PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, NOVEMBER 25, 2016
KeizerOpinion
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Fasten your seat belts
There are millions of
Americans who voted for
Donald J. Trump as their
next president. So many
decided that a change
in direction on national
policies was important
that many blue states
fl ipped over to become
red states.
This after a campaign in which
the winning candidate did not lay
out a specifi c agenda—just a lot of
applause lines like building a wall
along our border with Mexico, ban-
ning immigration into the country
by those of the Muslim faith amid
many others.
Now as president-elect, Trump
is slowly forming his government.
Those who voted for change are
going to get more change than
they probably hoped for. Trump
has named Steve Bannon, former
chief executive of Breitbart News—
known for its alt-right, nationalist,
anti-Semite views—as his chief po-
litical strategist. Bannon’s appoint-
ment has many on both the left
and the right very concerned about
how much infl uence he will have
over Donald Trump’s thinking.
Until Trump is actually in the
Oval Offi ce will we not know
what kind of president he will be.
The awesome power of the offi ce
has a way of moderating the presi-
dent. Already Trump is backing
away from some of his proposals
that got him where he is today: he
won’t pursue a prosecution of Hill-
ary Clinton for her use of a private
email server while Secretary of State
or for any alleged improprieties at
the Clinton Foundation.
Parts of ‘the beautiful wall’ have
receded into ‘some places a fence.’
Trump’s call for a repeal of the Af-
fordability Care Act are now tem-
pered with support of some of
Obamacare’s most popular elements
including children staying on their
parent’s insurance until age 26 and
the inability of companies to deny
insurance to those with a pre-exist-
ing condition.
For every step forward
there are two steps back.
The spoils do go to the
victor, but we’ve never
had a victor like Donald
Trump. His myriad of
business interests include
developments in many
countries around the globe—coun-
tries the Trump Administration will
deal with on political, military and
economic issues. Citizens should be
concerned by the president-elect’s
pronouncement about confl icts of
interest. He said no one should be
worried because voters knew about
his business interests during the
campaign and when they voted for
him.
Aside from confl icts of interest
here in the United State and around
the world, one should be concerned
about his disdain for the press. The
press and media have been attacked
for its supposed bias with their
campaign coverage; Trump calls the
press—especially television and ca-
ble news—dishonest liars.
Trump has no taste for the press.
Traditionally, there has been a press
pool representative that follows the
president wherever he goes. Trump
doesn’t want that and will prob-
ably be the least covered president
in modern times. At a meeting with
executives and news anchors this
week, rather than learning how best
to cover the Trump White House,
the attendees were met with a dress-
ing down. It was defi nitely not a
friendly gathering.
For those who voted for change
in Washington, those supported
Trump’s call to “drain the swamp”
in the nation’s capital, they will get
it. Bigly.
Change is always hard for people
to cope with. Some people will get
a change they never wanted; oth-
ers will get a change that goes too
far. Whatever the Trump Era brings,
buckle your seat belts, it’s going to
be a bumpy fl ight.
—LAZ
editorial
Christmas in Keizer
Many homes are still enjoying
Thanksgiving dinner leftovers and
cleaning up after a house full of
guests and now their attention turns
to the Christmas season.
Keizer does love Christmas and
there are plenty of activities and
events to help enjoy their favorite
time of year.
It all starts with the annual lighting
of Keizer’s Christmas tree at Walery
Plaza at the intersection of River
Road and Cherry Ave. on Tuesday,
Dec. 6. Two lucky kids will be chosen
to help Santa Claus fl ip the switch.
Later that week the fi rst Keizer
Holiday Lights Parade will travel
down River Road. Staged by the
Keizer Chamber of Commerce, the
parade takes over after the Festival of
Lights Parade ended its 25-year run
last year.
It’s a big job to put on that parade
and we’re fortunate to have oraniza-
tions and volunteers who will keep a
light parade in town.
Speaking of lights, on Dec. 2 the
Miracle of Christmas display starts in
the Gubser neighborhood and runs
through Dec. 26.
There will be lots of chances for
Keizer kids to see and talk to Santa
Claus. He’ll be making appearances
at the Volcano Stadium (via helicop-
ter) on Dec. 3, he’ll be at breakfast at
the Keizer Fire hall on Dec. 11, he’ll
be giving candy canes with help from
Marion County Fire District #1 in
the Clear Lake/Forest Ridge area
on Friday night, Dec. 16. Then, the
Keizer Fire District will help Santa
give out candy canes on Saturday,
Dec. 17.
Tis the season, and Keizer offers
lots of ways to enjoy it.
—LAZ
Wheatland Publishing Corp. • 142 Chemawa Road N. • Keizer, Oregon 97303
phone: 503.390.1051 • web: www.keizertimes.com • email: kt@keizertimes.com
SUBSCRIPTIONS
MANAGING EDITOR
Eric A. Howald
editor@keizertimes.com
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Derek Wiley
news@keizertimes.com
One year:
$25 in Marion County,
$33 outside Marion County,
$45 outside Oregon
PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY
ADVERTISING
Publication No: USPS 679-430
Paula Moseley
advertising@keizertimes.com POSTMASTER
Send address changes to:
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Andrew Jackson
Keizertimes
Circulation
graphics@keizertimes.com
142 Chemawa Road N.
LEGAL NOTICES
Keizer, OR 97303
legals@keizertimes.com
Lyndon Zaitz
publisher@keizertimes.com
BUSINESS MANAGER
Laurie Painter
billing@keizertimes.com
Periodical postage paid at
Salem, Oregon
RECEPTION
Lori Beyeler
facebook.com/keizertimes
By MICHAEL GERSON
While the challenges of the GOP
—its long-term demographic diffi -
culties, its erratic leadership, the bitter
struggle for its ideological soul—are
obscured by victory, the problems of
the Democratic Party are on full dis-
play. Republicans suffer from heart dis-
ease; Democrats have an ugly, gushing
head wound.
The losing party would be foolish
to minimize the scale of its political
failure. Hillary Clinton proved inca-
pable of defeating a reality television
host whom more than 60 percent of
Americans viewed as unfi t to be presi-
dent. It is perhaps the most humiliat-
ing moment in the long history of Mr.
Jefferson’s party. But the effect is more
than reputational. The Democratic
candidate and her team could not pro-
tect America from a serious risk to its
ideals and institutions by an untested
and unstable novice who fl irted with
authoritarianism and made enough
gaffes on an average Tuesday to sink a
normal presidential campaign.
Donald Trump was riding a modest
electoral wave in certain parts of the
country, but it was not large enough
to overwhelm a reasonably capable
Democratic candidate with a decent
political strategy. Trump’s vote did not
burst the levees; it barely lapped over
the top of them in the industrial Mid-
west. The “blue wall” was too low by
just a foot or two.
But why was the election even close
enough for bad strategy in Wisconsin,
Michigan and Pennsylvania, or utter
incompetence by the FBI director, to
matter? Trump obviously benefi ted
from extreme polarization. The prop-
osition “any-
one but Hill-
ary” was tested,
with Repub-
licans
(and
others)
ulti-
mately rallying
to “anyone.”
The Obama
coalition—in-
cluding young, minority and college-
educated voters —did not turn out in
suffi cient numbers. And an appeal to
racial and ethnic resentment remains
disturbingly potent in our politics—
the continuing evidence of America’s
original sin.
But here is the largest, long-term
Democratic challenge: It has become
a provincial party. It is highly concen-
trated in urban areas and clings to the
coasts. But our constitutional system
puts emphasis on holding geography,
particularly in the House of Repre-
sentatives and the Electoral College.
It is diffi cult for Democrats to prevail
from isolated islands of deep blue. In
2012, President Obama won the presi-
dency with fewer than 700 counties
out of more than 3,000 in America
—a historical low. Clinton carried a
little under 500—about 15 percent of
the total.
This is another way of saying that
the Democratic candidate for presi-
dent can’t prevail, at least at the mo-
ment, when she receives less than 30
percent of the vote from the white,
non-college educated Americans who
live in the spaces between the cities.
Most of these voters were not examin-
ing public policy and calculating their
interests, except in the vague sense that
other
views
they don’t like sending American jobs
abroad and don’t want anyone messing
with their Social Security. They were
convinced that Trump has their back.
Democrats have become symbolically
estranged from white, working-class
America.
What are the Democratic options
moving forward? First, there is the
Bernie Sanders option—the embrace
of a leftist populism that amounts to
democratic socialism. Second, there is
the Joe Biden option, a liberalism that
makes a sustained outreach to union
members and other blue-collar work-
ers while showing a Catholic religious
sensibility on issues of social justice.
Third, there is the option of doubling
down on the proven Barack Obama
option, which requires a candidate
who can excite rather than sedate the
Obama-era base.
Democrats should not overlearn
the lessons of a close election. Option
No. 3 is the Democratic future on the
presidential level. Clinton was correct
to appeal to a slightly modifi ed version
of the Obama coalition; she simply
could not pull it off. Democrats will
also need a dash of No. 2, including a
more accommodating attitude toward
religion and associational rights.
There is a serious prospect, howev-
er, that Democrats will choose No. 1.
America would cease to have a center-
left party and a center-right party. Both
radicalized institutions would exagger-
ate our national differences, becoming
the political equivalent of the hard-left
and hard-right media. And the cause
of national unity would be damaged
even further.
(Washington Post Writers Group)
Campaign promises already trashed
Keizertimes
EDITOR & PUBLISHER
Democrats at a crossroads
twitter.com/keizertimes
Recognized economists, writing on
the subject of the anticipated Trump
presidency, predict a “short” four-year
term that will be damaging to jobless
and low-wage American workers. It
is now predicted that the nation’s big
corporations and Wall Street will retain
the upper hand over struggling work-
ers who helped to elect him in what’s
recognized as a populist wave.
For the purpose of clarity, let’s
spend a moment looking at the defi ni-
tion of populism. It is a political ide-
ology that holds that virtuous citizens
are mistreated by a circle of elites who
can be overthrown if the people rec-
ognize the danger and work together.
Populism depicts elites as trampling
the rights, values and voice of the “le-
gitimate” people.
No sober person of economic un-
derstanding sees it likely or even plau-
sible that Trump’s plan to repatriate
huge corporate profi ts to the U.S. for
infrastructure spending will succeed.
In fact, what we know of the sketchy
and abbreviated ideas from Trump
during the many months he ran for
the highest offi ce, we can expect a
continuation of the status quo, re-
maining pretty much the same or with
little noticeable change. Economists of
considerable reputation on prospects
for changes to unemployment and
joblessness numbers are amazed at the
willingness of the American voters for
what they have done to themselves.
Global populism may be the wave
of the future but it has taken a turn
in America that will only end in
more disappointments and disillusions
among those who voted for Trump in
hope of seeing factories and jobs re-
turn to the midwest industrial states
and most everywhere else in the U.S.
Those with in-
sight also be-
lieve that even
American in-
vestors inside
the
country
will
proceed
with extreme
caution, under-
standing that higher defi cits, resulting
from the lower taxes Trump has prom-
ised, will raise interest rates and infl a-
tion and result in lower earnings and
fewer job opportunities.
Trump made rash promises by the
dozens. He’s already said he’ll settle
for a fence in some places with the
border with Mexico, instead of a
wall. He’ll only deport criminal im-
migrants. He’ll gut the Affordable Care
Act (Obamacare), he said, but now says
some provisions will stay. He prom-
ised to “drain the swamp” in Washing-
ton, D.C. but proceeded immediately
after his election to choose entrenched
gene h.
mcintyre
lobbyists, one of America’s most no-
torious bigots and a racist, and mainly
members of his own family, especially
his young son-in-law, Jared Kushner,
whose father and mentor was con-
victed of crimes and spent years in
prison. Then, too, full court nepotism
and confl ict-of-interest will prevail as
Kushner runs the White House while
his wife, Ivanka, Donald’s daughter,
runs the Trump business empire.
Based on what’s known about
Donald J. Trump to date, prospects on
him further dividing our country ap-
pear highly certain. He could sur-
prise us by positive moves that settle
the dust storm currently airborne. But
he remains to date a self-centered in-
dividual whose ego must be stroked
constantly, his coffers must fi ll over
with no end to the greed, while family
and friends being loyal to him is more
important than the welfare and very
survival of our nation.
(Gene H. McIntyre’s column ap-
pears weekly in the Keizertimes.)