In 2016, Democrats made the mistake of focusing on Trump's rude, crude and vulgar mouth (on display, I gather at last night's "debate" [sic], which apparently some sentient people actually watched!). Alas, Democrats may be doing it again. Many people don't care (and those who do aren't on the fence), which is rather important in an election! This NYT piece from about a week ago, focusing on Biden not Trump, is instructive. (Law professor Joan Williams addressed related issues a few years ago.) It addresses the "cultural sensibilities" of voters in those "working-class Democratic communities that put Donald Trump over the top in 2016. They include more than 200 counties that supported Barack Obama twice before voting for Mr. Trump." What these working class communities have in common–call it the "New Yorker sensibilty"–is that they respect those who stand up to insults and abuse, and punch back and punch hard ("don't take yourself so seriously" is foreign to those who have self-respect):
In the communities we visited, some of their most beloved Democratic politicians have a Trumpian sensibility: They are macho, quick to engage in political conflict and relentless counterpunchers. One is Ottumwa’s Jerry Parker, a former mayor and a current county supervisor. He supported Hillary Clinton during the 2016 primaries; during one local primary meeting, he threatened to take a conflict with a Bernie Sanders supporter “outside.”
Similarly, Mayor Joe Polisena of Johnston is popular even though he is a self-described political “street fighter.” Mr. Polisena doesn’t hesitate to verbally rough up citizens who openly criticize his rule — during Town Council meetings, for example, he calls them “malcontents” and “misfits.”
People in these communities admire the president because he seems familiar. As someone in Johnston told us, Mr. Trump seems “more human, more like us, the working person.” Mr. Trump’s incessant counterpunching, called a sign of a thin skin by many observers in professional circles, is often interpreted as common in many working-class communities.
The authors associate this with norms that anthropologists call "honor cultures" in which "a man" in particular "must not tolerate insults" in a context "where ignoring a challenge is always interpreted as cowardice rather than magnanimity," in which "to protect oneself, a person must respond in the prescribed way. A social reputation for toughness is everything. It must always be defended and maintained." The authors note that Biden, with a working-class background (unlike Trump, who feigns one in his "Archie Bunker" manner), is more like this:
Mr. Biden has often followed this code of honor when campaigning in their world. In New Hampton, Iowa, when a man accused Mr. Biden of being too old and abusing his political power, Mr. Biden shot back, “You’re a damned liar.” He also challenged him to a push-up contest.
Critics in the media reported on the exchange as another Biden gaffe. But that’s not how many people there in New Hampton read it: They gave Mr. Biden a spirited round of applause….
[I]n many places, the honor culture persists. In fact, it’s enjoying a revival. Mr. Trump was the first modern presidential candidate to respect this culture of honor — and in 2016 that created a collision between these Democrats’ partisan loyalties and their class-based ones….
In the first presidential debate and on the hustings, Mr. Biden must appeal to these cultural sensibilities without going low, as Mrs. Obama put it.
I gather Biden largely did, including telling the monster-child to "shut up, man." (When even the Drudge Report is panning Trump at the "debate" [sic], you know it must have been bad.)
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