An important message to Democrats and Republicans

I’m disgusted by Trump. I’m disgusted with his violent and hateful rhetoric and authoritarian arrogance. But I think North Carolina lawyer Michael Cooper, Jr. has a message for all of us who feel this way. He invites us to “look behind the fault and see the need” of his neighbors – white, rural, working-class Americans, many of whom are Trump supporters:
Quotable:

As productivity climbed, working-class Americans wanted their wages to rise also. Instead, Republicans gave them tax cuts for the rich while liberal Democrats called them racists and bigots….
According to the Republican Party, the biggest threat to rural America was Islamic terrorism. According to the Democratic Party it was gun violence. In reality it was prescription drug abuse and neither party noticed until it was too late.

Cooper offers this advice:

To win again in the Deep South and Appalachia, the Democratic Party must recall the days of Roosevelt’s New Deal and Kennedy’s New Frontier by putting people to work rebuilding America, and making college free after two years of national service.
Trump’s appeal as a strongman reveals the desire in Middle America for public action. His supporters want healthcare, like Social Security and are frustrated by the gridlock on Capitol Hill, so they must return to the days of Eisenhower, standing for conservative principles but also compromising when possible.

You can read the whole article here.