bus just about every thing the constitution stands for . In addition “ cadet bone spurs “ ducked serving while this gentleman served seeing the devastation while Trump was out partying ! Does this gentleman see his alcoholic father come back to life in the antics of Donald Trump ? People like this are ubiquitous not only here but in many other countries . They are “ the problem “ and need blinders on just to exist .
10
Shannon Kennedy believes that things he wants to be true, are true, regardless of the facts. This is a common human delusion, regardless of where you stand, socially or politically. What else is new?
If Mr Kennedy is reading this, I ask him... What makes someone a great leader? Is Donald Trump doing those things?
2
Honor has nothing whatsoever to do with being smart. So he’s honorable. Fine. He’s also plain stupid because he doesn’t see through the fraudulence of Trump. Shame on him for That!
7
And what has Mr. Trump done for working class Americans? (Don’t tell me he gave them tax breaks).
7
Kennedy is another delusional Trump supporter, cherry-picking his "strengths". Among many fantasies is that Trump is not "lining his pockets" (as he accused Clinton of doing) and the pockets of his entire family, and using the office of the Presidency to do it. I'm sick of reading about these "patriotic" Trump supporters, describing Trump as some kind of admirable man-of-the-people, straight-talking scamp, but understand Mr. Cohen's point: the Kennedys of this world will be scorned and dismissed at our peril.
3
He may be honorable but he is also plain STUPID. Did he really say THIS and then vote Republican? "He tells me he leans right, but he believes that every American should have a functioning public transit system (“as in Germany and Japan”) and a good national health service. He thought Obama could be “a breath of fresh air,” and was initially in favor of “Obamacare,” until it “went off the rails because the exchanges were not competitive.” And WHY Mr. Kennedy, did it go off the rails? And why weren't the exchanges competitive? Because the Republicans fought it tooth and nail? Because their health care industry donors wanted no part of it? Remember Ted Cruz shutting down the government and costing the economy billions in 2013 to fight Obama care? Yet, you, Mr. Kennedy, have heath care either via the VA AND (or soon will) Medicare. And public transit? Please. thank you for your service, Mr. Kennedy, but no thanks for your support for Trump. Wake up this year and in 2020. And vote for HONORABLE candidates.
13
Ah, a bunch of elites, perhaps not Democratic, but certainly silverspoon-fed, and as wealthy as can be, are laughing hard at what they would call losers like Mr. Kennedy, while lobbyist checkbook in hand, they steal the treasury, and convince Messrs. McConnell, Mnuchin, Ryan, and Co. to give them just a bit more of tax credits and tax cuts.
Once, Mr. Trump is done, there will not even be a Medicare or Medicaid for Mr. Shannon to drop dead.
4
This underscores the basic dilemma that the Democratic Party must now face: should the party actively try to win over people like Mr. Kennedy, or should it cut its losses with this conservative white demographic and throw itself behind Latino/ Black/ immigrant voters?
5
This man's theatrical blarney can't obscure the truth. He's showing his military- bred desire to vanquish all enemies. There will always be enemies. Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Libya--were these people really our enemies? Were they worth the blood and treasure? Where would we be if we had instead pursued diplomacy? This mind-set to win at all costs (a very human trait) has been transferred to global corporations, to the detriment of people all over the world.
I definitely agree Biden is same old. He has a lot of prospective donors (they backed Clinton.) They drank the Davos kool-aid. They are not friends of us progressives. We are attempting to turn the Titanic. America should lead again, not toward more wars but to a more peaceful world.
3
Across the world, over near North Korea, we are truly frightened that Trump and his white Christian powerbase will see Asians as completely expendable and cheer while bombs fall and millions of us are exterminated. True, we do have good public transport over here, as Mr. Kennedy says, but America has been investing instead in bombs and warplanes in order to show the world who is the boss. That is all America may have left, its "Military" (Trump capitalizes it in tweets). I think Mr. Kennedy is seduced by this idea as are so many other aging white men who desperately want it to be 1953 again, when N. Korea was bombed to pieces and no one cared.
4
I think Shannon is not facing the simple facts. Trump lies about almost everything. So it is difficult to understand how Shannon can arrive at his conclusions. He is brainwashed
6
OK, he claims to want the things Trump talked about, but he has nothing to say about Trump doing the exact opposite—say, talking about getting rid of immigrants and then hiring them in preference to Americans to work for his clubs.
How about an article that examines THIS?
It's not hard to agree with some of the stuff that comes out of Trump's mouth—who wouldn't want "the best healthcare" for less?—but it's people falling for the con, long after it's been proved a con, that bewilders me.
6
$20 says this xenophobia doesn't even know any foreigners running around who don't belong here. Just more fear. Been there, done that. If this guy thinks xenophobia will solve his problems he's in for a rude awakening.
4
Mr Kennedy is smart? He uses colorful metaphors, I’ll give him that. But he does not seem a particularly good judge of character. He claims he would not support Trump if he thought he were a racist. But the evidence is plain to see that Mr Trump is a racist (and a mysoginist) so how does Mr Kennedy’s supporting Trump make him a “smart” voter? Trump supporters like Kennedy, are just deluding themselves trying to look past the disqualifying flaws of their “leader” to find salvation. It isn’t there.
5
Beyond the noise, Donald Trump is an autocrat whose main desire is to concentrate all government power into the office of the Presidency so that he can continue to enrich himself and his family at everyone else's expense. His negative personality traits--racism, misogyny, self-aggrandizement, compulsive lying, etc.--pale in comparison with his assault on democracy and willingness to sell our nation to the Russian oligarchy.
5
A message from the hinterlands!
What economics program is more successful than that followed by the coastal blue states like California and Washington, and the big urban centers like Atlanta, Dallas, and Phoenix? How, other than welfare, can we assist those who choose to stay behind in cold, grubby, forsaken places?
Kennedy is a Social Democrat at heart, yet he clings to crazy Trump and the supremely corrupt Republican party for governance.
4
I'm listening, but I'm NOT convinced. He must know what kind of person tRump (a man who never worked a day in his life) is, and what kinds of people with whom he surrounds himself. If Kennedy wants to be associated with this lying, guilty, misanthrope, I think it says a lot about him. I can't imagine why he voted for Barack Obama.
6
Shannon Kennedy, that "Trump is like a horse with blinders at the Kentucky Derby"? Roger Cohen, your "one honorable American's love of Trump" just doesn't cut the mustard. Mr. Kennedy "lurched" from Obama to Trump. Alas, Democrats and Independents don't yet have a candidate for the 2020 Presidency (or well before, given the tenor of our fraught times) in purple-state America. Shannon Kennedy denies Trump's racism (!). He respects the office of the Presidency. As do all the Americans who loathe Donald Trump and are hopeful and eager to see him disappear into the tar pits of history.
6
Draining the swamp? Yes, and replaced with other creatures.
Lobbyists? Still there.
Immigration? Still no wall (it would be done on day one).
"Only I can fix it." Still many problems out there.
2
I am happy to respect the humanity in anyone, but I'm not sure exactly what makes Mr. Kennedy "honorable." It is hard to swallow that someone voted for Obama twice, then for the man who spent denying Obama's legitimacy and Americanness.
No, we shouldn't try to appeal to someone who is so blind and illogical that he thinks that Trump is not an extreme racist, and thinks that the Clintons are crooked, but Trump is a respectable businessman.
And Roger, for the love of god, please stop denying that coastal liberals are patriotic Americans. You keep telling us that we need to respect and understand the people who stand outside Trump rallies and rail against liberals, coastal elites, gays, minorities, everyone they do not consider "real Americans."
All my friends in my liberal Cambridge neighborhood studied hard in school, go to work every day, love our kids, and believe in social and economic justice -- and the economy in our city and state is booming as a result. These ARE "can-do, down-to-earth values," and I will be up in your grill and anybody else's if you try to tell me they are not!
7
Not a 'deplorable'? How about excusing a president who is a proven liar, somebody who made excuses for white supremacists, and a politician who supported a democratic disaster in Roy Moore? Don't take Trump at face value? What, we're supposed to believe garbage has no odor?
What could 'deplorable' refer to but people who vote for someone despite well founded reports of housing discrimination, allegations of offensive sexual behavior, questionable business ethics, not to mention a candidate who bows and scrapes to the worst inclinations of ignorant voters.
"There are too many people running around who have no business being here." This Kennedy has definitely put in his time and experiences. But he is no more valid than an immigrant who wishes for freedom and work opportunities, for a life as good as Kennedy. I'd not have this guy judging who belongs here or not.
7
go "beyond the noise" - what does that even mean? we should no longer take the president at his word?
1
When is enough enough with these incessant articles about how salt of the earth and kindly these trump supporters are? We get it. Obviously it's a free country and people are free to believe what ever they choose no matter how delusional and dangerous. But, at this point, this is ridiculous. It's beyond obvious how truly awful, on every level, trump is. So please just stop. It's bad enough having to deal with the 24/7 news coverage about the complete chaos in the White House and in Washington without this. Give us a break.
8
Another Trump supporter who likes fighting. Trump is a shadow-boxer, well-trained by Roy Cohn and others to throw punches no matter what. He's also a delusional fool, and obviously a conman. I'm always stunned at how taken in his supporters are: they are not stupid, and if someone in their own life or business behaved the way Trump does they would know it for the con it is.
I'm really tired of "scrappy" without actual thought-out policy.
6
Loved this profile. Love the man, what a true patriot.
And, you're correct, he's NOT "Deplorable" as awful Clinton stated, throwing Trump supporters into one demeaning "basket"It was time for a change and I'm still there supporting the President, no matter how Democrats come unhinged. (watch clips of Nancy Pelosi during the SOTU, it's funny). And I was a lifetime former Democrat myself.
Not anymore.
4
Nice beret. I was just waiting for him to tell us what a great deal a breakfast is at McDonald's. Glad he can pick a winning horse when he sees one. Trump's people are their own worst enemies.
6
I'm about the same age as Shannon; it could have been me he was treating in Japan since I was evac'd there from RVN. My parents were working class and my Dad died young, an alcoholic. I couldn't disagree more if he said the sky was green. Trump is a lying, incompetent bully who shouldn't be allowed to run a drill presre
9
Ok , so what?
I’m not really sure what the point was of this article.
Even honorable Americans can be deluded.
3
So, when he finally comes to the conclusion he's been had, where do we mail his shadow?
6
Trump duped thousands with his Trump University scam. He duped millions with his drain the swamp America first scam. Any sentient person at some point realizes he/she's been scammed. Those who still support Trump will never get it. The old saw is true: you can fool some of the people all of the time.
7
Never discuss religion or politics with anyone. Chances are you'll walk away in wonder. Why are people not logical, ill-informed, and proud of their ignorance?
Kennedy is the poster boy for obliviousness.
9
If Trump isn't a racist, then we have set a very low bar for who isn't a racist. And, if anything, the President of the United States, the President of our wonderful country, should be acting in such a way as to not even have this issue be raised. Yet, he has raised the issue himself over and over.
If Trump isn't a racist, then perhaps Mr. Kennedy can explain why it is likely that racists in our country overwhelmingly voted for him. It takes one to know one.
I am not inclined to alter my political philosophy or values to get people like Mr. Kennedy to vote in a way that I would prefer that they vote. If I did that, I'd be off my own "train so fast you'd have to mail me my shadow."
5
He seems like a pretty average Trump supporter...Thanks for the article?
2
Honorable? Ok, if you insist. But the man's thinking is shallow - immature and incurious. Such is the fate of America unless hard-working, and far better educated immigrants keep coming in in large numbers. But that's exactly what shallow people fear, isn't it? And they get to vote. So much greatness indeed!
6
Mr. Kennedy neglects the same old same old obstruction from the republicans when a Democrat is in the WH. And their flip flops on their own values, morals, fiscal policies etc.
Sorry he just another deluded voter.
4
Why would you even write this column. This guy--this Kennedy--reflects undoubtedly the millions who are like him and who support the most horrific president in our history. When people like this Shannon Kennedy are profiled in the NYTimes, at least those of us who like this paper get just one more example of how much trouble our country is in. Joe Biden should never be compared with Donald J. Trump. If Joe Biden were president today, we would be a much healthier country. He knows how to deal with Congress, including far right members of that not-very-esteemed-any-more body. Please, let's not continue profiling Shannon Kennedy types. Profile people who know how to think!
8
"The Democratic Party should listen to him, or risk losing in 2020."
I feel like the media is listening to racists so hard they can hardly listen to anyone else! And that's what anybody who says Donald Trump isn't a racist is, a racist themselves.
6
like so many Trump supporters,Kennedy speaks in practiced,programmed answers.
he has a comeback for everything you say
to him and shuts his eyes to the vulgarity,
the mysogony and the incompetence of
this administration. yes,democrats need
to talk to people like him,but in hard ,cold
facts, not playing to his willful ignorance.
5
Well, as usual, no one talks about the elephant in the room, predatory capitalism. People pin too much hope on the president. Meanwhile, capitalism keeps churning away, destroying lives and the planet. Obama is decent, educated and intelligent, yet he couldn’t go against the entrenched health “care” special interests. Remember when the Republicans wouldn’t even discuss his proposals? Obamacare is actually the Republican plan. To think that Trump is going to change the system is the height of ignorance, or insanity, or both. He is exhibit A of what greed and self interest does to a human being. What the answer is, I don’t know, but putting a leash on rabid captilsm would be a good start, or it will keep bitting us in the butt. Other developed countries do better in balancing the economy with the common good. Not here, we live in the heart of the beast.
5
We do take Trump at face value: Our minds are made up about this, since one has only to pay attention to his actual record. Any Democrat who thinks that the task of Democrats is to persuade Trump voters to abandon their support for him and vote for any Democrat—from Bernie Sanders to Joe Biden to Kristen Gillibrand—is lost. How can any Democrat run for office without mentioning the myriad of insults Trump has unequivocally directed at women, African-Americans, Hispanics, not to mention his Caudillo-like accusations of treason against Democrats in Congress and the Free Press? Does Cohen envision a debate where these things are never mentioned? Mr. Kennedy might consider it “noise” —until Trump starts insulting old white men—will he take it personally then?
Does Roger Cohen actually believe any Democratic campaign worker could bear to engage in a conversation with a Trump voter and try to change his or her mind? Will Kristen Gillibrand be able to run without mentioning Trump’s name?
Democrats won the popular vote. All efforts ought to directed at getting out the vote from people who took Hillary’s Inevitability for granted or just didn’t think there was a difference. Increase Democratic turnout by 10% and we win. Period. Trump Outrage works to make a Wave victory this fall. Or not. But the disgust with this President and the embarrassment and shame over what he does are animal spirits Democrats ignore at their peril. And can’t discourage even if they wanted to.
4
I'm getting tired of hearing the complains from "rugged" Americans about lost jobs and industries. They should take a look at the immigrant they so despise. It's the immigrants who have the gumption to leave whatever they have and take a chance to make a better life somewhere else.
6
These articles are becoming tiresome. To support Trump is to support a semi-literate, immature, dishonest, ignorant, inexperienced, bigoted, anti-democratic, mendacious narcissist for the most important job on the planet. There are well over 320 million Americans but Trump ONLY cares about his supporters who give him absolute, cult-like loyalty. I know nothing about Mr. Kennedy beyond this article and I do not have to acknowledge that he is patriotic, smart, and "not deplorable." Supporting Trump says everything I need to know about one's ethics, morals, values, and sense of honesty.
7
I'm not sure what 'honorable' means. If you support someone that is dishonorable, does that infect your honor? Trump is the worst of the worst, taking money from the poor to give to the rich, now at President, but before as a conniving con-man millionaire. He has hurt many by just not paying them and saying it was their fault and that his lawyers would destroy them if they sued. He's the most morally, ethically and even financially bankrupt President we've ever had. On top of his greed, we also have the disaster of climate change denial. It would be hard to create a worse person to lead US.
So, my question is: if you support such a greedy, bullying, hateful, racist-baiting, woman-harassing man; does that effect how 'honorable' you really are?
6
The animosity toward immigrants is the give away. Apparently, in 2016-2018 that can override anything else for honorable Americans. And to state the obvious, Democrats cannot run on a boat-is-full platform of keeping America white for as long as possible.
2
While Mr. Kennedy's service is admirable, his list of clever quips seems like a Faux News Talking Points Memo or were prepared by someone in the White House (like Steven Miller) in the hope they would be planted in the mainstream (truthful) media. Given what has happened in the past year, this would come a a surprise to no one.
2
“And what of the president’s racism, lies, warmongering outbursts, vulgarity, and attacks on a free press and the judiciary?” - This is where the coastal elitists have President Trump all wrong. President Trump’s off the cuff remarks in no way show him to be any of the above to those who voted for him. Attacks on the press and judiciary have been well placed. And it was the Progressive icon Obama who called out the U.S. Supreme Court at his SOTU speech! Progressives unilaterally applauded. And let us not forget “Faux News.” Obama’s favorite label for Fox News. No one got all teary eyed about attacks on the press in the good ole days.
Looking out for the American voter by not wanting to flood our country with illegal immigrants is a winning rallying cry. Eliminating High cost Obamacare and making healthcare competitive is what the people want, not bankrupting our system with unpaid for “social benefits.” We also did not see any gains for the U.S. in the pay off to the mullahs except more money for terrorists so if President Trump rattles the cages, we support him.
1
Another salt-of-the-earth patriot who understands just how totally corrupt the Clintons really were....a smart old non-deplorable who still still believes in the magic of Trump. He most likely gets his news from Fox or talk radio. There's no way on this green earth that the Dems will ever win back the likes of Mr. Kennedy.
4
“Don’t take him at face value.” That’s they story people who are supporting Trump try to tell us. Face value is Trump with all his racist, misogynist, lying rhetoric and actions. Trump is who he is and you, Mr. Kennedy and the other Trump supporters are OK with it. You value what he values.
5
Kennedy said, “Don’t take him at face value. If I thought he was a racist, I’d be off the train so fast you’d have to mail me my shadow. Respect the office of the presidency.”
Can Kennedy see what Mr. Trump has done to the office of the presidency? Does he listen to what Trump says? Or is listening to what the president actually says what he means by taking him at face value? Trump who inherited tens of millions from his father is a scrapper? Kennedy might very well not be deplorable. But his brain isn't working.
4
As a long time listener (reader in this case), his, “I’d be off the train so fast you’d have to mail me my shadow.”, was a keeper. But it had to be surgically kept in a vacuum when his memos of: “Go beyond the noise,”; “Don’t take him at face value.”; and “Respect the office of the presidency.”, IGNORE responsible and reasonable value.
2
Just how has Trump “drained the swamp”? It’s clear this guy just plain hated Hillary Clinton and has latched onto Trump’s skill at erecting strawmen as an indication of leadership ability.
6
Dems have the perfect candidate. Jim Webb. Odds are they will never run him.
1
Anyone saying “IF” when thinking about whether Trump is a racist is clearly just not thinking. He is the textbook definition of racism.
14
Shannon Kennedy’s life has been challenging, admirable. He mowed lawns. Had a dad who spent a lot of time in bars. Lost his mother. Served a long stint in the military. A classic Irish-American male story.
I like him. My dad grew up in central Indiana during the Depression. His father died young of a stroke, and his mother relied on food from her parents, both farmers. Dad and his brother shot squirrels for stew. They delivered papers to earn money. Dad worked his way through Purdue waiting on tables and went on to design fighter planes. He loved his mother and was kind to his daughters. He might well have voted for Trump. He would never ever have voted for Hillary. That idea is laughable.
And it’s likely that my dad, if he were alive, would defend Trump and agree that this gilded dishonest greedy president champions “We the people” not “We the empowered.” Dad would approve of The Donald’s belligerence in dealings with Europe and China and interpret it as a strong defense of America (white America). In these ways, he and Mr. Kennedy would agree.
It’s a guy thing.
One implicit message runs through this editorial. That is: Democrats better MAN UP for the next election. Don’t play prissy blue-state coastal politics. Find a “purple state” guy under age 55 with broad shoulders, who can hunker down with miners and auto workers. Stop fooling with girly candidates. No white pantsuits!
Thanks for the advice, boys. You may well be right.
Or wrong.
24
So many commenters fault Kennedy for his attitudes, biases, inconsistencies. Apparently Dems will accept votes only from perfect people; coastal types, ivy league, no state school people please, or a self selected minority group.
I'm reminded of the Adlai Stevenson story...The supporter says to Stevenson 'All the smart people support you', and he replies 'Yes, but we need a majority'
Programs & attitudes from Dems that exclude middle brow Americans will make it difficult to win and more difficult to govern.
8
I certainly respect Mr. Kennedy's service but his comments should cause one to question exactly what evidence he requires to be of the opinion that the president is a racist? The president's comments about Charlottesville or his assertion that the Central Park Five were still guilty once DNA evidence exonerated them must surely cause Mr. Kennedy pause.
And how can Mr. Kennedy with a straight face argue that one should "look past the noise" when the president is speaking? Words matter and when the president speaks we should listen carefully to what he says as it literally speaks volumes as to who he is.
One need not make excuses or apologies for the conduct of a chief executive. They are necessarily held to a higher standard and we, as citizens of this great republic, must demand absolute adherence to those standards. To allow anything less creates a downward slide of standards throughout society. America is not the "Through the Looking Glass" world of Lewis Carroll. But is sure seems like it these days.
18
I usually enjoy your column finding them mindful and thought provoking. This column not so much. I'm sure Mr. Kennedy is a fine gentleman and I do respect and appreciate his service to our country. But he and so many folks like him missed the boat completely in the last election. I'll be the first to admit that we allowed two candidates to "bubble" up with more baggage than one could count. The election required voters to "peel the onion" and make an informed decision. In short, we as a country failed miserably at this. Ignorance and apathy won the day. Only time will tell if we have learned our lesson and correct course in the '18 mid-terms and beyond.
16
As a college educated, doubled master's degree, intelligent, reader, spiritually minded person, I'VE HAD IT. I have been polite, patient, understanding and compassionate - toward all those who voted for Trump. I understand that the Democrats were arrogant and self-serving - just as stupid in their own way as the Republicans. BUT, watching the carefully assembled crowd that sat behind Trump at his Ohio speech confirmed once again that his support team is filled with overweight, white people, who would rather be strong than smart and end up being neither. I'm done apologizing for the fact that I'm smart, curious, thinking, educated, and that I care about others. I'm sick of being called "un-American" and "elite." Trump and his supporters are bullies and I'm done being bullied.
57
I share the desire for a plain-spoken executive, not afraid to tell the truth, not beholden to special interests, who will sweep aside nonsense and return America to a time when the United States was the greatest creditor nation in the world. But Trump is not that man. He is not plain-spoken, he can barely read and struggles to repeat what he hears on Fox News. He is not a business executive, because he lost in bankruptcies everything he inherited from his father, and went on to play an executive on TV. Far from telling the truth, he is the most open liar we've ever seen outside a jail or mental hospital. He is not independently wealthy, because he puts his name on assets actually owned by outside investors, and skirts the question of his debts. Far from being free of special interests, he is chained to the Russian Oligarchy in ways we don't yet fully understand. And far from increasing American exports, he is driving up our borrowing and increasing the deficit still further. And he does not learn. He looks towards the issues of the past, not the challenges of the future. He is not that person people wish for.
30
Here is a clear example of disgust combined with authoritarianism in action. Mr. Kennedy's love of a strong-man dictating what's what is his idea of the ideal state. His platitudes about health care and transportation come out of actual needs he has in his life and he is able to ignore the collision of philosophies, as is required of members of the church of Faux News.
17
I have a friend like Mr. Kennedy, absent the military service. Most of his family and our friends in common rail against him for diluting his expectations of what a US president should be to a single-issue—immigration. He’s a lifelong Democrat, not a racist or a bigot, but he is convinced that immigration and trade policies are destroying the middle class. I’m quite sure my friend will be emailing all of us Mr Cohen’s piece this morning with “see, this is what I’ve been saying” in the title.
The heartland has real problems and Democrats ignore them at their peril. But blinders have become standard issue for otherwise sane Trump supporters like Mr. Kennedy and my friend. They are so desperate over their often-justified concerns that ANY cure—no matter how damaging in the long-term—has become acceptable. They are willingly allowing Trump and his Republican enablers to exploit them, trading a serious—but recoverable—disease for bone cancer.
18
Democrats should move beyond the old trump supporting Fox News fan. We as Democrats must work very hard to bring new young voters into the process.
10
While I agree with the conclusions expressed in the last paragraph, I do not agree with Mr. Kennedy. He's chosen one particular view of the elephant, and in my opinion doesn't care to know what the whole animal looks like.
Still, I wouldn't try to change his mind. He's a true believer, right out of Eric Hoffer's more-relevant-than-ever book. Sure, Kennedy says if he believed Trump were a racist, he'd drop Trump like a hot rock, but that means nothing. A true believer will never believe Trump is a racist.
As for the advice, "don't take him [Trump] at face value, that's just stupid. Adults have to be taken at face value - an adult is how he acts - an adult is his behavior. And Mr. Kennedy is, in my opinion, a fool.
14
I'm always interested in hearing from a thoughtful Trump supporter. I think, "At last, a chance to understand why these people support him." But I'm always disappointed and confused and no closer to understanding.
Yes, I know: the Clintons are a bit shifty. Then how can you support a man whose whole career is an endless series of lies and frauds?
You call him smart. I don't think so.
19
Shannon may be a good man, but he has most decidely hitched his wagon to a runaway horse. Trump is not "brash" and "a scrapper". He's a liar and self-promoter who fooled enough people like Shannon to get himself elected president. It's shocking that a year into this corrupt administration, there are still people making excuses for Trump and supporting him.
11
As long as Democrats prioritize the issue of immigration and immigrants' rights before the everyday needs of American citizens, they will lose.
Shutting down the government over it? Incredibly stupid as that only hardens the opposition in the hearts of people who have voted as Democrats in the past.
Compromise on this issue. Stop calling people who want immigration reform racists and xenophobes. That compromise will win at the polls, and pave the way to passing legislation for other progressive programs for all Americans: universal healthcare, universal preschool, a living minimum wage, free or very low cost public colleges and universities, etc..
We don't have to ban immigration, but we do need to control it. The only immigration fight the dems should be fighting right now are to give the Dreamers a path to citizenship. It's not their fault they're here, and we've already invested a lot in them: for every year a Dreamer has been in public schools, we've invested $8-20K per year in their education, depending on what state they're in. It would be stupid to squander our investment: a Dreamer who started in kindergarten and finished high school has received at least $100K of taxpayer funded public education (in northern VA, that cost approaches $200K, in NYC, it's over $280K).
It would also be immoral to exile a person who has known no other country but ours: they are, in every sense of the word but the legal one, already Americans, and the majority in our country agree.
7
This article has some blind spots but Cohen’s main point is correct. The Clintons fell in love with Wall Street and did not realize that it would not be the tide to float all boats. The unions and blue collar class workers were left behind in that quest and so, right or wrong, got on the USS Republican boat. Unless the Democratic Party realizes its mistake very quickly there will be no party that reasoned Americans can turn to on Election Day.
3
The "logic" of the average citizen who voted for Trump was that their vote simply the only available method of giving the middle-finger salute to the Washington - New York establishment.
Unfortunately for us all, their logic was flawed since Trump sold them a bill of goods in that he has no interest in helping the "little guy" suceed in a rapidly changing world.
4
As a small employer in the Syracuse market I know first hand that Obamacare didn't come "off the rails" due to a non-competitive exchange. This is Fox News speak, as well as some other quotes the author used, and I'm afraid there is no winning back such a viewer of that propaganda machine.
1
Just for the record. There are also many "honorable" Americans who have no love of Trump -- So no, I'm not convinced by this story.
There are many ways to serve your country.
And there are many ways to be a patriot.
I also wish that Mr. Cohen and all the other pundits and pollsters would stop equating Barack Obama with Donald Trump and making all Democrats out as being from the enemy camp.
After a year of this current administraion, the country is already ripped apart by identity politics that range from race, religion to geographical location.
And it's not making America great again.
8
Yes, Mr. Kennedy may be ignorant - not realizing that supporting a racist makes you also a racist testifies to that, among his other views - but calling him, or Trump racist o ignorant isn't going to win back power for the Democrats, and without regaining power they will continue to be shut out of all important decisions,
Mr. Cohen you nailed it: the "same old, same old" didn't work for Hilary, and it isn't going to work for whomever the Dems put forth at any level. The Democrats need to return to their roots as the party of the middle and working class, as Bernie tried to get them to do. They abandoned their former base with Bill Clinton's "Third Way", and lost their own way. If they don't find their way back, they'll be left wandering in the wilderness as Trump and the Republicans have their way.
3
I think that Shannon Kennedy would have voted for Joe Biden if Biden had been the Democratic candidate. Biden does not at all exude "got-the system-rigged elitism" that Cohen assumes Democrats are guilty of. What does that mean anyway, with Republican gerrymandering, vote-suppression, and disinformation campaigns if not outrageous mendacious smearing of opponents? Remember the "swift-boating" of John Kerry, a decorated veteran?
8
Every time we hear from an "honorable" Trump supporter, we are given a profile, by their own words, of someone who thinks that government-by-and-for-the-rich, racism, lying, crude and coarse behavior toward women, traitorous international affinities, and loathing for democratic and constitutional practices by Trump are not real, despite all the hard evidence to the contrary. There is nothing honorable about this - it is just willful ignorance. It is beyond any understanding that these folks do not absorb how many things this president has done that undermines their material and moral underpinnings. Why does Roger Cohen label such a person "honorable?" If we have to stoop this low to win an election, poor us - I find that hideous. The Democrats need a candidate who will bring these folks back to their inner decency, if it still exists.
9
Jack is full of himself. He's an outsized egoist without any capacity for self-reflection. Here he is, cheerfully asserting he's for good, responsible government, mass transit and a national approach to health care, which is to say, here he is revealing his support for Trump is utterly irrational.
By glossing over Trump's gross and abominable character-as if character is no more than a personality problem of Trump occasionally saying inappropriate things--this "honorable American" reveals to the whole world that he himself lacks character.
If this is what being an "honorable American" means, let's pray the dishonorable ones prevail at the midterm elections.
8
When it comes to Trump this honorable American is not discerning.
But yes, Biden won't do.
Kennedy should confront his demons, whatever these may be. There comes a time when your patriotic values and service in the military tell you something ain't right. Maybe, he likes being told what to think but to assume that Trump has his best interests at heart is mere blind faith.
It's a sort of laziness. I've given my vote and am absolved of all the consequences.. This is not how democracy works.
2
What Mr. Cohen leaves out is there is no way to appeal to Shannon. Literally none. He is not functioning rationally. He wants universal health care but he still supports Trump? He doesn't think Trump is a racist? It's pretty obvious he doesn't follow the news, since he doesn't realize Trump has done everything possible to push that dream further away. Like way too many Americans, it looks like Shannon votes strictly on his gut. He probably doesn't even realize that he likes Trump because he's a kindred spirit - an aging white male, feeling like his resentments and hurt pride are salved by seeing this evil man stomp our country under its foot. It would have been nice of Roger Cohen to give some examples of how we can ever compete with the hyper emotional validation Trump is giving to aging white men. Because that's all this is about.
5
Self delusion knows no bounds. Kennedy’s belief Trump is really draining the swamp of characters inimical to the ordinary guy’s interest is so false that one must doubt his political reasoning power. His real motives are rooted not in reason but in a class resentment toward all those perceived smarty pants representatives of Democratic Party identity factions! Abandon Obamacare because of uncompetitive exchanges! I know Blarney when I see it and so does Kennedy!
A lot of Americans held their nose and their vote and we got Trump. It wasn’t a matter of for better or worse, it was worse or worst. We got the latter. Nobody is perfect, and while as imperfect as Mrs. Clinton was (as was her husband), Trump is so embroiled in lies, scandals and whatnot that we have receded into mediocrity as a country and will have some difficult time digging ourselves out of this mess. I respect Mr. Kennedy’s feelings but I disagree with his politics. I hope others do too.
1
Mr. Kennedy appears to be a likable enough man. However he appears to have fallen victim to the entirely human tendency of acting in willful ignorance. He might even realize his predicament, but has become invested in his position, and adheres even more tightly to it when presented with evidence that does not support his position.
I am still of two minds whether it is worthwhile trying to win over persons who fit this behaviour pattern.
Does Mr. Kennedy still think President Trump "drained the swamp", or his tax cut was for "working Americans"? Mr. Kennedy demonstrates sadly that once invested in a candidate, it is very difficult for many supporters to acknowledge the most obvious truths. I agree with Roger Cohen that the "same old" will not work for Democrats, but I hope they do not waste too much time trying to convert the Mr. Kennedy"s of this world.
1
So he believes a con man, to the point of thinking that he's not doing exactly what he's doing—appointing people who, yes, have contempt for us ordinary working people.
It just frames the question: If someone can't see what's going on in front of their face, what can you do?
So many people commenting have apparently missed the entire point of this column. Democrats need to stop bashing the President and his supporters NOW if there's any hope their candidates will have any appeal to those voters who made President Trump a reality. I see multiple comments questioning this man's intelligence and his level of information as a voter. Honestly, almost all American voters have less information and more campaign rhetoric, and telling another person that he is stupid because he disagrees with you is not the smartest way to change his mind.
While I certainly respect Mr. Kennedy's service, he seems blithely unconcerned about the Russian interference in our election, the Trump campaign's frequent contacts with the Russians, and with President Trump's consistent pattern of praising Putin, not wanting to enforce any sanctions against Russia, and complete lack of interest, if not outright opposition to investigating Russian interference.
1
Major Kennedy makes no mention of how he likes being lied to.
He makes no mention of Trump wanting to take health care away from millions or to defund our public schools in favor of religious and profit-making organizations.
He makes no mention of how Trump damages our reputation throughout the free world by being arbitrary and ill-informed.
Maybe it is his out front disclosure of his dysfunctional childhood that has brought him to this point of illogic.
3
"He's smart." If so, that gives him less of an excuse.
I have some (some!) sympathy for Trump supporters who really are educationally or intellectually disadvantaged. Trump is an expert manipulator, in business and now in politics. Psychopaths often show the ability to be very charming and persuasive - that's how they get what they want. Some folks are more vulnerable prey.
Others choose to look past the lies, the incompetence, the logical fallacies, and the disgusting behavior/beliefs. They willfully ignore the damage being done to our environment, vulnerable citizens, and standing in the world, in favor of some macho admiration of a "scrapper" (seriously?) and their own prejudice against those who "don't belong here."
I cannot agree with calling such people honorable Americans. Mr. Kennedy, you should know better.
3
There's nothing honorable about ignorance. Most often it's willful. and in these times it's intolerable. We're very close to showing that mankind has reached its limit for coping with reality and is now ready to collapse into chaos. Economics, war, climate and population will not respond well to idiocy.
2
I remember Ms. Clinton and other Democrats talking about helping immigrants, the poor, the dreamers and minorities. I do no recall any support of American workers in the form of reinvigorating our manufacturing, increasing wages, supporting unions, supporting workers benefits or rights. Maybe they did support these things but they were not emphasized enough.
He may be honorable, but he is still a fool. He wants Trump to be something that he is not and will never be. Trump is for himself only, he will never be for America. Mr. Kennedy, you mistake the package for the product. Trump is the 'noise', there is nothing deeper. Take him at 'face value', because that is all there is.
1
An interesting study of a decent, thinking American who likes the unlikeable. I really can't figure 45 or his supporters out, so I appreciate any light shone on these puzzling creatures hiding in plain sight or proud of their political stance. Is it unconscious racism that attracts them to 45? Is it conscious frustration with our barely functioning government? Or, what? I'd really like to know before I go.
The few 45 supporters I know always point out the few things they like about him: plain-spokenness, anti-PC, anti-immigrant, especially Muslims, and antipathy towards Big Government; but mostly they voted against HRC -- whom they love to hate -- which, I suppose, must further justify their reason to support 45. In fact, they can energetically criticize the Clintons at great length; they do know some stories, some of which might even be true.
People: riddles, wrapped in mysteries, inside enigmas: fascinating, boring, helpful, scary, wise, and stupid -- providing a target-rich environment for the student of human nature.
I agree with Kennedy and disagree with Cohen who can't see past his own preconceptions, bias, and tiny realm of experience. Like most liberals, he describes working class, and post working class, people and towns in stereotypical terms. They are just props for him. I'm not enamored with Trump by any means and support some liberal causes. It is liberals themselves that put me off. More and more as time goes by and the current lot is the worst. Hypocrites, holier than thou, disconnected, self centered, whining, and condescending,to a man and woman.
Also, Biden would be OK. He has some real grit.
With all due respect to the subject of this piece, his statement “Don’t take him at face value. If I thought he was a racist, I’d be off the train so fast you’d have to mail me my shadow. Respect the office of the presidency.” shows exactly what the danger in our country is today.
The message is (1) don't trust yourself (“Don’t take him at face value.") but instead trust Trump, (2) I'm not really bad myself ("If I thought he was a racist, I’d be off the train so fast you’d have to mail me my shadow.") yet I support Trump who is a bad person and that's okay because I myself am not "bad", and (3) you don't have a right to judge the president's person, behavior, or actions ("Respect the office of the presidency.") because Trump sits in a particular job and you have to respect the position he holds.
Perfect example of cult mentality. Already, this person and millions like him have been led to relinquish control of their own minds to Trump, they've been led to leave their own values behind in order to support Trump, and they use the very bureaucracy they say they hope to drain in order to defend Trump despite his own actions that betray the Constitution behind the office he holds.
2
Mr. Kennedy is not a realist. He is still under the spell of his grandma's poverty mindset. We will face hard times together but anyone who wants someone of the ilk of Donald Trump to lead is delusional. Most people will not follow and then what a mess we will have on our hands. A mess for which authoritarianism, in these folk's minds ,is the solution. A mess that someone like Trump will relish. And one I am afraid that Kennedy's grandma prepped him for.
He is the past. We democrats need to aim at the under 40 folks. It is their world and their children's. Let the old guard go along with their prejudices and fears and control issues.
Mr. Cohen, thank you for sketching a very clear portrait of a contemporary hare-brain and suitable for framing.
We don't need rogues or vile mavericks. If you think the Democratic Party should offer one up for 2020 then I'll be voting Independent or the Surrealist Party with their 500lb rock candidate from Oregon makes more sense to me now. In fact, their candidate known as Nobody has all the qualities I'm looking for in representation. Nobody is going to keep us out of war, Nobody will not raise taxes, Nobody will promote equality, Nobody will protect us from corporate greed, Nobody has our back.
The problem comes out in the end of the piece, when we hear what this man thinks he is seeing. He doesn't seem to be able tell what's actually happening from what he's being told is happening. And that's a dangerous inability.
Mr Kennedy shared a bit about older generations in his family; does he have children/grandchildren who will be saddled with the ballooning national debt, thanks to Trump's tax bill and big spending?
His praise of Trump is based solely on Trump's iconoclastic style, yet his praise of Trump's accomplishments is strangely reversed. He has certainly not driven out those "with contempt for the people they represent", he has selected them for his appointments!
Zinke is decimating national parks and monuments as the stooge of mining and oil!
DeVos weakening public education to build up for-profit charter schools, including those she owns!
Mnuchin at Treasury censured for squandering public funds on private plane rides!
Whats-his-name appointed to head the Consumer Protection Agency turned a budget request for $0 as an attempt to leave consumers to the tender mercies of unscrupulous creditors!
And the list goes on. Kennedy is merely another superficial thinker impressed by a circus, a lot of noise and swirling action. Just remember, the circus moves on, taking its profits and leaving behind its trash.
2
The reality of a National Health Service, in America? It will never happen. With this nation's history of race and class, the "for profit" ethoes, coupled with the nation's diversity? A bridge too far.
As for Mr. Kennedy, a man of a certain age, place and time. Remember what then-citizen Donald Trump said of the politics of Louisiana Seanatorial candidate David Duke? This Presidency shouldn't have been a surprise.
This article should be required reading for every Democratic Party leader before selecting the slate of local, state, and national elections this year.
"There are too many people running around who shouldn't be here." Wow. Once you buy into that line, you've bought into the great horrors of recorded history: genocide, sterilization, internment--as well as casually adopting as truth the idea that we, as individuals, can make these judgments about others.
We all have our own lists of who those "many people" are, Mr. Kennedy, and we are rapidly becoming empowered, each of us, one by one, to disable the brakes and run them over.
1
Sorry, but anyone who thinks that Trump is draining the swamp has awful judgment. I won't bother with the rest of it because it's just as obvious...
2
Kennedy's own words reveal the absence of substance, facts, logic and reason that makes it so hard to communicate with die-hard Trump supporters. He ignores Trump's minions, from Tom Price to Steve Mnuchin to Rob Porter, who show contempt for the American people they work for. He supports policies in health care and infrastructure investment that the Trump administration has trashed. He thinks Trump supports "we the people" by giving the "empowered" rich massive tax cuts. He respects hard work but stands by a president who spends hours watching Fox News and can't be bothered to read his intelligence briefings. He dismisses Trump's daily horrific utterances as "noise." Basically, Kennedy likes Trump because Trump is a bully, and hates immigrants and the Clintons. Smart? Down-to-earth values? Honorable? C'mon, pull the other leg. It's got bells on it.
2
There are no defensible arguments to justify having voted for Donald Trump. We all knew what he was before we walked into the voting booth. Those who chose to vote for him over the highly qualified and competent woman who was the subject of a 20-year right wing media smear campaign are just plain gullible, misogynistic, racist, or ignorant.
3
Kennedy's statements are just like everyone else's in similar interviews I've read. When asked about Trump's "racism, lies, warmongering outbursts, vulgarities and attacks on a free press and judiciary" he dismisses them as mere "noise." He claims he would desert Trump if he "thought he was a racist," but obviously is unwilling to look at the facts under his nose. This is head-in-the-sand ignorance of the worst kind--and all too common among those "good people" who voted for Trump.
2
In my rural area it is quite easy to tell who is a fan of the Mango Mussolini and who is not. Just enter any doctor or dentist's office and note who is staring at Faux News on the television (I've always wondered how they find TVs that only have 1 setting). There will be people nodding, shaking their heads or otherwise agree with Faux, and the rest of us read magazines or play on our phones, doing our best to ignore each other.
Sounds like Mr. Kennedy has a great sense of humor. Maybe that's what is required to be a resident of Trump World these days. He can laugh all the way to the poorhouse.
While I didn’t vote for Trump, I find his policies overwhelmingly beneficial.
Tax reform, regulatory reform, energy development and draining the swamp, what could be better.
Oh wait, there’s conservative jurists to boot!
Hillary would have doubled down on the Obama corruption.
I live near Syracuse, I will have to look this guy up!
Imagine with me, if you can, where we might be today had President Obama, when assuming office in 2009, had asked Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi to step aside and let new leadership ascend in the Democratic Party... And yet we still have Pelosi today, hanging on and holding back the party.
1
This decent man is in cognitive dissonance denial. Donald Trump is demonstrably ignorant, demonstrably racist, demonstrably mendacious. When Trump swore and oath to defend the Constitution and then says to DOJ and the FBI should protect him from investigation, he’s is trampling on Constitutional governance to defend himself. His grand promise to make America great again? He’s so absorbed by his own pathological narcissism, and so intellectually lazy, he can’t master even the basic elements of delivering on that promise. Trump is undisciplined, disorganized and audibly incoherent and the ONLY thing he cares about is himself and what makes him look good. In what way is he a worthy successor to Obama?
2
The importance of winning the vote of Trump supporters like Kennedy seems essential for Democrats to win national elections in the future. But reading Kennedy's comments raises questions: how do you reason with the irrational; how do you message to the delusional; how you your inform one who surrounds themselves with distortion? The task ahead will not be easy.
1
I don’t know how this man rationalizes Trump’s behavior except that he is turning a blind eye to overt racism, corruption and sheer incompetence.
He is not alone. Just look at the Republican Party.
2
I'm still reeling from the strange turn Mr. Kennedy made from President Obama to Trump. How could he respect one who clearly deserved it and regale another who so obviously contrasts with his ineptitude, lies and moral turpitude. There is nothing to respect with Trump, no decency, and why doesn't he see the racism
and bigotry? Is he a Fox News fan? Does he read and think ? How did he become a "true believer". Believer in what? "go beyond the noise"? He considers the indecency of Trump "noise"? I will never understand the Trump voter - they seem to see but are blind.
These kind of people come out of the shadows and comfort themselves by preaching Trumpism. By the way Joe Biden would have beaten Trump in a big way.
Shannon Kennedy is a textbook example of how demagogues come to power - by telling an audience exactly what they want to hear without regard to truth or reality -- frightening...
1
I don't blame Mr. Kennedy for putting his faith in Trump. The Democrats have failed the American people by becoming the party of neoliberalism.
In the colloquial terms that Kennedy would recognize it simply means 'you can't serve two masters.' You can't be the party of the status quo and toss crumbs to the people where a whole loaf is needed.
You can't assume that the interests of big banks, insurance companies and multi-national corporations are the same as the average worker.
You can't look at thirty years of stagnant wages while corporate profits soared and think all is solved with an earned income tax credit. And you can't bail out banks with our money and do nothing for the families that they displaced.
But sadly Mr. Kennedy, like so many Trump voters is still holding on to promises when after a year in office it's clear that Trump's real agenda is to make corporate America great again.
The media's obsession with all things Trump misses the boring but necessary work of reporting on what's really going on in our federal agencies. The Times is better than most, but Americans get their 'news' from TV and the cable outlets which do little or no investigative reporting.
Trump voters don't have to look far or deep to see that they've been had. Our government is being run by corporate America and it's being run for their benefit, not your's Mr. Kennedy and certainly not for mine.
302
Big problem here: Trump’s words are all blarney and do not match his actions. Has a different opinion every day. Kennedy doesnt see that or refuses to?
6
Kennedy loves Trump's bulldozing style. What he misses is that Trump bulldozes everything that is honest, ethical and decent. And tell me who in Trump's cabinet represents the common man? Instead of draining the swamp, he's turned it into a sewer. People like Kennedy need to open their eyes.
5
A voter who against all available evidence continues to believe the myth of Trump. Yes, it is the contempt for the common man that cost the Democrats the support of people like him who instead choose a candidate who began his campaign with the racist birther hoax and lied to "real Americans" 70% of the time. Democrats need a candidate who will "not be taken at face value" too, a difficult bit of messaging I think.
7
Sorry, but I can't respect anyone who turns a blind eye to all the harm that Trump is doing to this country. They, after all, are the ones who are enabling him. What you described here is willful ignorance. The things this man cites - draining the swamp - when all he has to do is read a newspaper or listen to something besides Fox News to know that Trump is running the most corrupt Administration in modern times. And he says don't take Trump at face value? So don't judge Trump on his words and deeds. As Obama once said, "Come On Man!"
7
As with prior articles in the Times about the views of pro-Trump voters, one needs only to look at the comments section to see that blue-state liberals want to hear none of it. It is much more comfortable to put all Trump supporters and the wider net of people who voted for Trump into a grouping of various deplorables.
For all the hyperbole about Trump's alleged authoritarian leanings, I get the impression that these "progressives" see very little room in society for alternative views and the people who hold them. I also get the strong sense they would support the suppression of speech and freedom of the press lest more people like Mr. Kennedy hear the wrong thing and get pulled astray from whatever policy CNN, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, NBC are spouting in unison.
3
All this column demonstrates is that you cannot beat ignorance and propaganda. Kennedy says that with Trump you have to look past the noise, as if there is anything in back of it. Conmen are integral to history, mainly its tragedies, and once conned, people like Kennedy are loath to change their minds.
523
There is a lesson in this article, and it doesn't include besmirching Mr. Kennedy’s point of view. Democrats must actually listen and respond to the concerns and needs of people like Mr. Kennedy to prevail in 2018 and beyond.
40% of the country’s voters went for Trump in 2016 because the Democratic Party offered nothing new or helpful for their personal situations. In my opinion, it would be best for the country not to repeat that mistake.
19
And what did the Republican Party offer? Where in the media was there ever a clear debate about the platforms of both parties and the pros and cons for ordinary Americans, the 99%? The Democratic Platform had people like Shannon Kennedy much more real substance to offer than the Republican party's, that only consisted of empty promises of bringing back obsolete manufacturing jobs and coal, and tax cuts. And lots of dog-whistling to the "base". What people of all races and genders want is a roof over their heads, food on the table, affordable good quality health care, education and transportation, and a retirement in dignity. And a social safety net so they don't go bankrupt in case of an emergency, chronic health problem, caring for a disabled child or spouse, etc., Life is unpredictable, after all. In return they want to work hard, contribute to their communities and be law-abiding citizens.
1
Will I vote for Trump in 2020?
I probably will. The main reason I will is because the democratic party is for socialism, and when I look at America and across the world I see this: A constant attempt by socialists to play down the white man, to always favor anybody intellectually other than a white man anytime they can, and to in fact upraise people against the white man even if they don't have the merit, which is to say a white man loses out even if possessing intellectual merit.
For all secularism, science, humanities of left wing parties, it appears to amount to a flattening of society, decline of high individual ability. Take a look at Europe: We have no celebration and deep example of high individual accomplishment as in the past, roster after roster of great writer, thinker, scientist, artist, etc. Take a look at socialism in the Far East: Countries such as China destroy individuality and routinely have to resort to intellectual theft to make up for their having crushed individual talent.
I will probably vote for Trump because I have heard enough about Dead White Males and do not desire to become one. And I can obviously see that left wing political parties depend quite a bit on censorship, blocking views with which they disagree. I can't abide "progress" which is ironically censorship, unless you want to defend somehow that censorship is necessary to progress.
I despise Trump/right wings, but left wings everywhere make it difficult to love their idea of progress.
9
Trump will be a convicted criminal on multiple charges by 2020. Count on it.
Your letter is beautiful. People who view themselves as "elites" are just whiners that want to impose their world beliefs on all the rest of the world. Look at almost 99% of the columns in this paper. They're having a MELTDOWN every day about Trump.
Who's obsessed?
1
I don’t see this as argument by anecdote. Mr. Kennedy isn’t a typical Trump supporter, if there is such a person. I do see the column as a plea to listen to what Trump supporters are saying—symbolically. Kudos to Mr. Cohen for making that plea.
Our centuries-long search for democracy has become derailed. American “democracy” is becoming, in some ways has become, a managed democracy. Trump, to a large number of his supporters, is a symbol of that fact. American government has long depended upon the manufacturing of consent and a massive industry, in which much of the media has been implicated, has grown up around that process. It ain’t democracy and large numbers of Trump supporters can feel it in their bones. Sadly, Trump has come to symbolize these feelings—he was the wrong choice, but Clinton could not have served this symbolic function.
The rise of new media has only increased recognition of the degree to which consent is manufactured, adding industrial sectors like Facebook, etc., to the manufacturing process—a change recognized by others who should not be involved at all, like the infantile Vladimir Putin, who, like an adolescent, thinks he can do anything he wants, no matter what the consequences.
Ironic, isn’t it? The Trump vote symbolically seems to be saying that American democracy needs to grow up.
2
I grew up with many people just like Kennedy. I agree with Roger's conclusion. But, with one big addendum. Kennedy needs to pay more attention to reality, as much as Dems need to pay more attention to him. He needs to understand that Trump and his ilk are busy looting the Treasury while they use a charade of promises to him. Luckily when I was a kid in the Bronx, we were taught how to spot a con running a shell game. Maybe the folks Upstate were just a bit less cynical.
47
This is precisely the problem with this Kennedy type supporter and you will never be able to change their minds. The Democrats are fighting a losing battle with this type of voter because they are completely brainwashed by both Trump and the Republican Party's shell game. This is why con men like Trump are so successful.
1
Let's examine this quote: "“The thing about him,” Kennedy tells me, “is that there’s forward energy. He’s like a horse with blinders at the Kentucky Derby. If there’s another horse in the way, knock it out and ride the rail. I listened to him, on immigration, on draining the swamp, on lobbyists, and I liked that. " To put it another way, it is commendable indeed to fix/replace all of those things about government that are working badly or do not serve the public interest. However, the most glaring defect in Trump is that he has NO constructive/viable solutions to offer in their stead. Worse yet, he doesn't even know competent and experienced people to implement such solutions if he had them. No wonder his administration is a colossal failure. It is painfully obvious he is unfit for the office he holds.
35
He is honorable, but gullible. Trump's proclamations of swamp-draining, concern for the "little guy," etc is nothing but a "shtick,"geared to convincing the poorly-informed to depart with things of value, in this instance their vote.
31
To me, the scariest thing about Trump is not his "racism" or warmongering. What is scary is his hollowness - I don't hear a firmly developed value system that I could disagree with or not. . His value system , if you can call it that, is rooted in his deep desire to win and be adored. And yes, he is like a horse with blinders - and if another horse gets in his way, gets in the way of him winning or being seen as "the one", he will knock it out of his way and ride the rails. If you pay attention to everything he says and does, you can hear the need and the reasons - and those needs are not the needs of other people, of the country , they are the needs of an empty, undeveloped individual.
28
Certainly there remain Trump supporters but they can't seem to give cogent reasons as to why.
Trump's promises turn out to mean nothing. He doesn't have much of a vision for what he wants in the future.
My feeling is most of his supporters are just enamored with his celebrity and convinced by his braggadocio.
26
I can forgive those who were taken in by Trump's promises and voted for him in the election. But they have observed him for a year so there are no further excuses.
What the press needs to do now, the same press who enabled him throughout the election and who dealt in false equivalencies and fixation on Hillary's emails, is to stop calling Trump's actions "unprecedented." Unprecedented is a huge turn on for those who still support Trump. This is how it is exciting and what they are looking for. It lets them turn off their brains and bask in his personality. They have no interest in logic or facts or policy. They still balance everything that he does against their Hillary hatred, which much of the press still harbors and enables at every turn.
The Democratic party needs to realize that these people, the Trump supporters, are not persuaded by facts. For instance, there really is not much of an upside to releasing a rebuttal to the Nunez memo. it won't matter. We need to find another way before it is too late.
21
This column is proof that we need a third party. Americans had a choice of two bad candidates, Trump clearly the worst, but guys like Kennedy would no sooner vote for a woman than (I'll allow Kennedy to fill in the metaphor with something folksy).
Many Americans were willing to see Trump's corruption and obtuseness as refreshing in an otherwise stilted, humorless political landscape.
And now they're playing defense by fighting louder and harder because they're too embarrassed to admit they made a stupid mistake.
14
Even with a third party of some sort, this Kennedy type supporter will never accept facts or a reality check about Trump's con job to Make America Great Again.
So the Kennedys of our country decried that their voices weren't heard and, given the opportunity, then used their voice to elect Donald Trump, an out-of-the-closet con man, a proud profiteering, bankruptcy loving businessman who wouldn't think twice about defaulting on loans and not paying small business owners for rendered services to "save" our country. Without mention of his notorious graces when it comes to dealings with women, African Americans and immigrants, among others. They use their collective voice to elect "Man" and allowed him to install a reality TV cabinet filled with national security threats, financial lobbyists, family members, celeb apprentices and wife beaters. They asked for this man who then proceeded to break his promises of the healthcare for all, of draining the swamp and taking on the powerful. And they cheered and they clapped because he was brash and he was a fighter.
And so Mr Cohen is asking us to listen to their voices again. And my question is, can this country afford to?
26
Reality testing is difficult. There is no doubt in my mind that Mr. Kennedy is worthy of respect for what he has done and continues to do with his life. The almost impossible act is to understand how he can process available information about Trump and feel that he does anything for anyone other than himself, particularly a working class male in Syracuse - I doubt Trump could even find it on a map.
11
As others have pointed out, there is, sadly, nothing new in Mr Cohen's piece. And, equally sadly, it completely misses the point on what the Democratic Party would need to do to keep itself from fading into permanent irrelevance.
Mr Kennedy is not atypical, there are likely thousands of others with his background and beliefs. They elected and continue to support Trump because of how the man was perceived -- "sold", if you will -- not because of his policies. They didn't support Clinton because of how she was perceived -- or allowed herself to be characterized.
To repeat: It is not about Republican politics, it is not about policy, it about The Man. Believe in The Man.
Supporters such as Mr Kennedy will continue to explain away or ignore the negatives -- or label them "noise" or "fake news" -- because Trump has enabled them to have hope by believing in him and his power, and fervently believe that their lives will be transformed by him.
Those opposed to Trump are counting on some outrage or impropriety to bring him low. Sorry to say, that's not how it's going to happen. The next presidential election is already underway, and it will no doubt be the theme of Trump 2020 to "keep the momentum going", regardless of whether there has actually been any change in the fortunes of voters like Mr Kennedy. They will simply keep on believing.
8
Not to excuse the Democrats, who need a message not involving identity politics, but Trump supporters seem to listen to his words, and don't spend time considering where his actions support or contradict those words, or ignore long term consequences, or even whether the problem is being addressed. Trillion dollar deficits and rising? Rust belt malaise is due to immigrants and bad trade deals, and has nothing to do with automation? I can't apply the label 'smart' to those who celebrate Trump.
Change your messaging Democrats, change your focus, but don't follow Trumps lead. We need leaders who solve problems, not ones whose goal is to get the highest ratings.
8
For once, I disagree with Roger Cohen. It sounds like Shannon Kennedy wants a Democrat who stands up for Democratic values: national health insurance and the best interests of American workers. If he ticks the boxes, he'll notice that Donald Trump is against both. As he himself said, 'go beyond the noise'. If Shannon looks at Trump's policies, he'll vote "D" next time.
8
I don't know what's in Mr. Kennedy's heart, but I know he supports a monster (I won't recite the litany of Trump atrocities we've all seen for many years). Honorable American is not a term I would use to describe anyone who loves Trump. I don't really care what Mr. Kennedy has done or what his father did. He is a member of the "base" that is ultimately responsible for the craven, mendacious, and amoral government with which we suffer, and which the sane majority of this country must drive from power this November.
17
Gee, I'd like to see the arrival of a well-rounded pragmatist with a popular economic message, too! But this unholy juggernaut in the White House has already changed the rules of the game. We need a leader who is a change agent on the level of MLK, Mandella, or Gandhi. These kinds of leaders come along once or twice in a lifetime. Leaders like Kim Jong Un, Pol Pot, or Idi Amin come along more frequently. I'm afraid Trump is closer to the latter. The game has been changed, folks. I'm renewing my passport as soon as I can find $150.
2
So "he's draining Washington of people with contempt for the people they represent"? People with legitimate credentials who demonstrate (however flawed they may sometimes be) a genuine effort to respect this country's diverse populations, to improve or at least maintain our Constitutionally created public schools? To rely on state-of the art scientific research to safeguard us and the natural world from increasing threats? To keep this information open and available so we can move forward in the most prudent ways possible? To alienate us from most other developed countries?
If Trump can be praised for draining our government of these kinds of people, then what exactly has that done that is good for us?
5
Mr. Cohen I love your conclusion. .The same old won't do; which same old if not Joe Biden’s and Barrack Hussein Osbma’s will not do. The work retraining programs that Trump will cut and which helped thousands in Pennsylvania? The clean water and solar energy programs that employ more than coal? Then there ’s the huge number of persons presently employed by the health industry thanks to Obamacare. Which part of this IS SAME OLD. The health industry was booming. And Mr. Cohen that industry provides good jobs with good salaries and chances for advancement. It creates a labor force that care for people, that see what people go through and vote accordingly.
4
It would be nice to regain Mr. Kennedy’s vote, but no, it is not necessary. The Democratic economic platform is already vastly more in his favor than Trump’s and he is not listening. He will not listen because despite his self image as against racism, it is Trump’s vulgar nativism that attracted him and still holds his loyalty.
Virginia and Alabama proved the model: we need turnout to overwhelm the Mr. Kennedy’s at the polls. He’ll benefit from the outcome but he won’t thank us. That’s fine. We win when we show up. And I am tired of being told we need to pander to people who were attracted to Trump’s anti-immigrant platform.
14
Mr. Kennedy's position on a public servant's role as a worker for society and not just for himself conflicts with Trump's cashing in on the presidency by pumping up his hotels, allowing his spokesperson to hype his daughter's businesses and making deals from the White House. How this is the epitome of the dedicated public servant is beyond me. As for his "draining the swamp," he has appointed former Goldman Sachs executives - the people he once called the worst of the swamp creatures - to important positions in his government.
2
I tried to be open minded and sympathetic towards Mr. Kennedy but, honestly, he lost me with his proclamation that Trump is draining the swamp. That is simply untrue. He's filling it with titans of Wall Street and people who consider it their god-given prerogative to dismantle the agencies they were hired to serve. Trump embodies the swamp coupled with greed and the pursuit of naked self interest. I think that Mr. Kennedy's fortunes will decline precipitously during the Trump years. The only remaining question is whether he still has the ability to connect effect with cause.
7
I will be honest that I almost didn’t read this column - having read at least 50 articles about the Trump voter. But, having grown up in Schenectady NY where my father was a union worker at GE (along with so many of my classmates’ parents) and knowing Syracuse well having attended Oswego State, I thought why not? I learned what I have known all along: in the end it is always about immigration.
Most of his statements had my head spinning with contradictions and inaccuracies. He wants healthcare for all, but he supports a man who promised it and has made no efforts to implement anything but a repeal of Obamacare. He said he wanted the swamp drained. Nothing about Trump’s cabinet has drained the swamp. Lobbyists. Incompetents. Spousal abuse. Nepotism. (What exactly do Jared and Ivanka DO?). Wasting of taxpayer money. He rationalizes by saying we need to support the office. I do which is why what Trump has done with it breaks my heart.
He said Trump is full speed abead. Really? I see no indication that he has accomplished anything with his own hard work. This man is a veteran, but is not concerned about Trump’s refusal to protect our democracy.
I am sorry. I have tried to keep an open mind with the Trump supporters but even the most sympathetic articles can’t hide their contradictions, hypocrisy, and rationalizations in order to justify their xenophobia.
13
It is amazes me, how often Trump supporters say not to pay attention to Trump's tweets or his off the cuff comments. Yet, Kellyann Conway tells us to pay attention to what is in his heart. These comments and tweets show an extremely clear picture of exactly what's in his heart! Unfortunately, it is not a pretty picture!
Democrats do need to focus on economic issues and also protection of medicare and social security (especially on Trump's promise not to make changes to these) because his supporters are blind to any of his faults.
4
Thank you for your service, Mr. Kennedy.
However I still can't get over Obama voters voted for "45." 45 represents someone who was "born with a silver foot in his mouth," and continues to advocate policies that benefit the rich. He is the complete opposite of President Obama. As an aging boomer, I realize that Obama was the best president for ALL the people, not just white people, in my lifetime.
3
Democrats cannot get a man like Kennedy because his attraction to Trump is more emotional than rational. As far as policies are concerned, healthcare for all and better trade deals were Trump promises, not actual policies. The tax bill, which Kennedy likes, is based on GOP principles. Democrats can't discard their principles and support something like that. As to immigration, there have been many bipartisan bills, but all have been rejected by congressional Republicans. Kennedy says there’s forward energy. He’s like a horse with blinders at the Kentucky Derby. If there’s another horse in the way, knock it out and ride the rail." To the extent Trump does this it's to win personal, ego-driven battles, not to do anything for the country. And Trump has certainly not drained the swamp or gotten rid of the elite. Quite the contrary, his advisers and cabinet are made up of billionaires. So, no, I don't think Democrats should listen to someone like Kennedy when proposing policies or choosing nominees. My guess is that he's drawn to Trump emotionally -- nothing wrong with that -- and is then trying to find ways to justify it.
2
Wow. Gotta look a few steps ahead play chess. So many failures of the recent past happened because conservatives just decided to sit on their hands rather than contribute some good ideas. Obamacare wasn’t a problem until conservatives decided to strangle it, for example. Government isn’t like the business world. It isn’t profitable and success is measured by how well it can do things repeatedly. Reviving cities like Syracuse involves letting old production jobs go to lower wage scale countries and replacing them with invention. But invention is costly and conservatives would rather cut taxes and maintain the status quo. That only leads to prosperity at the top and the conditions we have today. Rebuild our infrastructure, replace every car on the road with an electric one, deploy a terawatt of renewable energy and commit to removing carbon from the environment. You’ll have all the middle class and working class prosperity you can stand. Trump isn’t on track to do any of that, he’s a demagogue lining his pockets and telling you it’s going to be great. It ain’t.
3
Democrats are not going to win by chasing the right-leaning old white man vote. That vote has been ever more solidly Republican since Nixon (in the South) and Reagan (everywhere), and the Democrats are not going to out-GOP the GOP in appealing to people who believe, "There are too many people running around who have no business being here"
A much better strategy is to focus on energizing minorities and young voters to increase turnout among those heavily Democratic groups. White voters have always been a challenge for Democrats. Going back to the 1950s, Democrats have struggled to get 45% of the white vote in presidential elections. I believe they've broken 50% only once, and in many elections they haven't even reached 40%. With white voters, Democrats have to hold their left flank (many of whom are working class, but lean left not right) and pull in enough moderate women and educated professionals to reach about 45 percent of the white vote. The Democrats need a stronger vision of where they want to take the country and one that appeals broadly across all demographics, but their focus really should be on their reliable minority, younger, female, and educated voters. If they can peel off a bit of the "Joe Sixpack" vote, great. But most of these guys and gals are solidly on the Trump train and are never gonna vote for a "Dumborat." Trying to appeal to them wastes resources and risks turning off the people who actually will vote Democratic.
4
There’s a very “key” element to any reasonable, intelligent person’s choice to continue to support Trump. They’re willing for some reason to ignore the simple fact that he’s a liar. The fact that he lies about EVERYTHING
, even stuff he doesn’t need to lie about. I can’t wrap my head around that because to me Trump’s lies are so obvious. So just exactly how are Democrat’s supposed to get this guys vote? I mean , we are truly living in different realities at this point. Trump doesn’t care about immigration, or taxes, or the military, or the middle class, or even the rich for that matter. ALL he cares about are his “ratings”, and he will say anything, betray anyone, betray any principle if it benefits HIS short term interest and allows HIM to remain in power. That’s just how it is, and if someone refuses to see that they’re the ones with blinders on.
5
GOP "strong economic program for working Americans";
1. Repeal affordable health insurance.
2. Provide no infrastructure jobs.
3. Massive tax cuts for those who need help the least.
4. Massive increase in US debt.
5. Undermine benefits of US home ownership.
6. Undermine public education.
7. Do nothing to strengthen Social Security or Medicare.
8. Undermine US farm product international markets.
9. Gift clean energy industry to China.
10. Refuse to raise federal minimum wage.
8
In a nation of over 300 million and a world of 7 billion, one mans anecdotal viewpoint is meaningless. A quantum field explanation of politics using our computational power would provide the clarity needed to understand what the majority want and what how they will behave, props to Hari Seldon and Isaac Asimov. I found it telling that Elon Musk included the "Foundation Trilogy" in his Tesla atop the Falcon Heavy. Superpositions and probability amplitudes are well proven elements of the weird science governing the behavior of vast numbers of particles or are they waves or both ... hmmm.
1
lt is time we stop saying all Dreamers are innocent and were brought here by their parents without any control. Many Dreamers came when they were 14 years old or older and knew exactly what they were doing. They were active participants, still support their parents actions, and demand that their parents be allowed to stay also.
The problem as everyone, who hasn’t been living in a cave for the last thirty years, knows is the D.N.C. and Wasserman Schultz backed the wrong horse, anyone besides Clinton could have beaten Trump, and yes we saw her and Bills tax returns that was a big part of the problem but everyone will believe what they want to believe so keep screaming about Trump rather than acknowledge the truth, the system is broken, the whole thing is a charade as the two parties take their turns blaming the other and in the meantime keep the status quo which is working very well thank you for big donors from both parties.
3
Roger, I worked with the soldiers Kennedy took care of, but beforehand, in the Vietnam jungle. I disagree with most of his pronouncements here. His take on #45 shows profound naivete. His personal family as well as his military background would readily lend itself to authoritarian attitudes. Trump's a good fit for him, but will not prove to be his or anybody else's savior. Even honorable people need to use in-depth reasoning when considering candidates for public office. I suspect his news sources here.
4
I've come to believe that people who are basically decent can't comprehend people like Trump, who basically aren't. So they look for the "good" in our president and "go beyond the noise." Sadly, there's nothing beyond the noise - it's all noise.
4
Even after more than a year the people who voted for Donald Trump are still pointing blame at the Democrats. They need to accept that they were fooled by his rhetoric and move on. We all get another chance this year and in 2020. The Republican Party is a dumpster fire at the moment. Or is that the Democrats fault as well?
2
I’m amazed and appalled by the views of such a person, though he deserves to be respected as an American who devoted years to serving his country. The commenters here saying that Democrats should ignore such people are completely wrong. A positive alternative has to be presented. I’m afraid the current Democratic leadership has neither the brains nor sensitivity to come up with one.
1
This is all nonsense. Changing your message to cater to the likes of Mr. Kennedy is a losers gambit. The key to 2020 is TURNOUT plain and simple. Too many moderate to left leaning voters didn’t bother to vote in 2016 and here we are.
Massive voter turnout efforts are needed to put sanity back in Washington. The current crop of representatives do not speak for a majority of all Americans. They speak for the skewed minority that bother to vote regularly.
7
Mr. Cohen, Shannon Kennedy may be honorable, but he offers us no insight at all into a winning strategy for Democrats. Like many voters before him, Mr. Kennedy's voting is hardly based on reason; it is entirely emotional. On the basis of Trump's record so far, Kennedy's "true believer" attitude makes zero sense: 2000 lies, gutting worker health and safety measures, appointing anti-labor voices to the NLRB, supporting the negation of net neutrality rules, appointing Mulvaney to the Consumer Financial Bureau to weaken enforcement capabilities, supporting a tax bill giving 80% of its benefits to the wealthiest Americans. Need I go on?
Please, this kind of voter irrationality is not wisdom.
4
there around 320 million people living in this country i find it ludicrous to think that the presence of 12 million people at least half of whom are children are responsible for any employment problems in this country
this is a red herring thrown out by the republican party to distract folks from what they the repubs are really trying to accomplish
i'm sure that there are lots of good decent folks out there who think that trump has the answer to the problems facing the USA but they are being played
anyone who thinks that the republican party has the interests of the common man at heart has not been paying attention the last 30 years
none of this is to say that the democrats are a whole lot better
but for anyone to think that hillary clinton was less trustworthy than trump is beyond belief
Enough of the Democrats must feel the pain of the middle-aged white male voter to regain the White House. Here's the reality: this election was stolen by Russians for and with Trump, and we are all in great pain because of it.
To pretend it was liberal elitism that put Trump in office is disingenuous, at best. Let's call it the unholy trinity: Russia, Comey, Misogyny.
For what it's worth, my own background is not dissimilar to Mr. Kennedy's, except I live in fly-over country. Irish Catholic, in a struggling state, married to a Vietnam War vet. The only people I know who voted for Trump are either life-long Republicans who care more about their bank accounts than anything else or former Democrats who have been swung right because of abortion rights, gay rights and immigration concerns.
3
Another Trump fan fawned over in the media, all his specious explanations seriously entertained. This man is part of a vast problem, not a Forgotten Man who needs to be sorted by sympathetic observer after observer. Why don't we celebrate the people who did the right thing, not the ignorant, not the malefactors, not those who have put our democracy in peril despite unceasing warnings and abundant evidence of fabrication, treason, and corruption? Why do we take these creatures' denials of racism at face value, when that denial is their only defense to charges of racism on their hero's part (I'm not a racist, and I wouldn't vote for a racist, therefore HE'S not a racist). I think we should pay more attention to the honorable people in the electorate, and try to make more of those, instead of pondering how better to pander to people whose vote for Trump was a manifestly dishonorable act.
2
Pieces in the "sane Trump voter" genre always includes some casual generality that somehow soured the profiled voter on Democrats. Here it is that the Clintons "lined their pockets" in office and that the ObamaCare exchanges "were not competitive". Someday I'd like to see some actual specifics to substantiate these generalities that are not propaganda and lies. These generalities don't stand up to scrutiny. So it is something deeper, something unspoken, that leads these voters to Trump. They don't like the way things are going, they want disruptive change, and they like his style. They are always willing to try another tough-guy Republican, even after every one in the long procession of tough-guy Republicans has dug their hole deeper, even when their guy is a transparent Swamp con man full of empty bluster born of weakness and insecurity, a man who threatens to use the awesome power he now commands to keep the con going when it finally runs out. The world hangs by a thread on the hope that voters such as these will see the truth and draw a line before it is too late.
2
Major Kennedy is great at turning phrases and clearly enjoys being the clever guy with the opposite view as a punchline, which is Trump. The things he likes and the things he recalls fondly don't connect to the vision he has of Trump - opposite to reality - I'll bet a dime that he knows that his grandmother would have actually paid a nickel to see the Statue of Liberty swim back to France.
2
Defending the wrong principles, then being ignored or "not listened to" does not make a person "right." And, still standing by Trump after all the manifest wrongdoings, giving him a Mulligan are not signs of chasing the right policies either. Why not advise Shannon, and the rest of the Trump supporters to listen to reason rather than advising the Democrats to listen to him and his friends?
4
I would suggest that this honorable American is the one with the blinders on . There is nothing honorable or patriotic about Trump. He is using the very taxpayer that Kennedy speaks of as a way to line his own pockets.
Trump is trying to impede the Mueller investigation, which could be called obstruction of justice, definitely not patriotic. Trump has staffed the White House with deplorables whose sole job seems to be to boost Trump's ego and lie for him. He has appointed Cabinet members who are tearing down our Institutions. How can a Patriot such as Kennedy be so blind.Trump does not care about this country. Why would Kennedy care about Trump. Kennedy put country first when he served in the military. Trump got 5 deferments for bone spurs. I fail to see why this man can support Trump for any reason.
3
Kennedy is interesting, but at bottom he's projecting his own sense of powerlessness onto someone -- Trump -- he mistakenly perceives as having more power than he does.
1
Thanks for this article. I'm from outside of Syracuse. I was a kid in the 80s. The area had fallen far and hard since the days referenced in this article. The people who have stayed (I'm not one of them) are good, hard working people.
I had a friend in college who referred to himself as a "heat seeking missile"; sort of how this article's Kennedy views Trump. A horse with blinders on.
The problem with blinders is that you have no vision. If you visit Mr. Kennedy's neck of the woods, you'll see what that leads to - decrepitude. While I respect the man's service and moxie, I know first hand what his attitude leads to.
There's a stubborn and admirable pride of strength in this population. They lowered their chins for a moment to give Obama a shot. But they have blinders on. When he didn't save the world in two years they bailed for McConnell, Ryan, and Trump - back to their comfort zone.
There is no recognition that they might be running in the wrong direction, because they cannot see. The path keeps getting narrower. Soon they'll reach the precipice.
530
As this demonstrates, one can be an honorable American and simultaneously be capable of drawing illogical conclusions. Was that the point of the column?
72
No, but it should have been.
Sincerely, I think the point is that many people are like Kennedy and if Dems want to win doubling down on the extreme left views won’t work. For example, supporting illegal immigration. Don’t campaign on supporting illegal immigration if you want to win. Honestly, with the exception of DACA, supporting illegal immigration makes no sense. Blue staters are in a bubble. I’m a Democrat. I’ve lived in blue states all my life, CA, NY, WA. Now I live in red Louisiana and I’ve traveled all over the state. These Trump voters aren’t as unreasonable as you think they are. They want fairness and law and order. They want less handouts more work opportunities. They want to be rewarded for being good citizens. They want to be treated with respect. They aren’t 100% right on everything, but they aren’t unreasonable. They see Trump as a necessary disruptor whose bad behavior is just part of the package. I’m not trying to be argumentative here, it’s just that living in both parts of the US has brought me insight!
I agree. Frankly, I think this anti-educated anti-perceived elite experiment is not working. What is a democrat or even a moderate republican to do? It seems to me that we would want people in office that have impulse control and at least be able to maintain some sense of decorum.
Ok you don't want the same old Joe Biden or Pelosi etc... thats fine. You want to shake things up that makes sense too. What about Bernie or Corey Booker or many of the other "real" non elitist people that don't come with the baggage and complications that Trump comes with. Going to the places we are going now doesn't make sense and is not constructive for the future.
How can anyone with solutions that may actually work not have a whiff of some type of elitism? Why is this administration given a pass on its elitisms? This time, like this column just doesn't add up for me.
"I listened to him, on immigration, on draining the swamp, on lobbyists, and I liked that." Mr. Kennedy thinks Trump is not a racist because Mr. Kennedy is one. Trying to win over people like him is the last thing that Democrats should do. Motivating latent voters who are in the 60% who don't like Trump is a lot more likely of success and fits with Democratic values. Chasing after voters like Kennedy is an utter waste of time. Cohen should know better.
156
"Mr. Kennedy thinks Trump is not a racist because Mr. Kennedy is one"? Is that why he voted twice for Obama? Failing to win over people like him is the one thing that Democrats should strive most to avoid!
1
When Hillary Clinton called the likes of Shannon Kennedy "deplorable", how well did it work out for her? Your smug dismissal of "trying to win over people like him" is both arrogant and short-sighted. It's a formula for doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. But you'd rather keep your "Democratic values" (and, might I dare suggest, elitist mindset) intact rather than actually win elections, so we'll see how that works out for you!
1
You eulogize a patriotic american, dare us to call him deplorable, and then use that to support your disdain for Joe Bidden. That is shameful, twisted rhetoric - a deliberate non-sequitur. You seek to sway your readers in the same way Trump has swayed his supporters: with appeals to nationalism and and pretense of empathy. What is deplorable is those who vote based upon emotional appeal rather than reason and so expose their country to a con. Respect the office, indeed, use your vote with care so as to protect that office and the country from this clear and and present harm.
81
Bravo, Gerard! Bravo! Joe Biden would have been a truly wonderful president. He was an outstanding senator (knew how to work with those who didn't agree with him) and an outstanding, supportive vice president. How can anyone call Joe Biden such nonsense as is in this shameful column.
1
I really doubt that Mr. Kennedy voted for Obama. Just because he says he did, it doesn't make it true, and it's not the height of journalistic competence for Mr. Cohen to treat his claims as facts without having any means of verifying them. At the very least he should have qualified that that's what Mr. Kennedy said (and may be added that he believed him to reveal his own opinion) instead of treating the claim as fact which he could not verify.
1
Mr. Kennedy may be the proverbial “salt of the earth” American full of folksy homilies trotted out for Roger Cohen, but it does not make him any less delusional about what Trump and his plutocrats have in store for him. Sad.
133
Roger, Kennedy is so full of contradictions I ended up not knowing what to believe. He's clearly smart, eloquent and quite funny, yet he supports a blowhard solely because Trump is perversely different, and he casually shrugs off the man's faults simply because he sticks to his guns ("a fighter, a scrapper").
Kennedy advises everyone to "Respect the office of the presidency." I wish Trump would.
109
"He tells me he leans right, but he believes that every American should have a functioning public transit system (“as in Germany and Japan”) and a good national health service."
Colorful, well-intentioned Mr. Kennedy is also like a horse with blinders at the Kentucky Derby. Tallyho...
49
A Democratic platform (part 2)...
- Dreamers get to stay and get to become citizens with 10 years "good time".
- Half of all Federal tax refunds will be placed in an index fund IRA for those between 20 and 60 which the recipients will have vested in 12 months and which they may redirect or withdraw at that time.
- No more continuing resolutions to fund the government. Each time a C.R. is used to fund things, the salaries of the Congressmen will be cut by 10%. Passing and signing a budget will restore the salary schedules.
- Every year, the entry age for Medicare will be reduced by one year and the exit year from CHIP raised by one year.
- A true "public option" plan will be added to the ACA menu for Medicare ineligibles
- Medicare and CMS will be eligible to negotiate drug and device prices.
- Five percent of the Federal budget will be directed to infrastructure until we have rebuilt the country.
So that's it. You give us your "sweat equity" as youth (or retirees) and we give you a stronger country, a better and healthier citizenry where no one is left behind.
24
Douglas, you absolutely have my vote! Add in a two year public service requirement for everyone between 16 and 66 and i will consider moving south to volunteer as campaign manager.
Not only marvelous out-of-the- box ideas, but concisely and eloquently coherent. Where do i find Part 1?
1
Interesting ideas, unless you're in the age group who is always one year away from getting Medicare benefits.
1
Roger, we agree that Shannon Kennedy is not a deplorable and that Democrats must adopt policies that will truly benefit Americans who work hard and play by the rules. Mr. Kennedy clearly is someone who has worked hard, played by the rules and attained a decent measure of success.
There is a more important question to ask about Mr. Kennedy. What can we learn from Mr. Kennedy and his opinions that will help Democrats win in 2018 and 2020?
The most important thing is that Americans have had it with wealthy donors, paid lobbyists and elected officials who work for the donors. Democrats must be able to tell voters what they have done, and will do, for the voters and taxpayers yesterday, today and tomorrow. It's fair to ask every elected official, what did you do for taxpayers and consumers today?
Mr. Kennedy and ordinary Americans want a functioning public transit system, a good national health service, good roads, clean water and sound infrastructure. They also want decent jobs, reasonable prospect of continuing employment and a secure retirement.
Mr. Kennedy is not without his shortcomings. He is not to connect the dots between what Trump promised, what Trump has done and what Trump has failed to do.
That's where Mr. Kennedy needs help and Democrats can win by helping every American like Mr. Kennedy connect those dots.
29
“The most important thing is that Americans have had it with wealthy donors, paid lobbyists and elected officials who work for the donors.”
This is why so many people contributed to Bernie Sanders and why we would vote for him as our next president, in spite of his age. Besides, wisdom comes with age if you let it.
A small observation (from a writer’s perspective), and maybe it’s the way Roger Cohen quotes Kennedy, but I was struck by the way this man’s beautiful, singular speech turns into hackneyed sloganeering when he begins explaining why he supports Trump. Except for the “mail me my shadow” line. The poet is still in there.
9
The country is unfortunately filled with people who vote against their best interests.
I don’t want to sell my soul to be “saved”.
23
First, the man is uninformed. The exchanges were not competitive because Republican governors made them that way. Second, what kind of honor consists in supporting a cruel lying bully? I get Cohen’s point but I’m not clear what the solution is for voters like this.
55
Sure, Trump is just a simple, good-hearted guy (nice to have a beer with?) who just "forges ahead".
I can't say I respect Jack's evaluation of human nature.
31
"Look to purple-state America, not blue-state coastal America, for a candidate who is grappling with the country’s toughest issues and is strong on can-do, down-to-earth values." Perhaps, but that may end up being "Trump light", with none of his offensive and repugnant qualities, but some of his equally repugnant policies. I'm afraid it is all or nothing - either coastal elites or deplorables holding on to guns and religion. I'm ready to fight for the coastal elites.
20
Mr. Kennedy appears to have spent about as much time reviewing the details of policy as Mr. Trump has.
65
What do you mean by saying the Democrats should "listen to him"? Find a way to pander to his anti-immigrant anxiety, so that the party can assume power? If they do that, the party wins by being just another shade of Trump, but we the people who value American diversity would still lose.
Personally, I'd rather the Democrats keep losing elections if the only way we can win them is to pander to the small minded Americans who hate "foreigners."
Where I do wish the Democrats would listen to this guy: "Trust the Clintons? Not with the Lord's breakfast." Fairly or unfairly, a large percentage of Americans do not trust the Clintons, and the Clintons represent the smooth, well-oiled, two-faced politicians that a large percentage of Americans are fed up with -- including Americans smart enough to see that Trump is just as bad, and cut from the same cloth, even if he isn't smooth or well-oiled and can't even bothered to be anything like as subtle as two-faced -- he's just an out and out liar and 'the truth's not in him," as an old southern phrase has it.
But there's just no percentage in allowing the Clintons to be part of the image of the Democratic Party going forward. They are yesterday, and they are dead weight for the Democratic Party in the struggle for America's soul in 2018 and 2020 -- elections that are likely to be hard fought over a few margin points, and so the Dems can't afford to alienate the large percentage of Americans who don't trust the Clintons.
14
Yeah sure, let’s not have candidates from blue states, let’s choose purple instead. What have blue states got to offer, besides maybe good ideas about how to implement health insurance, or mitigate income inequality, or how best to insure excellence in education? Who wants that?
This man is no doubt honorable; that doesn’t make him right. Newsflash: good ideas and fine people come from states of every “color”. And I don’t want a president who acts like a stampeding horse wearing blinders ....or some more humble beast of burden.
29
Even citizens with integrity, honor, and patriotism can be in denial. The only way individuals can judge an elected official is by what he or she says and does. Not listening and not paying attention indicates a closed mind that does not want to be changed.
Democratic candidates can lie to Trump supporters, just like Trump lied. I prefer Democratic candidates who are realistic and honest. Old manufacturing and industrial jobs are not coming back. Trump supporters have to accept reality, accept difficult changes, and do the hard work to improve their individual economic lives. Any Democratic economic plan will likely require some individual sacrifice - relocation, going back to school, starting over.
President Trump is a racist. Trump supporters are racists, too, or they put their blinders on and make excuses. If they are paying attention, there can be only one conclusion, but they are not paying attention.
The president may be a charging bull, but he is a bull in the china shop of democracy. Mr. Trump does not respect the Office of President or democratic institutions; he is an arrogant, pompous want-to-be king, and Americans do not elect kings. Trump supporters justifying his authoritarian words and actions are not patriotic Americans honoring our democratic and constitutional Republic. They are worshiping a cult figure, a reality show celebrity, a loud and boorish old man dedicated only to himself.
66
Oh my - Kennedy is so misinformed it is sad. He is just another trumpite who doesn’t think beyond the surface. Trump is draining the swamp? He is bringing in his cronies to rob America blind and destroy what America stands for. Take your $1.50 pay raise while Koch takes home millions more each week. It scares me that we have so many easily fooled citizens.
90
I know lots of nice white guys just like Shannon Kennedy, same age, military service. They worry about the economy, but worry about other things much more; it's why they love Trump. They say people have rights to things, like healthcare. They say they lean right, but are far-right. The real questions are whether Shannon's willing to pay for things like national healthcare and who are the "people" that this "honorable" man refers to? The answer to the 1st question is a definite No; he's not willing to pay for healthcare in taxes. He says it: "what did you do for the taxpayer today?’" It's a question with its own answer; he deems who gets anything covered by taxes. It's a reactionary's moralistic approach to treating disease; the worthy get it, the unworthy don't. The answer to the 2nd question is directly answered too. Shannon says "There are too many people running around who have no business being here.” It's a bigot's coded language for people he considers fundamentally inferior to him. I've heard it from guys like Shannon constantly; it always means non-whites. Shannon longs for a US when it was "We the people" not "We the empowered." The problem is it never existed, certainly not for Blacks, Women, Hispanics, Gays, etc. It sort of existed for white guys like Shannon, who held almost all power, and perceive themselves true inheritors of America. Shannon loves Trump because of his bigotry, not in spite of it. Cohen's unable to recognize that Shannon is nice, but not good.
82
Not much deep thought going on here. Jack quotes an awful lot of bumper sticker-length slogans, but there's no mention of anything of substance. Get past the noise? What else is there? Trump has blinders on, I'll give him that. Maybe Jack should look at who Trump's bowling over as he storms ahead. And if he's a horse at the Kentucky Derby, I'm Marilyn Monroe.
30
He’s draining Washington “of people with contempt for the people they represent.” The tax cut will be “beneficial.”
This guy must be kidding. He’s patriotic, yet has no problem with the reprobates that Trump surrounds himself with? And what about all the lies regarding Russian contacts? Sounds to me that he is conveniently ignoring facts and the truth.
46
They are all "honorable" no doubt but that is no guarantee of common sense. Yes, the Democrats need to become a party of the people (again).But is there any sign of this, anyone? You should have started the article with the last paragraph.
4
Mr. Kennedy tells us why he likes Trump: “He’s like a horse with blinders at the Kentucky Derby. If there’s another horse in the way, knock it out and ride the rail.” He sounds like the typical angry white male who wants everyone else to get out of his way. He says he agrees with Trump about immigration but doesn't believe Trump is racist. What does he think racism is? I think Mr. Cohen missed an opportunity to explore how Mr. Kennedy really feels about blacks, women, the LGBT community, and other vulnerable people.
49
Sorry, but the honorable gentleman is an idiot. Whatever his good qualities they get trumped by his inability to recognize what kind of human being he is defending. I can understand disgust at the inability of politicians to address serious problems in society, but you do not call an arsonist when your house is on fire.
72
C'mon, Mr. Cohen. The important thing abut Shannon Kennedy isn't that he's honorable (although he deserves credit for that), but that he's terribly, disastrously wrong about Donald Trump, in ways that are easily demonstrated. I mean, really easily. Trump is draining the swamp, says Mr. K? Trump is using his office to generated millions in revenue for his own private businesses, and refusing to release his tax returns because they would show just how far this abuse goes. Several of his cabinet secretaries are themselves entangled in serious conflicts of interest, and haven't been run out of office only because Trump himself has so legitimized such corruption. I could easily go on. Trump is arguably the worst and most destructive swamp monster in American Presidential history. This affects us all, and is likely to do so in catastrophic ways before Trump is through. Mr Kennedy's honorable character is just not an excuse for his failing to see that.
Really--how do you want to spend your well-compensated time, Mr. Cohen? Addressing the problem of that small number of honorable Americans who are maligned by Trump opponents? Or addressing Trump's ruination of the United States, and possibly, the world? Why have chosen as you have? I would really like to know.
46
I think Mr. Cohen gave us insight in how the other side thinks. Unfortunately, the man he reported on acts just like the loud mouth uncle at the Thanksgiving table, and like Trump.
People who voted for Trump without seeing his tax returns explain quite well what went wrong with the rest of their lives: bad character judgment and failure to do basic financial due diligence.
41
Luckily, the candidates with "a strong economic program for working Americans" /are/ the candidates favored by "blue-state coastal America." Go Bernie!
Mr. Cohen, like the rest of the right wing of the Times op-ed squad, has a seriously distorted view of what we leftist radicals want.
8
Bernie may not run again. If a moderate like Joe Biden were to consider running, would you turn away from supporting him on the grounds that he's not Bernie? Please relax your idealistic demands. Trump and his ilk are slowly killing us -- the perfect is the enemy of the good.
Almost exactly one year before the 2016 Presidential election, Mark Shields, David Brooks, and Jeff Greenfield appeared on a panel discussion recorded at the 92nd Street YMCA in NYC and preserved on YouTube. At that time, before the respective nominating conventions, when a Donald Trump presidency was still inconceivable, a number of prescient points were made:
1. The Democratic Party has utter contempt for the values of working class white people. (Shields) [This attitude is still strongly reflected in the comments made by the vast majority of NYT readers.]
2. If HRC were running against herself (i.e. if the election were a Yes or No vote on HRC for President), she would lose. (Shields).
3. Donald Trump, the most unlikely candidate of the field of 17, despite numerous major “mistakes,” was incredibly persisting as a viable candidate well past his “sell by” date. (Greenfield, Brooks). [This was judged as a significant barometer of electorate discontent].
If the Democratic Party wants to win elections, it needs to broaden its appeal to include the voters that it previously shunned and not continue treating them as
“deplorables” whose values can be ignored. Otherwise an eight year Donald Trump presidency will become increasingly likely.
8
J.T. Stasiak: And what, exactly, are those values of the working class? Are those the values that created the endemic sexual harassment of working class women in a Ford plant by their male co-workers? Or, in another article, the harassment to the point of physically endangering, of women in traditionally "male" blue collar jobs? Blue collar workers tend to be very conservative as a group, rejecting marriage rights for gays, for instance, and a woman's right to choose. Should the Democratic party embrace those values? Should we overlook the harassment of women in male-dominated blue collar jobs? Let's have a discussion of what exactly, those values are that you think the Democrats show contempt for.
1
You mean accepting bigotry, racism, and a general disgust for anyone not like them? I can't do that. Like everyone else I would like to see better economic prospects for those left behind, but no amount of wishing is going to reverse market forces as they now are. To say otherwise would just be adding to the lies.
2
People people!! Don't criticize the man! You missed the point of the article.
What do Shannon's views tell us about what the Dems need to do if they want to win the election? How do they appeal to people like him? Why does he believe what he does, and can they change his mind?
Most of the comments here are trashing the man, and that just kind of sounds like coastal elitism to me.
12
Ok Nancy, I'll bite. How does the Democratic party appeal to a man who's in denial? This guy and most other trump supporters actually believe that trump is a good person who's helping to make America great. I'm listening, tell me how to get through to these people? Facts and logic don't work. Should we tell our own big, fat, whopping lies? Should we be even more racist, misogynistic and just plain hateful in order to get their votes? You've hit one one of the big problems in America right now, being elite is considered bad by the masses. Instead of trying to improve themselves the ignorant masses are trying to drag others down.
3
No, we get the point. We’re just not buying into it.
2
So tired of “coastal elitism” pitted against the “real America”. We are all Americans entitled to our own values as long as they aren’t anti-democratic.
I agree that Shannon Kennedy may not be a racist. I also agree that Joe Biden and his kind are relics of the past, worth listening to on occasion but no longer qualified to stand for office. But please, Mr. Cohen, critique Kennedy's incoherent, emotional reasoning. It suggests that Kennedy, however smart he may be, is woefully ill informed. Policies matter and must be taken at face value when executed. Based on that criterion, Donald Trump is a proven racist and a self serving demagogue. Wishing that it wasn't so is delusional. Finally, the geographic home of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate will be far less important than the candidate's ability, integrity, energy, experience, and (unavoidably if sadly) her or his charisma, charm, and good looks.
15
Roger, did you just discover this "story" because we've heard this "analysis" 100 times since November 8, 2016. There are NOT a lot of people running around in this country who shouldn't be here, as your "honorable" source ( a relative of Maureen Dowd's brother?) asserts (even if there are millions of undocumented people here). He has no particular reason for not trusting the Clintons (only one was running) except that he was able to vote for a black man, but voting for a woman was just too much of a stretch. Trump is EXACTLY as he appears so there is, indeed, every reason to take him at face value. "Respect the office of the presidency" is an empty phrase. OK. I'm sure the furniture is nice, but the crew inside is something else. Is Trump providing "a strong economic program for working Americans?" Give us a break.
19
Let me get this straight. Shannon Kennedy is a retired military officer, a major - doesn't that entail free medical care and a nice monthly pension check? - also worked as an 'investment counselor' helping other people spend their money and getting a commission for his carefully researched opinion, and the son of an alcoholic car salesman/tavern keeper.
And he wants to lecture us on what's wrong with America? Really? He's retired military who's ok with a C.I.C. who couldn't get a security clearance himself, and who employs people (pretty girls) without security clearance who view top secret documents every day? He's ok with the Chief refusing to disclose the source of his funding, even when the Chief's son has been caught at 'meetings' with people connected to the Russian spy service? The Chief says he 'doesn't know any Russians'? And Russian warplanes are buzzing our Navy ships in international waters and threatening our aircraft in neutral airspace every day? That's no problem for this guy? Which military did he work for?
He's ok with 'making very rich' the political donors - and their politicians - on the back of a tax giveaway that will un-balance the budget to the tune of One Trillion Dollars every year for the foreseeable future? That's ok as long as his pension check comes every month.
Give me a break. People like Shannon Kennedy are exactly the problem with this country.
27
One of tens of millions, they look at policy not Tweets. I don't care if you disagree with these ideas, I do care a lot if you are disagreeable and disrespectful of them. Now he changed from valuing appearances to valuing actual improvements.
2
I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat, and Joe Biden won't work for me either.
4
You can be informed, you can be principled, and you can be a Trumpist. But you can't be informed, principled, and a Trumpist. I don't care how many years you were in the military or how many nickels you saved.
Trump is the definition of un-American. There's no way around it.
32
Thankfully you're wrong and we won't have to listen to know-nothing guys like this anymore because of changes in demographics. I'd rather vote with Hispanics and other minorities than with white people who don't know anything about history, culture or the constitution.
For example, the only thought he has about Vietnam is that the injured men could be him?
Yet he looks past the elitist, wannabe billionaire president dodging military service in the most despicable way since George W.
This guy would probably go alone with the crazy idea of a military parade without so much a single thought toward historical context.
I bet the presidents tax returns that this guy doesn't read books either. Nice job NYT's for yet another piece on the wish-we-would forget "forgotten man".
27
Mr. Kennedy is not the first person to fall for the jingoistic fear mongering of a demagogue and he won't be the last. That said, if he looks back at Trump's first year in office with its "racism, lies, warmongering outbursts, vulgarity, and attacks on a free press and the judiciary" and calls it a success then there's not much that the Democrats or anyone else can do to change his mind. Critical thinking is not a factor.
43
Democrats should ignore Mr. Kennedy since he is illogical and confused. Worse, he doesn't appear to know this. What could the Democrats do to appease Kennedy? Answer: why try?
I am to believe he voted for Obama twice, then voted for Trump, a man who denounced and loathed Obama. How does this make sense?
37
Mr. Kennedy strikes me as the kind of person who would look at a Rothko painting, disparage it as "art" and claim he could paint the same thing himself.
You know the type?
Instead of asking why Mark Rothko hangs in museums he'd prefer to confront anything he doesn't understand with bellicose and simplistic responses that prove his "regular guy" credentials.
Mr. Cohen joins a long line of pundits who are determined to make Kennedy and his ilk into some kind of Main Street hero, someone we all need to listen to, and then cater to.
This would be a drastic mistake for the nation and for Democrats.
"He's smart," asserts Cohen.
No, he isn't. He's full of classic American "anti-intellectualism." He's so riddled with anger and other emotions I wouldn't dream of trying to identify, that one year into Trump he's still repeating Trump mantras and myths, advising us all to "go beyond the noise." If anyone has blinders on and is moving full steam ahead to the destruction of our country, it's Kennedy, not a Derby entry.
Willful blindness isn't something to elevate to a political platform. Why should the 63 million people who voted for Secretary Clinton bow down to the tyranny of an angry white working class minority?
Before Cohen offers advice to Dems on candidate selection, he should look to six years of GOP congressional obstruction of Obama's strong economic programs for working Americans, and ask Mr. Kennedy about that.
Sorry, but Kennedy's stupidity is -- just deplorable.
64
She received 65 million votes!
This is the best column Cohen has ever written. Kennedy reminds me of my friends who voted for Trump . Too often I have seen other NYT columnists accuse Trump supporters of being racists. That's outrageous & clearly isn't true. They have legitimate concerns & the Dems aren't listening anymore. So I understand their frustrations & why they voted for Trump. Implied but not stated in this column is the coming fight between the working class & the leftist elites who purport to posture as their will on earth. I'm looking forward to this. The working class use to be the Democratic party's foundation. Now they feel like we've abandoned them. And lets be honest...we have. The left wing of the party is dragging us into culture wars we can't win. The far left never stops mocking these people. The left has become self-righteous, denunciatory, & obsessed with trivial issues that have made Democrats a national laughing stock. This is politically disastrous & just plays into the hands of Fox News. Remember when we stood for the dignity of hard work, family, faith & coming together around basic "kitchen table issues? Sadly, over the past 10 years the DP has abandoned those core values in a desperate attempt to please the strident & disrespectful advocates of identity politics, who find it easier to burn bridges, to insult mainstream Americans rather than build coalitions. Democrats can't & won't win over working class swing voters if they persist in ridiculing their cultural values.
12
Firstly, there is no such thing as "far left" in the (dis)United States. Secondly, if you took even a moment's time you would see that the Democrats have been working on the very "workman" issues that need to be addressed: health care, infrastructure, mass transit, climate change (yes that hits the "forgotten man", too!), access to education, and on and on. The argument that Dems have ignored the middle class, in all its variants, is simply a red herring.
1
You're not talking about the working class. Just the white working class. Other working class don't belong here. Anyone who thinks they do is just an elitist playing identity politics. News flash -- dems are not all well to do smug suburban types. They are hardworking whites, blacks, hispanics women, men who are looking for a fair deal. If you want to see identity politics in play try looking at Trump and the republican party. Or the mirror.
This is getting old: finding the older, white, male voter who normalizes Trump. The decline of the middle class began with Reagan's union-busting and supply-side economics. Not sure how Hillary became the devil but oh well.
35
That's the problem with Trump from the get-go - his "genius" (more accurately, the evil genius that handled him) is that he knows precisely which buttons to push (many of which are well founded) and he has zero qualms about cynically pushing them. No doubt Kennedy and his ilk despair at the deterioration of our manufacturing base, and no doubt inattention to the downside of trade deals played a part in that. Millions of us who did not vote for Trump feel the same. But to completely ignore the wholesale looting now going on, and the contempt for the country that Trump and his henchmen display while going about it, to say nothing of Trump's well-documented and long history of deceit and shady business dealings is nothing short of breathtaking. It strikes me as quite insane to think we must tear the country down in order to fix it.
37
He doesn’t like wasting money? What about taxpayer funded trips to Mar-a-Lago and profiting off fees for the Secret Service to ride in golf carts to protect him.
As for his dislike of the Clintons, perhaps he could compare the works of the Clinton and Trump Foundations?
It sounds as if this good man is a victim of Fox.
59
The numbers of Readers' Comments dismissing Shannon Kennedy's reasons for voting for Trump ranging from treating Kennedy as woefully ignorant or mentally ill to wondering about "the love affair with Trump," to calling him a jerk or disbelief that he doesn't see that Trump's policies will bring no economic resurrection to Syracuse are deeply reflective of why Trump is president. Too many Democratic politicians, with Hillary Clinton as the leader, heard comments similar to Kennedy's during the 2016 election and just dismissed them. . . if they indeed showed up to listen at all. But, the people who were out of touch were those didn't listen and learn lead and, yes by God! Sell! . . . not the snake oil salesmanship that the Democrats let Trump get away with, but based on a deep understanding of the “students” hopes and fears.
Instead Democrats offered endless policy statements and wasted TV ads and called American voters names, like “deplorables” when most were just looking for solutions to often crumbling ways of life.
Sadly, Obama set the role model that Clinton openly said she was adopting. And, he had just enough of an aura and a failed economy left to him by Bush that he could get away with it. But, the rest of his party disintegrated around him and Clinton lacked the political sense of how far out on a limb he’d left her to even consider how to listen, learn, educate to have earned the right to ask voters for their vote.
11
Yes ignorant folks are disrespectful, they need to be taught a good lesson.
Let me get this straight. Shannon Kennedy is a retired military officer, a major - doesn't that entail free medical care and a nice monthly pension check? - also worked as an 'investment counselor' helping other people spend their money and getting a commission for his carefully researched opinion, and the son of an alcoholic car salesman/tavern keeper.
And he wants to lecture us on what's wrong with America? Really? He's retired military who's ok with a C.I.C. who couldn't get a security clearance himself, and who employs people (pretty girls) without security clearance who view top secret documents every day? He's ok with the Chief refusing to disclose the source of his funding, even when the Chief's son has been caught at 'meetings' with people connected to the Russian spy service? The Chief says he 'doesn't know any Russians'? And Russian warplanes are buzzing our Navy ships in international waters and threatening our aircraft in neutral airspace every day? That's no problem for this guy? Which military did he work for?
He's ok with 'making very rich' the political donors - and their politicians - on the back of a tax giveaway that will un-balance the budget to the tune of One Billion Dollars every year for the foreseeable future? That's ok as long as his pension check comes every month.
Give me a break. People like Shannon Kennedy are exactly the problem with this country.
46
What's wrong with being the son of an alcoholic car salesman / tavern keeper? He's gone from that beginning to a career as an officer in the military. Don't you think the shows a commendable level of resilience? Have you shown that much resilience in your life?
Democrats: Don’t play an etude when the crowd wants a power chord. As bright and as honorable the man profiled is, he is basically a low information voter. He’s telling you quite clearly that confidence, simplicity of message, and national pride are what will earn his vote. Why? Because people don’t really want to think about government. They want a job, vacation, health, retirement, and their kids to have bright and safe futures. So, channel “The Boss” and the crowd will roar.
23
Kennedy has fallen for Trump's sales pitch.
It has nothing to do with reality. Quit listening to the used car salesman, and look at the car!
20
Quite true and the CAR is great and would be better if congress would just do its job.
So, why can't the Republican Congress and a Republican President govern?
It's hard to respect someone who is such a bad judge of character.
33
Mr. Kennedy seems a nice person. He made a terrible mistake and now cant quite admit it out loud. But he knows the truth. In the dark he prays forgiveness. And there are millions like him across this land that know they did a terrible, impulsive, mean thing. djt is a terrible excuse for a man. And now he is a terrible president. And Mr. Kennedy agrees, alone and in the dark.
8
I respect Mr. Kennedy's point of view.
However, the question is: What has Trump really achieved in his first year?
Debasing the presidency, ignoring Russian intervention, chaos all around, and absolute pure division of the country and its citizens.
There is no significant policy or program put in place. Its all a con-mans shiny mirrors of illusion!
Donald Trump is a failed business man and worst of all, he has squandered a golden opportunity to be able to transform government and Washington.
I feel sad for Mr Kennedy. He means well and has high hopes.
He's just bet on the wrong horse!
17
Ignorant you, he has eliminated a lot of worthless regulations, he has kept us out of stupid international agreements that would damage our economy, he got tax reform and a budget that begins to fix the military, he reduced illegal immigration just by talking, he got our allies to pony up for their mutual defense. I could go on, but why bother.
1
Yes, "why bother" when what you're going on about bears little relation to reality. You've definitely bought the propaganda line, though.
1
Trump has high concerns for the devastated crumbling towns, which make up the bulk of the country and populace. The Dems and the media have forgotten them, developed contempt for them and totally abandoned them. The contempt is based on the fact that most of them are white, and therefore can all be traced in some way to slavery and prejudice. This is preposterous and will fortify the will of these forgotten Americans. They will prevail, I assure you.
3
Well Gee your town is crumbling, its mass transit is a mess, its airports and I bet roads and bridges as well. The difference is your issues are due to corruption and bad management not really lack of money and opportunity.
2
"devastated crumbling towns, which make up the bulk of the country and populace"
Mr. Williams, tour the USA in your chevrolet sir! Life is hard on rural and city folks. That's life. But we are all brothers and sisters and we all work hard and struggle. This country is teeming with dynamism, affluence and progress from sea to shining sea. Yes, we have rural stretches that suffer and merit help, but mostly we have a nurtured hatred fed by a fractured media led by a foreign owned press, paid for by neo-oligarchs pulling strings working hand in glove with an evangelical leadership to divide and control. The moral minority have paved the road for the golden calf himself. It's rich isn't it?
For white males to portray themselves as forgotten is the biggest load of garbage in the history of the world.
This is the story of blue collar, white, middle aged men in America. They like Trump because he is misogynistic, crude, racist, disrespectful, brassy and impertinent. All the traits that they want to exhibit.
They believe in easy money scams. They admire Donald because he has been (may be) broke but keeps acting like he is rolling in dough.
Admire and thank him for his military service. His Trump logic doesn't hold water.
20
While I don't agree with everything Mr. Kennedy says, I do see that he has many valid reasons for not voting for Democrats. The two party system give us the illusion of Democracy, but in fact both political parties do not represent the best interests of the vast majority of Americans. They both serve their wealthy patrons in the donor classes. We desperately need election reform that will allow new parties to compete in publicly funded elections. I'd love to see a Social Democrat party form that will stop the unnecessary pork project spending, increase wages for working people, and give all of us the fundamental right to quality healthcare like the rest of the civilized world.
15
Few Republicans want government to increase wages nor have any rights to health care or insurance that are not in the constitution. More reasons not to vote for foolish dems.
He's an older white religious male with military/authoritarian preferences who needs to identify with Trump being a competitive dominant male ego and is taking comfort in the concept of having a bully as POTUS. Logic gets twisted around to support his projections, and all other evidence is conveniently rejected as noise. What are the odds he brushes off women's issues as inconsequential? And what exactly is this guy's definition of being a racist if he hasn't seen anything yet? He may have served in the military, but now he's jeopardized our country by supporting a narcissistic grifter actively eroding our Constitution, and likely beholden to Russian oligarchs in shady business deals. People who prioritize identifying with Big Brash Daddy over informing themselves what's really going on with Trump simply need to be out-voted.
34
Excellent post Alice in borderland! Thank you for spreading hope amidst so much insanity.
I don't see any mention of religiousness in the article.
So Mr. Kennedy is “smart?” Seriously?
What is smart about supporting Trump at this point a year in to his administration??
Trump surrounding himself with “the best people?” No need to list his Cabinet choices, a virtual who’s who of lobbyists and insiders. Drain that swamp!
Trump’s political acumen? He thinks shutting down the government is a good thing!
His divesture of his imprint on his family business one he was sworn in as president? Don’t hold your breath.
Mr Cohen, if you think Kennedy is smart I’ve got a bridge to sell you.
43
Interesting article. Although I have no sympathy for Trump, I understand how the crushing half century decline of places like Syracuse leads to a desperate attachment to the demagogue and his simple solution to return to a prosperous past. The appeal that Obama and Trump share is the willingness to break with past policies that have led to the disaster of many places in America. We need to build the great systems that drove America excellence. Public investment in education, job preparedness, transportation and health is sorely needed. Building systems that the rich remain rich at the cost of everyone else will lead ultimately to the end of democracy in America.
One notion that Mr. Cohen's article forgets is that Hillary Clinton, as a New York Senator, devoted much of her energy to upstate New York, the poor stepchild to the Empire State. Her predecessors couldn't find Syracuse on a map. But Hillary is our modern day Dreyfus, always stumbling to defend herself against spurious charges.
Larry Shaffer, Herkimer, NY
6
The greatest responsibility a citizen has is to vote wisely.
You are voting for someone who will be Commander in Chief, who can lead the military into responsible defense or irresponsible avventurism. You are voting for someone who represents the US to the world. You are voting for someone who can set the domestic agenda, who has the bully pulpit.
I respect those who have served in the military. But I don’t respect them throwing away their votes based on personality traits and meaningless slogans.
When Trump first started giving Cabinet positions to his billionaire donor buddies, I knew that he had no intention of draining the swamp. His lack of concern about ethical rules indicated that his conflicts of interest would make anything the Clintons have been accused of doing look like amateurish.
The opposition to Trump has to figure out some way to break through the Fox and friends’ Fog to convince people that hard work and thought through policies and programs are the solution not braying andbrashness.
55
I voted wisely, against corrupt incompetent Hillary, and for a conservative justice and courts. Anything else is just gravy, and there is plenty of that.
One more thing: Democrats need to realize it matters not one iota whether Shannon Kennedy's reasoning is right, and whether his prejudices should just be dismissed as "deplorable." The single thing the Democrats need to get real about, and get their heads out, is that he votes. He votes. And you need that vote. How are you going to win it? It's ripe for the picking, just are the ten or twenty million votes in the middle. That's where the battle is won. Win the battle, not the adulation of the already-won. Yes, you need to get out the base, but if you don't win the middle, the base won't be enough for you. Get realistic. And get tough and single-minded: this is an ugly and very serious knife fight for democracy, not some sharing circle.
24
Rocky, that's what I thought when I voted for Hillary Clinton. Go for the middle. Unfortunately, the Bernie left was so upset that many of them sat out the election. So maybe the first task is to have an excited, committed base, and then go after as much of the middle as you can.
The more you pay for a painting, the less likely you will accept it's a forgery.
51
Only if you are ignorant.
1
You may think him a fine man. I see a man who made poor choices and wants to lash out blindly.
22
“Trust the Clintons? Not with the Lord’s breakfast,” he says. . . . What's that supposed to mean? He trusts Trump? Trump??
"The exchanges were not competitive"--Say what? The one I was in (until I went on Medicare) was 25% cheaper than my policy.
"There are too many people running around who have no business being here.” Says who? They are the workers (& taxpayers) America needs to grow.
You want to grow don't you?
"America First was important: Too many working Americans have lost jobs to unbalanced trade deals." Watch what happens without those "unbalanced" trade deals--Trump's already destroying the solar/wind industry, which employs far more people than coal. And China's going to get all the business--from Korea, Japan, Australia, S.America--even Mexico & Canada, as Trump actively destroys trade relations with them.
He's served his country. He's a patriot. I didn't serve my country. Am I not a patriot? He's smart. Maybe I'm not. But I do not respect a leader who's the most corrupt and incompetent person ever elected--& let me take the "leader" part back. No, it seems to me that Mr. Kennedy's Can-do values are driving this country straight down-to-earth.
91
Americans who do not serve in the military are patriots, too. Especially if they , take their citizenship seriously, achieve the best education they can, are honest in their business dealings, raise their children to be productive citizens (if they have them) are loyal and true to their spouses, vote in local and national elections, pay their taxes, and strive to help others.
I was going to say this, but you said it first, and better.
Clinton won Onondaga County by 12.5%.
The Democrats don't need to persuade a man who thinks the jury's still out on whether or not Trump is racist.
They just need to turn out the people who didn't vote in 2016.
107
You've nailed it Mae.
But, it appears that Clinton votes really don't count the same. The right and left coasts are disregarded in politics and in counting votes. This is not a perfect union here. BTW, when is the NYT going to send some reporters out to speak with the opposition, to learn what they find objectionable about 45, what our world view is, since in this upside down nation the majority is treated as the minority? The biggest lie that 45's supporters believe is that they are in the majority, more genuine and wise than the citizens that did not vote for 45.
First of all, this article had all the charm of a PowerPoint presentation that read like an overly long bullet-point list. Secondly, all it proved was that even intelligent people can fool themselves into seeing what they want when it suits them.
31
I can't listen to racists who insult my intelligence by denying their racism.
The Democrats may lose in 2018, 2020, and beyond, but if they capitulate to the bigotry so sympathetically rendered in this benighted column, I will stay home on both Election Days.
Mr. Cohen's piece makes no moral or ethical sense.
37
Ok. I get it. This and Arle Russell Hochschild 's recent work on Trump complicates the silly generalizations made about Trump voters.
But the factual claims he makes are false regarding draining the swamp. And his claim that there are far too many people running around who have no business being here makes them 'just being here' the problem. There is no actual social ill, no bad consequence, of their presence.
Rather, the only reason America is able to function is because of 'those people'. The economy would grind to a halt without them. Just ask the farmers in Sacramento Valley.
He has served the country's military in a war that was a huge mistake. And I think it serves as a metaphor for our country's situation right now. Of course he has good and patriotic intentions in supporting Trump. Many had good and patriotic intentions in supporting Vietnam.
But your valorization of this guy's honor and 'smart' position, along with his position on public transportation and universal health care just show me how confused he is.
Those two positions alone make him a socialist according to FoxNewsSpeak. Add in his overtures to 'economic nationalism' and appeals to unbalanced trade deals and how Trump's pandering to neo-nazis is mere 'noise', and rather than being struck by his 'honor' , I am struck by how close we are to American Fascism. Only an infantile fascination with a strong leader would make someone ok with Trump.
And where's the article on the Sanders supporter?
56
I bet many portions of the federal government have 25% too many employees and many are over compensated as well.
Trump's the Greatest!... con man in human history.
A majority of Americans know it... and some of them will vote for him anyway, because of the insufferable arrogance of the Democrats. This column nails it. When the so-called 'resistance' calls for insistence on rigidly liberal dogma as policy, they play into the hands of Trump and the Kochs. Great Americans compromise. Successful Democratic candidates will be moderates who look for middle ground. Some of them (gasp!) will be white males.
Dan Kravitz
4
I agree. "Same old, same old won`t work."
Who then?
1
"Go beyond the noise."
Ok. I guess to "honorable Americans" like this guy, women who are beaten by their husbands are classified as noise. Teenage girls who are molested and assaulted are just noise.
Duly noted.
50
Huh? If he can't accept pretty obvious evidence of racism, I don't think there's any rational argument that could get to him.
50
Mr. Kennedy seems likeable enough but I can't reconcile the word "smart" with an inability to accept reality. Paul Ryan has been possibly been honest only once in the Trump era - when he called Trump's behavior "textbook racism".
24
I’m not from “coastal America,” although Michigan has a fair amount of coastline for that matter. I find it laughable that the “honorable gentleman” doesn’t find the enthusiastic purveyor of “birtherism” to be racist. What was that?
67
Okay I get it. We're hostage to people who like to use quaint colloquialisms. They're like a pitbull on a mailman, with this Trump fellow. But seems to me they're not the sharpest knife in the drawer, the brightest bulbs in the chandelier, the wettest water in the pond. They couldn't coax a rational line of thinking from their minds if they had a clinic of highly trained psychologists working together to check their insanity.
We need a better public education system, my friends.
In a rural town, I was once told by the chair of the board of education that each day he ate a tablespoon of vaseline to stay regular. This was a person tasked with ensuring the county children were well informed and prepared for life.
This is who gave us Trump.
How do we forgive these people who genuinely seem to not know what they do?
This is a great test for us all. That's the only thing about this whole mess that I know for sure. America is steeped in ignorance and resentments. Maybe if we can elevate our schools, pay teachers a decent salary and fill the void in that seems to echo in the minds of the electorate, we might stand a chance.
Until then, holy moly.
83
An honorable white American.
4
Sounds like a German guy in the thirties who fully agreed with "Deutschland Uber Alles!"
34
I Like Sherrod Brown of Ohio. He should have been Hillary's VP. Loosing his senate seat to the republicans must have been a consideration. He could have run for both may be. Attacking this man does none of us who want to defeat Trump any good. Just debate him and those like him with honest sincere points on how Trump is only helping the 1%. God bless us all.
7
I like Brown, too. I agree with your points about him.
But debating people like this "smart, no deplorable patriot" with sincere and honest points is impossible. Our neighbors, retired teachers (as in UNION MEMBERS with full retirement, etc.) voted for Trump because they "just didn't like the direction the country was headed." When my husband asked what he meant (like, what? an educated, contemplative black guy was elected twice?), the husband said "soon people would be able to marry their mothers and their dogs, and you have to vote your Christian values." I can't believe such ignorance lives next door to me, and that it had access to teaching formative minds. EVER. Seriously, this is the mentality of a sizable percentage of his voting base. For the life of me, I cannot abide people who think like this. There is no rational way to talk to them.
And the Russians, don't forget. And start learning Russian.
We are living in a time of mass cognitive dissonance. Voters like Mr Kennedy who honorably served their country at the same time support a regime that had absolutely no qualms about seeking election help from an enemy of the United States.
It is not news that "nice people" voted for Trump in spite of voting Democratic in the past. "There are too many people running around who have no business being here..." is a common opinion amongst these "nice" people who voted happily for Trump. Believe me, it wasn't just these "nice" working class voters who voted for Trump. The choice of Trump was across all income levels and included male and female voters. They voted their prejudices, their dislike of Hillary, their fantasies about of seeing mass deportations, their hope (for those in high salary groups) for a "raise" because of the expected tax cut. Trump voters might like telling themselves that Trump is simply "brash" or a "rogue" so they can sleep at night. But if you want a good national health service and public transit like Germany and Japan (and many other countries) you need serious leaders who can envision and execute public policy for the future. You can't do this with current representatives who have a belief system that includes reducing Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
Indeed, Democrats do need fresh - and yes - younger candidates who will act and speak clearly and truthfully about what it takes to have a better world.
61
As a native of Up State New York myself I share some of the same concerns. When I moved to Michigan in 1977 Rochester was an economic powerhouse. It was a manufacturing standout. There was Kodak, Xerox, Bausch and Laumb, Gleason Works and many more. Rochester is a shell of its former self. It suffers from the same ills as Syracuse. Michigan has lost hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs in the last 40 years. Neither party did anything to prevent this debacle. I did not vote for Trump but understand his appeal. I do not believe either party acts in the interests of "We the people". They are both bought by the elites who benefited the most over the past 40 years.
12
Wait, wait; Kodak, Baucsh and Lomb, Xerox fell because of market forces. so did the makers of buggy whips in the 1920's. It's a debacle right. When will you vote for a government that would keep these industries going through fake contract? You wouldn't. This is capitalism; we adapt, we retrain, some people win others lose. Government can't stop the forces of globalization and technology (robots) , even with Trump in charge. The one lthing Trump ando is lowere regulation s so rogue industries will love the US as they come to pollute at will and hoodwink through shodddy products that will brea and financial products that iwll separate Americans from their money, as in 2008.. .
Immigration is the Achilles heel of the Democratic Party. A solid majority American citizens, regardless of ethnicity and race, want strong enforcement of immigration laws and assurances that government resources favor citizens over non-citizens. On the other hand, Trump's disrespect of immigrants and immigration is one of the hottest fires that burns within the Democratic base. If Democrats go too far one way or the other they will lose.
Fortunately there is an easy way to navigate this Scylla and Charybdis. Democrats can promiscuously embrace the concepts that America's strength comes from the diversity of its people, that all people are created equal and that in America, our first obligation is to take care of American citizens.
6
A solid majority of Americans agree with the democrats on immigration. Remember if you will that republicans have been preventing reform on immigration for much more than a decade.
1
If we truly want to win elections it makes no sense wasting even a second on Trump voters who remain in his corner. The end result is the same and our reward for trying is severe indigestion.
No, we must have a candidate who arrives without baggage, and who's willing to fight tooth and nail, every day, to restore decency, create jobs and unite the country.
21
Why do people like Kennedy continue to support and admire Trump? I believe a lot of it comes from Fox News and other PR campaigns by PACs and cabals of the very wealthy. The question of winning them back to the Democratic party can never be answered until this reality is confronted and countered.
I don't know why Kennedy would have voted for Obama unless it had something to do with wanting to prove he isn't racist. That seems to be an important value for him. Not so for many other Trump supporters.
Trump said that people who live in Syracuse and places suffering similar malaise should just leave. That doesn't sound like the right answer to me.
5
Something about wanting to prove one is not a racist is almost an affirmation that one actually is.
With regard to immigration, I would like just one person I know to actually point out what job they have lost to an immigrant or a Dreamer. I have never in my 60 plus years known of a single instance where this has happened to anyone I know. It is a hollow rallying cry. Jobs leaving Flint and Detroit (I live between the two cities, born and bred in a generational auto family, both union and management sides) are the fault of government policy and company decisions, not immigration. It is interesting to me that people do not consider the Canadians working in our area to be stealing their jobs.
The opinion piece has a vital argument. Any voter holds an overview and specific experiences on street levels of every day life. Not being insolent, but, according to my experiences of living in US for decades as neither a native born nor white, I can tell this: if I am in a serious trouble in a public place (whatever it may be), those who *immediately* expend their hands to help me are the people like Mr. Kennedy. On the other hand, sophisticated intellectuals (please define), if being on the site by chance, report the incident to the police, immediately or not, and very likely keep a safe distance.
I cannot generalize it and I may be very wrong. But, there is a hitting point in what I said above. Also, by any means (with emphasis), I am not a fan of Mr. trump.
There is a NYT columnist who once described NYT readers as [having] average intelligence. There might be reactions or not from readers at that time, I don't know. If there were unfavorable reactions, that might be transposed upon a map of such selves in which certain types of Mr. Trump's supporters are considered to be along the line of peripherals dangerous to them.
Yes, I can be wrong on lots of things. There is one more. So far, I have written hundreds of words here, with or without obviously understandable points. The strategical distributors of Mr. Trump will (or would be able to) reduce my 1500 characters into this form: "She (= me) hates (= criticizes) Americans. She is an enemy of America".
2
Syracuse as in Buffalo, NY suffered the same economic conditions when major heavy manufacturing left and closed their operations. As a former steelworker, when the once mighty Bethlehem Steel just outside Bflo., finally closed its doors after 75+ years of operations, many gave illusionary reasons for the imminent shutdown. Claiming it to be a ploy for more union concessions, clinging to the thought the plant would reopen, etc. On and on went the reasons.
The reality was a new business day was emerging and as in so many cases across the country across workers could not tolerate the thought that to survive they themselves had to look to another way of life. Many refused to believe that their way of working was coming to a final end. Retooling, retraining and if necessary moving where jobs are in demand was not in their thinking.
Along comes the promise to restore their way of life from a master charlatan. Their messiah has arrived and again they will soon face disillusionment as experienced once before.
9
Before describing recent immigrants as having “no business being here” Mr. Shannon should read something about his own ancestors’ experience. In the mid-nineteenth century, these were starving people escaping the potato famine in Ireland. One source (shoudhttps://www.revolvy.com/topic/Irish%20in%20Syracuse,%20New%20York) tells us that “In the early days, the Irish Catholics [in Syracuse] were persecuted. They were hindered from attending church and were ridiculed as irresponsible drunkards.” How sad that the descendant of people who suffered such hardship should follow a president who seethes with contempt for the less unfortunate.
8
If anything, Trump has trivialized the Office of the Presidency. He has no respect for democracy and he is a clear and present danger to our democracy and constitution. His principle goal is to make as much money as he can while he is in office. The sooner he is gone, the better.
7
My mother used to always tell me something before going on a first date. Listen to a man when he tells you who he is. DT has spent 35 years telling us who he is. One can't go "beyond the noise" and not "take him at face value". The one thing you can give DT credit for is that he's never tried to hide who he is - and there's absolutely nothing good about him. Why people like Kennedy can't see that is simply beyond comprehension.
21
“A strong economic program for working Americans is essential.”
Jobs are being lost to globalization and automation. We can mitigate the damage in the near term, but there is no stopping it.
I would draw an analogy to defense spending. When our military hardware becomes obsolescent, we sell the aging parts to our allies. We keep the top-of-the-line weapons for ourselves.
The same is true of jobs: we want the best ones here in the U.S., and consequently we want to offload and outsource the less desirable ones. We don’t simply want to employ most workers, particularly as they age up, in low-paying and largely unskilled jobs like flipping burgers, with no benefits.
Many of us are sick and lack adequate health insurance and proper medical care. Our environment is being degraded with pollution. And our educational system is a mess. These problems are being exacerbated by the current Administration – led by Trump and his GOP enablers.
People need to be healthy and well educated to acquire the skills they need to prosper in our modern global society. These are long-term issues. The GOP does nothing to help. Democrats approach the problem from an intellectual standpoint and scare people.
We need to work together to transition to a more highly skilled work force, in the same way we need to transition to green energy. We might look to a country like Germany for ideas, because it is doing better than we are in both of these areas.
There is hope, but not with the GOP.
3
Great article. This is it: "A strong economic program for working Americans is essential".
Hillary couldn't get herself to do it. And the cost to the country has been huge.
And if the Dems continue to be seduced by the siren song of 'identity politics', they are sunk.
6
Mr. Cohen,
Your piece on a Trump voter is definitely food for thought. The common thread that I have seen with reported comments from thoughtful Trump voters, and your piece confirms it, they love our country and they want to see improvements. Mr. Kennedy voted for Obama twice, this man is no racist. Obama ran on a general message of Hope and Change. Obama, in my opinion, did an excellent job steadily guiding our country back from the brink of financial disaster. At the same time, he was not successful in implementing many needed changes. Company layoffs resulted in millions being let go. Our economy was stalled and in trouble. The limited stimulus program is an example, it was too small to get the economy moving at a fast pace.
Many people are hurting and they are seeing their jobs move overseas or just eliminated entirely. The Gig-economy is the new thing. Very few people can make a decent living with that. Americans want a new deal, not hand outs. They are looking for someone with a higher purpose vision and plan to follow. Trump portrayed himself with a vision, but unfortunately lied about all his "excellent" plans. Yes, he is a fighter. The question is, what is he fighting for? It is not the American people, our constitution or our bill of rights. He is fighting his fight, because he likes to fight. He is plowing the sea and we will not see a bountiful harvest from that. Democrats, find a leader with convictions, intelligence and the courage to fight for us all.
Obama was thwarted by a seditious GOP from day one. Lest it be forgotten that his muted progress for “hope and change” was undercut at every turn by the very swampy things that own DC now. Obama was certainly not a perfect leader. But even with great and very nasty resistance he managed to get our country back on track. Trump as a protest vote I get. Continued support for him and his policies of isolation and placating the hypocritical religious right regarding reproductive freedoms? Um, no.
The same old "old" may not work for Democrats but the subject of your column is the same "old" voter in the backward looking, provincial way of Trump supporters. If Joe Biden is not the future Mr. Kennedy is not the future either. He sounds like a self-righteous know it all who would be immune from facts or ideas that disproved or challenged any of his set beliefs. That he would trust Trump over the Clintons is evidence of that. His views are a product of right wing talking points.
8
The message is clear. It's just that Republicans and Democrats do not want to hear it because it may take a few nickels from their pockets, and it will definitely take some dollars from their corporate donor's pockets.
And that's the problem: corporate influence; corporate importance over individual *human* importance.
Trump promised jobs and promised to tell the status quo to go jump in a lake (to use censor-friendly words, mind you). THAT is the only thing that most folks voted for. He came across as For The Little Guy.
He came across as someone who sees the VALUE of everyone, not just the rich, not just the corporation.
That is an important message, and it might be said to be foundational to what America stands for: People.
Not corporations; not just some people.
That is the message that Congress does not hear because it contradicts our current model of government, which is Pay to Play.
Democracy in the USA has been sold (years ago) to corporate interests along with some uber-wealthy interests (basically the same thing). Now it is also being sold off to foreign interests.
Americans do recognize this, amazingly. I say amazingly, because they thought Trump would be someone to do something about that.
I've no explanation for that. Incomprehensible.
But again, the message is: America needs to be about The People.
Not the few, the rich, the Corporate "person".
People. Equally valued.
THAT is the message
(as unprofitable as it may be)
3
I am very surprised Mr. Cohen had not discussed Mr. Kennedy's views on Russian meddling in our elections and the fact that the president (little 'p' noted!) has no interest in getting behind the issue and finding the truth. A true patriot would be alarmed by this and Mr. Cohen's claiming Mr. Kennedy is a true patriot is a farce. We also need to recognize that the Dem's had a flawed presidential candidate who wanted big rallies with "famous" people instead of going to coffee shops and local restaurants to meet the people. So Mr. Cohen you are wrong about blue state coastal candidates. In fact if Joe Biden had been the Dem's presidential candidate, he would have won because Biden understands retail politics. There are many fine candidates that the Dem's could pick but they need to understand retail politics. We would not be in the mess this country is today with a divisive leader who rather be dictator and have a military salute at him as they pass by so he feels better about himself. Next time, you need to tell the American people what is inside these people's mind and hearts and of course provide an opinion, but in all due respect you are wrong on this one.
1
Thank you for this portrait of Mr. Kennedy. I know guys like this: patriotic, worried about the country, guarding traditional values. What I don't understand is how such men believe that Trump is draining the swamp. Trump has a long history of dangling money in front of legislators. He has a long history of cheating contractors, workers, local government, and tax authorities. In office he has surrounded himself by the swamp creatures: financiers who benefited from the 2008 debacle while everyone else suffered. Trump has attacked the regulations that ensure fair play in financial markets, especially consumer protection against fraud. Trump's tax bill is a great gift to campaign donors and lobbyists while throwing scraps to people like Mr. Kennedy. The hypocrisy about the national debt is blatant. Trump did not keep his word on special perks for hedge fund operators. Trump has made no attempt to modernize infrastructure needed by all.
Mr. Kennedy makes sense in many ways, but he is a victim of propaganda when it comes to fair assessment of corruption. We have a pay-for-play system that only voters like Mr. Kennedy can correct. We need a Democrat who can explain the corrupted political system without trying to rely on the culture wars to get elected.
3
Mr Kennedy is no victim of propaganda or anything else. He is a willing consumer of propaganda who has bought the trump line and just wants to pretend that he doesn't agree with certain parts, as in trumps treatment of minorities, disabled and women. If you are a supporter of trump, you must be ok with white supremacy, Russian interference in our elections and money laundering, and a president who lies to the public daily and is a wanna be dictator. If we are not vigilant, he will succeed.
2
Exactly. Let's run with the government-as-businesses metaphor for a sec. If I'm trying to run an honest business to provide quality services for a fair price, why would I listen to those who just fell for a quack multi-level marketing scheme on what to offer, even if it did beat my own business last year? In time, thinking people will recognize the scam and look for something better. We should welcome back those customers and not belittle them or turn them away. We might even wonder what allure the MLM offered that swayed so many people and adjust our marketing. But listen to them for advice on how to run a successful enterprise? Not so much.
" A whiff of got-the-system-rigged elitism from the Democrats will be fatal. A strong economic program for working Americans is essential"
Sounds like Bernie Sanders. I get what you're saying. If we want to win it's either him or the highway. I tend to agree.
Haha, I don't think that's what he's saying.
1
The good Mr. Kennedy should pay more attention to what President Trump does versus what he says. In less than a year through intent and neglect Trump has destroyed the agencies and institutions that make America great while self dealing to his own businesses. The tax plan favors the wealthy over good hardworking people and will explode the deficit putting social security and medicare on the chopping block at about the same time as Mr. Kennedy becomes eligible for the programs
Mr. Kennedy may like the swagger and bluster - but he will most certainly be hurt by the policies.
7
What will Mr. Kennedy think when the R's use the deficits to justify cutting back social security and medicare? Will Mr. Kennedy acknowledge his responsibility for this due to his continued support of trump? Or, more likely will he see himself as a victim?
1
Your honorable man is angry and deluded and simple minded. Trump is a vile demagogue who is only interested in himself and has endorsed the reactionary Republican policies that helped promote the industrial decline of small cities in America.
What the Democrats need to do is to endorse a renewed New Deal and modernize the ideas of the great FDR that there are no forgotten Americans and no forgotten races and that government must serve the needs of those who have too little and not favor those who have too much.
The vile tax cut needs to be repealed, a true infrastructure program funded through federal bonds and progressive tax increases on the wealthy with emphasis on the opportunities and challenges of the 21st century modernized transportation, high speed public rail, solar power, new industries for the Midwest, and improved educational system with reduced tuitions, and a modernized health care system with price controls on pharmaceuticals and Medicare for all.
That is just the start. We need optimism about the future and togetherness, more social and income equality, not hatred and division and oligarchy.
We need a leader who offers hope for a better world and we need a democratic congress to achieve these goals.
Renew the New Deal for the future.
2
I cannot fathom how any rational person can support Trump. The man lies with almost every breath he takes. Sometimes he tries to explain his mistakes with, "That's what I was told." He either doesn't understand the Constitution or he is against its many provisions. He believes the word of Putin over that of our intelligence agencies. He is petrified of the Russian investigation......and so much more.
6
In my dark moments I tend to believe that those who are adamant in their support of Trump are just not paying attention, or they are lesser Trumpets: Liars, cheats, deliberately uninformed, etc. They do not listen to the D's messages, and may be leaning on Fox and Hannity for their opinions. (And, can anyone tell me how Shep Smith hangs on?)
Critical thinking is not taught here in many of our school systems, public and private (especially religious schools). This accounts for the religious right's complete support of Trump, including his philandering. "He is a MAN of GOD". Whose God?
1
Trump promised Mr. Kennedy a fantasy. This fantasy is far better than his current reality. Why not dwell in it if you have no better options.
After a year of Trump's presidency and exposure to talks like this with Trump supporters, it confirms that Hillary was right, his supporters are deplorables.
Not deplorables as human beings -- many would give you the shirt off their back if they saw you in need (and if you looked like them). But their thinking is deplorable and they have no concept of the Constitution (other than misinterpreting the 2nd Amendment) or of the leadership needs of a complex country that has a nuclear arsenal on a hair trigger.
These supporters are very different from the GOP in Congress, who understand what a disaster Trump is, but are willing to make Faustian bargains with him to pursue various special agendas.
5
Good-hearted, well-intentioned voters like Mr. Kennedy nevertheless set aside all available evidence to vote in a man as manifestly unfit and unqualified as Trump. Why on earth, then, are we considering handing the choice back to these voters in 2020 by pandering to them with a Democratic version of Trump? How about elevating the electorate, instead of depressing the value of candidates?
4
Shannon Kennedy is dead wrong about Donald Trump, but Kennedy’s heart is in the right place – I think.
It is surprising that Mr. Kennedy gives Trump a pass on making wealthy Americans and large corporations happy at the expense of working men and women. It is also odd that a man as witty and quick with good line tolerates Donald Trump’s 5th-grade vocabulary.
Come to think of it, maybe Mr. Kennedy’s heart is not in the right place.
6
Go beyond the noise: That is much of what Trump has been for many decades. He is visibly of the reality TV world. He wants ratings. He wants applause.
Racism: If someone cannot see this, they do not want to. From his early days in the real estate world, this has been part of his behaviors. And he uses racism as a political tool--take a look at voter distribution in the last election (no matter what some of those voters want to hear).
He's smart: He is, to some degree, cunning. This type of "intellect" does not involve much introspection or reflection--or even the capacity to learn and grow.
Respect the presidency: One can respect the presidency, if not the president. One can argue that our current president does not respect his own office.
Conclusion: Good people can have bad judgement. It happens all the time. I wish Mr. Kennedy could see that. It doesn't mean that supporting "anyone but Trump" alone makes one a good or thoughtful person. But one should, at times, separate the man from the office.
4
Sarah, the problem bothering Roger’s Shannon Kennedy is that “sound, sane, humane” policy isn’t happening and, it seems, will not happen without a shake-up. Unfortunately, Shannon’s desire for a shake-up led him to Trump. Otherwise it might lead him to violence or revolution. His impatience and lack of options is driving him in desperate directions.
1
mr. kennedy states that in his youth syracuse was a "thriving magnet to immigrants." here is a suggestion for mr. kennedy and his president make syracuse, rochester, buffalo and utica thriving destinations for immigrants by doubling or tripling the number of legal immigrants. mr. kennedy is concerned about the federal taxpayer? he worked for the federal government his entire adult life, is collecting a federal pension and gets free health care to boot. pretty sweet deal.
4
Trump tunes into people’s primordial sentiments, what seems to be the unfortunate human condition of an insider group and an outsider group. This is the challenge of inclusiveness- how to get white straight males, for example, to care about the disenfranchised, the poor, “the other” over their own Self? Trump appeals to the worst instincts in is and it is so much easier not to fight those instincts than to fight them with rational logical thought. Most of his supporters who seem to be decent can’t see the absurdity of their statements. Democrats have to just keep trying to appeal to human decency, but that can only be done by first removing the imagined threat from “the other” from the minds of people like this.
Trump did not convert Kennedy to his cause. Kennedy, and millions like him, were there first. When both parties exported jobs to China, created the plutocracy, and allowed illegal immigration on an unprecedented scale, they lost that group (and yes, they are not "deplorables"). Trump, the ultimate salesman, found his market in the alienated mass of the white working class and exploited it.
Whether or not things get any better for Kennedy under Trump, Kennedy "knows" the would be worse under the "elitist, identity-politics, bi-coastal" Democrats. And he will stick with Trump through thick and thin unless and until everything collapses.
Can the Democrats regain the Kennedys of this country? Long shot. (The may be able to pick up the "reluctant Trump voters" who primarily voted against Clinton.) So the Democrats need to come up with a program and a candidate that will unite the rest of us. Remember that if it were not for those who felt Hillary was not "pure" enough and stayed home or voted for Jill Stein she would have won.
Shannon Kennedy is honorable indeed and, having served the country, he should know that respect is something a president earn. Not demand. It usually starts showing respect for all the people. Of all colors, origin and, religions.
That's the downside of having a republic working under a 200 years old archaic constitution that still refer to "well regulated militias" that were disbanded a long time ago. If your republic managed to tame private interest lobbying Congress in a deluge of money you would be better off. Believing to be the best at this point is a sin that makes your system to be somewhat frozen in the past.
1
“There are none so blind as those who will not see.” Mr Kennedy is like many Trump supporters I know. Most simply don’t have the facts straight and watching FOX or listening to Rush Limbaugh does not help. Debt and deficits? They don’t even begin to understand what the recent tax cut and spending deals will do to their security and progeny. How do we reach them when their hero doesn’t even read his own daily presidential briefings and lies for sport?
2
It seems it is Mr. Kennedy who has blinders on--to Trump's cruel determination to deny health care to millions of Americans, skewing the tax laws in favor of himself and the very rich, and daily attacks to undermine the rule of law. I have relatives like Mr. Kennedy, and it baffles me how they cannot see the cancerous, corrosive effect Trump is having on our democracy. It makes me think they do not have the foggiest idea of what America is all about.
4
Roger Cohen makes a few valid points. There are a LOT of hard working American’s who feel betrayed. Surprisingly they don’t feel betrayed by Trump, the Wizard of Spin. Basically don’t believe fake news but they believe in Donald.
As bad as Donald Dum Dum is, what’s worse is the manipulative Plutocratic Party that controls Congress, and the congressional election process. There’s a unholy alliance and it targets well meaning Americans like Kennedy. The country is being pulled apart by the centrifugal force of spin. There’s it needs to come together. Berating loyal American’s like Kennedys is the worse thing Dems can do.
With mid terms near I believe the best answer in purple places is like Syracuse. The Congressional district was very competitive and Republican Representative John Katko at times thought of running as an independent. He is highly rated as non partisan and is a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership.
The problem with the Main Street Republicans is that they’re under fire from both the left and the right. The good news is that they ‘re message resonates with a wide spectrum of voters in purple places.
I think it’s time one of the best thing that can happen is a fracture between the tea party trumpeters and Main Street into two separate parties. Perhaps, Main Street can’t field a presidential candidate, but they can field a caucus of 80 congressional delegates.
See, I don't know how you get to the Shannon Kennedys. "He's a fighter, a scrapper" Kennedy says of Trump. As if that is all we need.
But it discounts every single thing Trump has managed to do in his short tenure. Trump has raised taxes on a lot of taxpayers, to cut taxes on corporations and people who already have a lot of cash. Will they really invest in Syracuse?
He has made healthcare more expensive, and done nothing to make it easier for employers to pay it and hire more. That is a big task, but Trump hasn't even *proposed* anything. His answer for upstate NY? He told folks to abandon what they had and go somewhere else.
His jobs overhaul? 126 workers in Ohio have jobs still.
He has made a mockery of the nation, proposed military parades, bandied about the prospect of nuclear war, left inept people to handle the misery in Puerto Rico and not even vetted his own staff for criminal and immoral behavior.
But he is a scrapper, a fighter. God save me from people who have brains, but stopped using them. This isn't about right and left.This is about total utter unbelievable and unsurpassed ineptitude. And Shannon Kennedy cannot be convinced in any way to look at it squarely.
4
I don't really get the point of articles like this. Plenty of "nice," patriotic, and religious people fervently supported Jim Crow. And not only has Trump repeatedly engaged in both racist rhetoric and action as a candidate and president, he has a long history of racism dating back decades, including housing discrimination. He has also cheerfully destroyed and continues to destroy all the things Mr. Kennedy claims to care about, such as national health care. All I can conclude is that Mr. Kennedy might be friendly, might be patriotic, but does not much care about what he professes to care about, and is in fact racist himself; and if he's unconscious of his racism, that's little help to the rest of us. There is no other explanation for the resolute refusal to take Trump at "face value." And only white men such as Mr. Cohen have the luxury of indulging people like Mr. Kennedy. The rest of us are busy fighting for survival.
8
Shannon, you lost me when you said that Trump's racism is "noise." Well, he's been making the same noise his entire life.
I get that people like Shannon are unhappy with their situation and want to blame somebody, blame the system. But Trump and the Republicans are enacting policies that will stack the system even more heavily against them.
4
Shannon Kennedy sounds delusional, clueless, ignorant and into wishfulness. Sad.
13
Bla bla bla bla bla talk about the same old same old a journalist who writes about an Obama voter who turned to Trump news flash it was because Clinton wasn't liked period. My message for Democrats get a woman who can walk her talk that is how you drain the swamp
12
The combination of the tax bill and budget agreement will dramatically increase deficits. It will be impossible to maintain Medicare, Social Security, and rebuild infrastructure. The military, of course, will continue to be funded. So, there will be no national health care or trains. No one wants to pay their share of taxes needed to pay for what we all want. Unfortunately for Mr. Kennedy, all he will get is a President who will lie about what has been accomplished. I really don't see a Democratic candidate alternative.
3
The sky isn’t blue. The grass isn’t green. Water isn’t wet. Trump isn’t a gangster.
17
Yes, the Democrats need a lesson. And I know a few decent Trump voters. In my case, I know Margaret and Joe. Decent, hardworking and all the rest. Still there is a quality to what happened that is as if Democrats did all this and you still didn’t care.
For example, the entire social safety net is a Democratic creation. So when a person is laid off, the unemployment benefits he gets, are the creation of Democrats. So was expanded Medicaid. Democrats really might make community colleges free to most. Or they might create a low cost child care system. These would help workers. But Mr. Kennedy and his ilk don’t even know that, and instead they voted for the absolutely worst person ever to be elected.
By the way, I am a registered Republican, so am on the sidelines here, but it is as if the working people didn’t notice anything for 20 or 30 years, they even voted for Reagan (older ones for Nixon) but now that things are really bad they suddenly have woken up and said that not enough was done.
Well… except for the investor class (who seem to get everything that want) we generally don’t get all we want. So what I see is stupid folks too lazy to do the work needed to understand the issues. They voted for words that sruck a chord but they couldn’t tell that the words were like a cheap shiny thick that you place before a child.
45
Trump is filling Washington DC with people who have contempt for America, while using the office to advance his personal financial interests.
He is in many ways the opposite of what he portrays himself to be.
Many of the old establishment swamp rats have embraced him now because they see he IS one of them after all, just more petty and insecure.
Is it possible you don’t see that?
21
There's no excuse to support a Trump. None.
41
Mr. Cohen, did you speak with Mr. Kennedy for this piece before or after President* Trump defended a wife beater?
Respect the office of the presidency, indeed.
15
Maybe it's the other way around: Mr. Kennedy should listen to the Democratic party?
36
I just feel sad when I read about or talk to very nice but very self-deluded people who have fallen for Trump's con game. Go beyond the noise? The noise is the true expression of Trump: his racism, his greed, his lies, his misogyny, his ignorance. The subject of this column talks about how he was raised, as a "scrappy, can-do fighter who’s known hard times and believes there’s no substitute for a day’s work." That's the opposite of Trump, a lazy, privileged person who's gotten ahead through luck and grift. Mr. Kennedy has fallen for a scam, as surely as the students at Trump University.
85
I have tried to figure out how so many of our otherwise rational fellow citizens could have fallen for this snake-oil salesman. At first I suspected this country was suffering from some form of collective brain damage. But as his supporters continue to mindlessly sing his praises while refusing to acknowledge what is actually taking place right in front of them (the lies, vulgarity, racism etc) every day, it has become clear what this phenomenon is. The zombie apocalypse in upon us, shambling mindlessly across the land.
1
Finally a piece that's starting to get it. For all of Trump's myriad faults, he has channeled a plausible alternative national-socialist narrative for working Americans: strong military, ethno-nationalist pride, unapologetic imperialism, law and order, massive infrastructure spending all backed by a newly patriotic industrialist elite. It's utter fantasy, of course, but it's an inspiring and fresh worldview for struggling Americans. The Democrats have no equally energizing narrative other than that Trump is a racist and sexist. What are you for, Dems, not what are you against.
12
Logic and evidence don’t seem to matter to people like Kennedy. Trump may have spouted promises to “drain the swamp” but he’s the most corrupt, self-dealing president we’ve seen in office since Teapot Dome. Spending by lobbyists in 2017 was higher than in any of the previous 7 years. Trump has put drug czars and fossil fuel execs in charge of health care and environmental agencies. Apparently, all the Dems need to do to win the votes of the “non-deplorables” like Kennedy is run some charlatan who’ll lie to them, and then gleefully rob them blind. Um, no thanks.
32
Astute as Roger Cohen is I think that he draws unjustified conclusions. Had Comey not reopened the fiasco of Clinton's emails our nation would likely have proceeded with normal government and America would still be America. To a significant degree the disaster of Donald Trump is a ridiculous accident. Those who still love the true America will yet prevail, and without abandoning her basic principles.
32
Yes, and we need an inspiring candidate and much better organization. The two are related. Organizations are built locally for each election. Although they are Democrats (or Republicans, for their own side) most volunteers really work for a candidate, not a party. That is why Michigan was lost because of low turnout in Detroit and a few other cities. The same is probably true for urban areas in Ohio, Pennsylvania and elsewhere that regularly vote Democratic. As for Comey putting his thumb on the scale, perhaps he has now learned his lesson.
Thank you Dr. Williams. Well said.
I am so tired of columnists and pundits pretending that Trump won by getting the support of most voters. If a Democrat won the Electoral College and lost the popular vote, we’d hear about it every day. Trump is the most unpopular president in recent history. We will need to work both smart and hard to win in 2020, but that doesn’t mean we have to win over every deluded person who supports Trump.
2
I am tired, sick unto death, of the admonition that we should "respect the office of the Presidency." The man who holds the office has no respect for the office, nor does the collection of third rate or worse opportunists that surround him. There is no cure for Trump supporters. This is a cult. The only treatment is to beat them at the ballot box and in court.
75
So how about a few solutions, Roger? This guy is a dupe of Tsar Donald the Deplorable. Voters were rightly discontented, and he exploited this. They deserve a better answer from the party opposite.
If our middle/working class weren’t forced to sacrifice the security they had in past generations to the rising wealth of US elites-- maybe voters wouldn't be so anti immigration. Our politics makes voters compete for economic crumbs left over after excessive corporate profits are satisfied.
The Dems seem like liberals who will save us from our political tragedies. The truth is their idealized ACA created more customers for big insurance. Our taxes pay for profits, when they should pay for our health care, as in other democracies where it doesn’t matter what state you live in or your job status. That's consistency (fairness), also called ‘equal protection of the laws’.
The 'exchanges were not competitive', so he changed from Obama to Trump? Explain how we make them 'competitive'? Roger, you’ve lived in Europe, so devote 1 measly column to explaining some comparative role models we could pressure our lawmakers with.
Of couse our authoritarian Tsar is mendacious! (that means liar.) You're an experienced international journalist. What policies might make this voter’s life better so he doesn't have to be a ‘fervent’ dupe of a dictator? The media has failed him. We get columns on on voter complaints, but they avoid debate on solutions. Stick your neck out, Roger Cohen.
18
I too voted twice for Obama and I'd vote for him two more times because of people like Trump. Jack claims that Trump's " proving his stamina against the naysayers “who hate the man with a vileness that is very un-American.”" I'd say that's pretty much like the vile hatred Trump brought out in the American people against Obama. If anyone has poisoned the waters of American politics it has been Trump and his republican allies. And, if Jack is looking for anti-Americanism , he might want to look a bit more closely to Trump who would like to jail his political opponents, has totally muddied the waters trying to hide from something he's done with the Russians, and has called anyone who wouldn't stand and applaud his bumbling state of the union speech "treasonous". I'm sick and tired of being told that every Trump slur and tweet and whatever falls from his lips is nothing more than a "joke". I ain't laughing!
45
Great metaphors but he is blind to how hollow and without values Trump is. Unfortunately he's hardly alone.
16
Is he really still so honorable?
24
What we need is a political party that looks to the future, explains that 60 million people are retiring and will place enormous but temporary demands on social security and medicare, but at the same time the best jobs in the country are being vacated. We need an educated workforce, and a national goal to move to an electric economy, with the benefit of a ton of infrastructure and technology jobs, plus the added benefit of going green. We need leaders who can explain that national health will make our businesses more competitive, and that immigrants are needed to backfill our low birthrate and keep the country vibrant. A democratic party with some vision is not too much to ask.
23
Everything you say has been part of the Democratic Party 'vision', much of it for decades. Every "need" you list has been a part of every campaign and state of the union speech by both Clinton and Obama. It is the Republican party that, while noting the same needs, have put forth no 'visionary' proposals to effect any of them. Ryan (and Bush before him with Social Security) wants to gut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. The Repubs at all levels of government pay lip service to bettering education while fighting tooth and nail against any effort to fund it and make it affordable. The Repubs are all for infrastructure repair but want to privatize our roads and bridges in order to pay for it (God forbid we should raise fuel taxes and assess them differently). The Repubs are for "going green" while continuing to support environmentally dangerous fuel sources. Of course we "need" national healthcare but who tried to repeal the ACA over 50 times and are trying to kill it by not paying subsidies and repealing the individual mandate? Who is holding the Dreamers hostage in order to limit legal migration and "build a wall that Mexico will pay for"? I rest my case.
1
The author makes a good point -- it's possible to be a good person and rationalize the irrational. I tried to take a look in the mirror yesterday, thinking -- "If HRC had been elected and she did or said all of what Trump has done, said, or alleged to have done, would some part of me try to explain it away, because of my support for her policies or belief in her?" I couldn't swear that I wouldn't -- to some degree. Bias is very powerful. It seems name-calling only further divides us. I try to imagine talking to someone like the man in the article and rather than calling him names, try to do the reversal-of-roles thing like I did with HRC, and see if could see his irrationality. It couldn't hurt, but name-calling can.
14
I've been thinking about reversing the roles, too. Hillary would be abusing the powers of the police state as badly as Trump, and she'd be doing it with self-righteousness, to boot (backed by a howling mob shouting "me, too!").
Once upon a time, "freedom" meant "absence of constraint"; these days, it's increasingly coming to mean "denial of access." A focus on openness and expansiveness (a Whitmanesque vision of freedom) has been supplanted by the sense that, first and foremost (by default), we have cause for fear.
That fear might indeed be legitimate -- but if so (in my humble opinion), it's symptomatic of a society that's past its prime.
"The message is clear. The same old, same old (for example, Joe Biden) won’t work. A whiff of got-the-system-rigged elitism from the Democrats will be fatal. A strong economic program for working Americans is essential. Look to purple-state America, not blue-state coastal America, for a candidate who is grappling with the country’s toughest issues and is strong on can-do, down-to-earth values."
Amen, amen, amen. Take heed, Democrats. And take heed, rank-and-file, for you must take back your party from the Wall Street-cozy limousine neoliberals with their smug, preordained, severely flawed candidate, their reverse gender bias, and overconfident and undercompetent campaigning. Who lost the almost unlosable campaign.
Preaching to the PC choir won't do it. Coastal elitism won't do it. You have to win this guy back. You have to win Shannon Kennedy back. How are you going to do it? Answer that question forthrightly and competently, and there may be hope yet for the American Experiment. Nothing less is in the balance. Take heed, Democrats.
19
Appearance of being elite not elite.
If the takeaway from this is that Democrats have to "win back" people like Kennedy who simply have horrible judgement, I think the real problem might be an uninformed electorate.
3
The idea that the Dems "lost" this dishonorable man is laughable. Kennedy claims he voted for Obama, then decides to vote for Obama's mortal enemy? Oh, that makes perfect sense!
Worse, he imagines Trump will help him. Trump is proposing to increase prices on Medicare drug plans, following his tax cuts to billionaires, yet this guy says "go beyond the noise." This is but one example of willful blindness.
If the democrats waste their time trying to appeal to this fool, then they deserve to lose.
2
I respect Cohen's desire to listen to a Trump supporter. I respect Kennedy's service to our country. But has the man paid any attention to what Trump has done over the past year? To his mix of cruelty and incompetence? Could Cohen not press him on that? And if Cohen is going to trot out the "deplorable" line, please remember Clinton's full quote: she said half of Trump's supporters could be put into a basket of deplorables, but the other half had real grievances that needed to be listened to.
70
I agree about the quote. Democrats ought to learn, however, that ANY reference to opposition voters or characterization of them, however nuanced, will be cut and pasted into an opposition battle-cry, whether it's “you didn’t build that...” or “clinging to guns and religion”.
Analytical and sociological characterizations of the behavior of people who won’t and don’t vote for you are inherently perceived as condescending and elitist. They are perceived as coming from fancy intellectuals full of “book learnin’. And they kind of are, since analysis and conclusions about general behavior (valuable tools, in my opinion) are taught at universities.
Democrats would do well never to respond to questions about what motivates their opposition’s voters.
Yes, the nation is a mess and Dems aren't perfect by a long shot....
But citizenship makes one steadfast requirement.... that citizens strive to do the hard work of knowing the truth. Thus, NO to Fox and its ilk.
Humanity makes another.... that we refuse to hate.... Thus we favor reason over emotion. Blame without context is hate.
Shannon fails the tests of citizenship and humanity.
Our nation, too, is failing those test, yet we get to retake it this year and in 2020.... but continued failure will have dire consequences. Nature doesn't curve the grade for the Shannon's of the world.
33
"Hate" has become the most abused word in the English language. EEE, you don't refuse to hate; your hate is merely directed at different targets than your adversaries'.
"...forward looking...?" A horse in the way--"Knock it out..." This may be the future of humanity, and Shannon Kennedy may be a realist. It is not the future or the Common Sense Thomas Paine advocated, nor is it the future Abe Lincoln imagined. But we don’t have to go to upstate NY to see the failing condition of liberal democracy. We see that all around the Western World, in Brexit, in the Le Pen family, in Orban, Duda, Erdogan, and Duterte, for example. Ronald Reagan told us that “government is the problem.” Those who worship at his shrine need to tell us what the solution is. Chaos, anarchy, dictatorship? In the UK, Theresa May grasps at power by enlisting the support of the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland, the political and spiritual cousins of the troglodytes of evangelical Christendom in America. That this is considered to be a challenge to America's Democratic Party is a frightful commentary on America’s conservatives. Rather, it is a challenge for all thinking, caring people of the West. Consider the symbol of humanity's greatest achievement recently blasted off into outer space: not the Iliad, not the Divine Comedy, not even an Oscar. It was a motor car.
7
Des Johnson writes, "Consider the symbol of humanity's greatest achievement recently blasted off into outer space: not the Iliad, not the Divine Comedy, not even an Oscar. It was a motor car."
That car's an appropriate symbol of the American dream of the open road. Kerouac would approve. Best of all, it was a Tesla, offering the promise of freeing that dream from fossil fuels!
1
Hey! Elon Musk didn't intend to ecudate any Aliens. He believe they are just like us who appreciate a good joke when we see it. And...there was also a human(doll) in the car, completely covered with spaceX,s spacesuit in the drivers seat. ...and a sign at the instrument panel who says: "Don't panic"...
Shannon Kennedy is a good man - direct and blunt with enough Irish humor to make his opinions dance.
The president guy is also blunt - but he's defensively blunt, with no sense of humor, no consideration of his listeners and not much of anything else worth working with, including his fabled deals to make honest money for the American people.
Really direct and blunt guys don't need to lie and slather on the ugliness.
They need to follow up with some genuinely constructive fixes to the problems they're talking about.
Mr. Kennedy will be watching for this.
5
Supports a national health care system, yet turned on President Obama?
Demands respect for the Presidency, yet supports President Trump?
Is opposed to vileness, yet aids and abets birthers and nativists?
It is sad that so many of our elders, after leading commendable and sometimes heroic lives, are so easily led astray in retirement by Fox propaganda, talk radio and the Koch-inspired Tea Party.
Hopefully Jack will come to his senses.
34
The Fox propaganda came into being because of liberal bias, so look in the mirror for who to blame.
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/04/25/media-bubble-real-jou...
The national media really does work in a bubble, something that wasn’t true as recently as 2008. And the bubble is growing more extreme. Concentrated heavily along the coasts, the bubble is both geographic and political.
So when your conservative friends use “media” as a synonym for “coastal” and “liberal,” they’re not far off the mark.
Sometimes, correcting for liberal bias can be smart business as well. For instance, by rightly guessing that there was a big national broadcast audience that didn’t see their worldviews represented in the mainstream networks, the Fox News Channel came to dominate cable TV ratings.
Shannon is right about a lot of things but Trump is not his messenger. Trump may mouth some of the same ideas as Shannon but he just isn't the guy to get things done. He is disorganized and knows little, cannot focus on policy, and cannot get good people to work for him. Shannon should reconsider.
16
Trump told Kennedy what he wanted to hear; His continued support of Trump, in the face of Trump's moral and intellectual failings shows an inability to honestly re-evaluate; or to put it another way, doubling down on a bad bet.
24
Probably owned a bunch of Enron stock.
He actually is a "deplorable". He could care less that Trump is "full speed ahead" in ruining the reputation of this country, and glorifying bullying. Using the Presidency to line his own pockets and those of his family. One could go on and on. There is nothing honorable or admirable about this President.
24
And people who still supports him
1
Roger, thank you for presenting a non-liberal, non-far-leftist, other half of this country view that this newspaper does not do enough of. I would like to see more articles like this even if makes the liberals and far-leftists cringe and melt.
And thank you, Mr. Kennedy, for your service to our country. My husband served in Iraq and Afghanistan and I am grateful that he made it home.
5
Please! Do we really need to hear more justifiable bull from Trump supporters under the guise of “fair and balanced reporting?”
This Vietnam Vet has heard enough. The free press can serve the nation better by continuing to keep the corruption that is the Trump Administration on Page One, above the fold.
I could care less what the Shannon Kennedy’s of this world think about Donald Trump! That Kennedy can still support Trump a year into his administration tells me all I need to know.
3
Sorry to break it to you, Olivia, but it's not just "liberals" and "far-leftists" who scorn our supremely deplorable President. Anyone with a real appreciation of the values of honor and service knows that he has nothing to offer this country.
2
This is a very puzzling piece. What exactly is Kennedy's grievance? What did he think Trump can offer him? Presumably, this, "I listened to him, on immigration, on draining the swamp, on lobbyists, and I liked that. As I recall, it was ‘We the people’ not ‘We the empowered.’ ”
If this was what Kennedy wanted, how could he, a year in, cannot see that Trump is nothing like that? He is in fact worse?
Even if he does not like immigrants and he likes that Trump does not like immigrants, why can't he see what OTHER things Trump has been doing?
Aren't the "empowered" the mostly billionaire cabinets Trump has selected? How can a giant tax cut to the "empowered" corporations be "beneficial" to people like him? If he finds Obamacare problematic, how he can he not find the Republican/Trump intended replacement abhorrent?
The Democrats do need to listen to people like Kennedy. But I am pessimistic what they can say that will make a difference because people like Kennedy are obviously oblivious to facts.
Despite all his life experiences, Kennedy are duped to blame immigrants for America's depletion of manufacturing jobs. "Don't take him at face value." What Trump has done a year in is no long "face value." Why can't he see that? May be Americans like Kennedy are closet racists because they know racism is wrong.
They have legitimate grievance but the wrong diagnostic of the causes and solutions. Worse they look for solutions from the people who are making their problems worse.
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There is nothing honorable about Trump. He debases all of us with his never ending lies. People who support Trump endanger all of us.
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Jack Kennedy doesn't know what he is talking about. You can be an honorable person and still be incredibly ignorant. Moreover, it's hard to know how the Democrats are supposed to listen to someone who opposes immigration. Given that immigration is absolutely essential to the US and one of the few things it has going for it, this is a pretty big ask. Mr. Kennedy and the people like him refuse to see that most of the problems in the US are made in the US. Their simplistic view of the world, heavily dipped in nostalgia, is fueled by an ignorance that cripples them. Mr. Kennedy wants a return to a time when the US dominated the world because every other state was badly smashed by war. That was always unsustainable. The loss of jobs in the US is a product of globalization, but globalization has worked to the benefit of the US. The problem in the US is the failure of the state to properly insulate its people from the effects of disruptive economic change and properly distribute the wealth created by globalization. These are failures of the American state but also the American people, who are so wound up in nationalist myths that they are easily duped and misled. It's only when people like Mr. Kennedy stop blaming the rest of the world for the US' problems and start demanding better government that they will make any progress. Mr. Kennedy wants better govt, but he wants if from Trump. That is delusional.
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Listen to Kennedy, of course. And with equal respect point out the facts that show the President shows a consistent disregard for people of color (racism? hmmm), fights only for his own well being, has been credibly accused of sexually predatory behavior towards women, and has supported policies that enrich the wealthy including himself at the expense of the rest. Mr. Kennedy is an honorable American, and one who reacts positively to the President's tenor. He is viewing the president through a narrow prism and is blind to the consequences of Trump's uninformed verve. And Democrats DO need to have the confidence and respect to engage persistently and patiently to show the better way. Doug Jones showed an approach which payed off in Alabama.
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Not coastal America? Clinton was from Arkansas. I'm pretty sure the hatred for Clinton is more about decades of talk radio smear than geography. I'm also pretty sure anyone can be smeared when truth is dead.
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Ms. Clinton wasn't from Arkansas; she was from a North Side suburb of Chicago that might as well have been in Connecticut. ;-)
I’m sorry, Roger. I’m tired of reading about these misunderstood and supposedly ignored Trump voters. And I’m even more tired of hearing how we liberals must take the time to understand them. First, these voters have no interest in a two-way conversation, as five minutes trying will prove - mostly, the conversation devolves into ridiculous right-wing talking points. Second, I find most of these voters clearly show racist leanings. Even his words reveal that. I’d like to see an article that asks a Trump voter to listen to a “never Trump” point of view. The Trump voter might learn “elites” are thoughtful, hard-working people who simply have a different point of view.
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"I listened to him, on immigration, on draining the swamp, on lobbyists, and I liked that." "
I would like to know where Mr.Kennedy here get their news from. His voting choice was simple - he didn't like Clintons and he voted for anyone that is not a Clinton. The rest is rationalization.
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Wow, a real swing and a miss by Cohen with this piece. I agree the Dems need to do a better job selecting candidates. Biden could've been a great candidate in 2016, and I agree the 2020 candidate should be someone younger than Biden or Bernie. Hillary was a terrible candidate in 2016, but might have been a decent president.
But what purpose is served by this piece with the standard claptrap "He's smart", "He's a patriot", when the guy's quotes show he's just a standard Trump cult member? He voted twice for Obama; great, I did too. But in 2016 I had the sense to vote or Hillary, whom I despise, as the MUCH lesser of two evils. But the "smart" "patriot" featured in this piece voted for and still supports the greatest danger to American democracy since the Civil War, and maybe forever. That's not smart nor patriotic.
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We have been told that undereducated white male’s are Trump’s bread and butter. And so wehave been led to believe that his followers are trashy. What we haven’t been told is that lots of them are veterans with legitimate concerns. The pollsters have misled us. Those who we have dismissed are a force to be reckoned with. Millions of Trump followers apparently know the world in a way that most liberals are oblivious to. For me, this realization changes my perception and makes wonder why pollsters haven’t told the whole truth.
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I listened to him, on immigration, on draining the swamp, on lobbyists, and I liked that. As I recall, it was ‘We the people’ not ‘We the empowered.’ ”
Is this guy serious. Has he payed any attention to who Trump has brought into his domestic cabinet? It is the billionaires club. A large number on the economic side come from Goldman Sachs. When you start your argument by claiming Trump is a man of the people anything you say subsequently seems to be cancelled out by the absolute absurdity of that comment.
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Stop feeding the zombie horde, Mr. Cohen. They are never coming back to reality. No matter how much you might like other aspects of them they are damaging us all.
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This Kennedy is as dangerous to American ideals as the anti-abortion/anti-mom-and-child-care religionists. He's so dazzled by Trump's/the GOP's anti-immigrant stance that he hasn't noticed that Trump and the GOP picked his pocket.
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Often, as people age their critical facilities wane.
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If Kennedy thinks the only elites are democratic elites he's off his rocker. He's just bought into one particular brand of elitism. The whole cabal of politicians, lobbyists, pundits and news columnists (Cohen is a sometimes exception as is David Brooks) are elitists bent on fomenting support for a particular ideology and stitching together outright fabrications into half-truths about the "opposition."
Immigrants are not the problem Mr. Kennedy. Technology is the "problem" and the only way to address it is to accommodate it is by re-educating the American workforce.
And don't take Trump at face value? Please! What conclusions are to be drawn then, from repeated and repeated again remarks of bigotry, sexism, racism? The facts are brutally obvious: Trump is a very rich white man who not only cares nothing for "commoners" but actually despises those who are not male and white and rich. Your shadow was fed-exed a long time ago my friend.
And incidentally Mr. Cohen, I'm every bit the patriotic equal of Mr. Kennedy. It's simply this: Trump, his administration, and a whole bunch in Congress are the antithesis of the ideals upon which this country and my patriotism are founded.
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Take him at face value?
So, it's OK that almost every time Trump opens his maw, he lies?
If this is the type of leadership Kennedy and others want at the top of our country, then the U.S. has truly be come a society of imbeciles.
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Look to purple-state America, not blue-state coastal America, for a candidate who is grappling with the country’s toughest issues and is strong on can-do, down-to-earth values.
Another Jimmy Carter perhaps? Then again, Mr Carter called Israel out on its apartheid tendencies. Okay, then another Clinton - preferably one without a wife who has a mind of her own. Yeah, that's the ticket! So long as Messers Cohen and Kennedy approve.
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Pictures tell a thousand words......Old,white, overweight, self indulgent,male,old,rust belt city....unable to find fun in living. Move on man!
T.
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TJ Tinghitella: Rather than disagreeing with Kennedy's ideas, your comment engages in ageism, sizeism, and classism. Your response sounds a lot more like Trump himself than those who believe we should engage in disagreement over ideas rather than personal attacks.
Mr. Kennedy's support of President Trump seems misplaced to me because it fails to acknowledge the real damage that the President does with his mean-spirited rhetorical blunder.
Judge much?
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No matter what DJT & his fanatical suporters say, pictures & my ears do not lie. In every diner I go to, FOX News is on TV & the high-def wide screen is surrounded by old, fat, white, angry, loud talking racist male & females. I can't explain what has happened to many of my generation (I'm 68), except that they are constitutionally unable to grow, change & meet the challenges of the 21st Century. I was a child of the 50's but I live in & embrace 2018. "Father Knows Best" was a fantasy world on my black & white 1950's TV. Today's televison is a world of many colors, unless you only watch Sean Hannity or listen to Rush Limbaugh.
If you opened him up, I think at his côre you would find that Mr Kennedy is an outright bigot. He can dress it in any rationale that he wants. But that’s who he is.
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A white guy telling us to look beyond the racism because it is all noise?
Wouldn't it be more seemly to let a victim of racism weigh in on that?
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Sorry, no, he is deplorable, period. There is no non-deplorable way to support Trump. If you support him, you are supporting sexual predation, fraud, larceny, lying as an Olympic event, incompetence, the Republican smash-and-grab tax bill and a budget that is a slow-motion extermination oven for the poor, powerless, disabled and minorities. Donald Trump is evil, and he is a fascist. To support him is to endorse both. Idiots have an excuse. Your subject is actually the most dangerous of the deplorables, an otherwise admirable, seemingly intelligent guy. He is to politics what Rob Porter is to romance.
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He may be an honorable man by some standards. But in my mind an essential component of honor is an unflinching ability to look at reality and accept the truth no matter how unpalatable. By that standard Kennedy is far from honorable. He lives in a world of make believe not reality.
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You may see Shannon Kennedy as an honorable man. I view him as another rationalizing ignoramous seeing only what he wants to and no further than the end of his nose. Like trump, he is part of the problem and not even slightly the solution.
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What a way to flush ones honor down the drain.
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"“Trust the Clintons? Not with the Lord’s breakfast,” he says."
But trust Trump? TRUMP?
Sorry, I don't care what your grievances are. If you didn't like HRC, there was Bernie, a decent human being. You went with a lying, racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, terminally narcissistic con artist. Why?
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Mr. Kennedy says that we should respect the office of the Presidency. The problem is that the man occupying that office has zero respect for the office and for the Constitution that he swore to defend. On a daily basis Trump attacks, disdains and tramples on the Constitution and the democratic values that veterans like Mr. Kennedy and my spouse served to protect. I urge people like Mr. Kennedy to look at the facts and mountains of evidence which show Trump to be a dangerous fraud who would sell us all out in a minute to further enrich or save himself.
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How nice and unexpected! A NYT story about a Trump supporter! It is so so rare. At least, in the past 24 hours. Otherwise, there should be a new desk at the NYT dedicated to Trump supporters, the nice neo-Nazi next door, and other wonderful (white) American voices. Cause we can never get enough!
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It's long past the time when all the issues raised by disruptive change in the overall U.S. economy be faced squarely. We are still an important industrial economy, but never again will U.S. industries have the preponderance they once enjoyed. It might be instructive to examine exactly how NYC managed to reinvent its economy when port activity and light manufacturing disappeared. It's likely the case that one-industry towns will have a challenging time reinventing themselves, but it ought to be possible to develop programs to stem the devastation. We haven't really tried.
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