Although of extreme importance, the investigation of Trump’s links to Russia must not distract Democrats from something even more important – namely, demonstrating how Trump is completely betraying his core supporters.
I do realize that there will likely remain a “core” (of perhaps 40% of the population) that will always remain supportive of Trump, even if he “shoots someone on 5th Avenue in broad daylight”, and I also realize that of paramount importance is the need to more fully engage and turn-out our core Democratic constituencies – minority, young, and progressive voters, who were not fully engaged in 2016 … and very important too to maintain the backing of many “newer” supporters -- highly-educated and independent-leaning voters (many former Republicans) that actually moved in our direction in the last election …
But, “around the edges” of the Trump support (only perhaps 5% or so of voters in the last election) are these, what I would call “tentative” Trump supporters, and already Trump is beginning to lose them … this article, from the Washington Post, gives a good perspective of what I’m talking about … and hints at how, if we manage to get their support back, or at least deny Trump their continued support, Trump will not be able to win re-election (if he’s still in power in 2020) and how Democrats can make good progress in 2018 as well if we engage these voters …
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2017/05/13/the-painful-truth-about-teeth/?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.fbbfc8a03719
From the article:
“ … people with oral pain and infections are inundating hospitals. Last year, more than 2 million U.S. emergency room visits were attributed to neglected teeth …
Although those hospital visits cost an estimated $1.6 billion a year, the ER is generally not equipped to fix dental problems …. so ER doctors just medicate people with a perpetual cycle of antibiotics and opioids. That cycle is feeding a nationwide epidemic of opioid addiction …
… More than 50 million Americans live in areas officially designated by the federal government as Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas. A great many of them are working poor …
… Then there’s the matter of payment. Teeth generally are treated separately from the rest of the body, a tradition that dates to dentistry’s origins as a specialty of barbers, who performed oral surgery and pulled teeth. Today, many public health officials view that division as a mistake. Poor oral health can lead to heart disease and other serious medical problems, and tooth loss can lead to depression and difficulty eating and speaking.
The separation extends to insurance. Even Medicare, the federal health program that covers 55 million seniors and disabled people, does not cover dental problems. For that, people must buy dental insurance, which typically limits annual benefits to about $1,500 per person — an amount that has barely budged in decades, even as costs have risen … “
The article profiles individual people, and this is where we learn what many of these “tentative” Trump supporters are thinking.
“… Matello was No. 503. The small-business owner who supports President Trump had a cracked molar, no dental insurance and a nagging soreness that had forced her to chew on the right side of her mouth for years.
It’s always bothering me, she said. And although her toothache wasn’t why she voted for Trump, it was a constant reminder of one reason she did: the feeling that she had been abandoned, left struggling to meet basic needs in a country full of fantastically rich people …
… A big part of that promise was Trump’s assurance that he would build a “beautiful” health-care system to serve every American, a system that would cost less and do more. But nearly four months into Trump's presidency, Matello sees Trump backing a Republican health care plan that appears to leave low-income people and the elderly worse off.
I am hearing about a number of people who will lose their coverage under the new plan, Matello said. “Is Trump the wolf in grandma's clothes? My husband and I are now saying to each other: ‘Did we really vote for him?’ ”
The article is interesting to me, because it hints at how Democrats can make good progress (and good progressive legislation if we win) if we engage some of these voters at a very basic level – something as simple, perhaps, as a proposal to make dental care a basic part of “regular” health care and expand care into shortage areas. There are a lot of things to think about, as we ponder 2018 and 2020.