The word “deplorables” dropped into the political lexicon like a precipitate in a chemical experiment. It triggered a reaction in which a constituent part of the electorate was separated from the general public and fell to the bottom of the glass through which we observe our national politics.
This was Hillary Clinton’s doing in late 2016. Speaking to supporters at a fundraising dinner, she said, “You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables.” Then, she itemized them as racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic — you name it.
The clumsy comment was steeped in problems. It was a gross exaggeration to suggest that half of Trump supporters, who went on to carry 30 states in the presidential election, were in one or more of Clinton’s cited categories. Such people there doubtless were, but the great majority of those who voted for the Republican candidate and against Clinton were firmly in the other category she conceded existed, containing people “desperate for change” who “feel that the government has let them down.”
The Democratic candidate’s fathomless distortion, although couched in a contrast between one type and another, was thus a slur, defaming millions of ordinary Americans who for a variety of good reasons felt her party ignored them and who wanted to be heard.
The insult was a morsel of red meat thrown to an audience that relished the flavor. It was an expression of contempt, and as I’ve noted, people treated with contempt tend to reciprocate. That is at the heart of Christine Rosen’s excellent
cover story
in this week’s Washington Examiner magazine.
Writing of the pandemonium of being a parent during the COVID-19 pandemic, Rosen comments, “The overwhelming message that our leaders have sent parents was one of contempt — for their concerns, for their demands, for the work they do every day as parents.” And she adds, “The contempt has been echoed in messaging from the very top,” that is, from President Joe Biden.
The insurmountable problem for Biden and his party is that parents are the most ordinary category imaginable. There are kooks and cranks among them, as there are among every demographic caste you mention. But most people in America are parents or expect to become parents, and of course everyone has parents. So, parents are not a discrete demographic distinct from the public — they are the public.
The contempt thus reveals nothing about parents as a group but everything about the people being contemptuous. It reveals overweening arrogance in government, at the federal, state, and local levels. It expresses the view that the cares of those not in government must defer to the authority of elected officials. It implies that elected and appointed officials are not “public servants,” as they were once understood to be, but are masters who know better and should be obeyed.
This reversal and the realization that it has taken place provide the motive force for a big rebuke that voters are now preparing for Democrats as we hurtle toward November’s congressional elections.
