OPINION
4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017
Founded in 1873
DAVID F. PERO, Publisher & Editor
JEREMY FELDMAN, Circulation Manager
DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
CARL EARL, Systems Manager
OUR VIEW
E
ach week we recognize those people and organizations
in the community deserving of public praise for the good
things they do to make the North Coast a better place to
live, and also those who should be called out for their actions.
SHOUTOUTS
Democrats, start
aiming for the gut
By THOMAS FRIEDMAN
New York Times News Service
I
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
The Clatsop County Fair in Astoria drew thousands of people to
the fairgrounds last week.
• Clatsop County Fair Manager Kathi Mattinen and those
who organized, volunteered and attended last week’s annual
event. The fair, which has been operating for more than 100
years, had something for everyone to enjoy, except maybe the
heat. Unseasonably hot weather settled over the region and much
of the Northwest on the fair’s opening day and kept this year’s
attendance from surpassing last year’s numbers. But the thou-
sands of fairgoers who attended enjoyed fun-filled events featur-
ing live music from artists including country star Montgomery
Gentry; 4-H competitions; comedy and magic shows; local per-
formances; and a wide variety of thrill rides and midway games.
• Organizers of the recent National Night Out events in
Seaside and Cannon Beach, which continue to help strengthen
the relationships between local law enforcement, first respond-
ers, and the communities they serve. The national event, which
celebrated its 34th year, came to Seaside 12 years ago and
Cannon Beach initiated its event four years ago. In Cannon
Beach, more than 150 people participated in this year’s event,
the most it has ever drawn, and Seaside’s was well attended,
too. Both events featured a barbecue, games and prizes. Seaside
Police Chief Dave Ham said it was a great way for residents
to get to know their police department, while Cannon Beach
Police Chief Jason Schermerhorn offered that it was a positive
way for residents to be able to interact with officers in a comfort-
able setting.
• Clatsop County Emergency Coordinator Tom Manning,
who recently retired after 40 years in the emergency manage-
ment field. Manning began part-time work here in 2008 in a
career that has included positions with the Federal Emergency
Management Agency and, closer to home, with Tillamook
County. Clatsop County Manager Cameron Moore said
Manning “was instrumental in building our program into what
it is today, we are grateful for the time he spent here, and we
wish him the best in retirement.” Moore said the county has
hired Vincent Aarts, who was the deputy director of Columbia
County Emergency Management, to fill the opening created by
Manning’s retirement.
• Cannon Beach firefighters, who donated a $2,000 auto-
mated external defibrillator to the Cannon Beach Academy ear-
lier this week. Fire Lt. Brian Smith, who heads the Cannon
Beach Fire and Rescue Association, made the presentation to the
school’s director, Amy Moore, and said the proceeds from the
association’s annual dinner and other events raised the money to
purchase the defibrillator, which is used in first aid and cardio-
pulmonary resuscitation.
CALLOUTS
• The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is
continuing to wrangle with the Port of Astoria over the amount
of damage that the Port’s waterfront sustained when winter
storms battered the region in December 2015. At stake is up to
75 percent of reimbursement from FEMA for repairs to proven
storm damage, and the gap between the agency’s estimate and
the Port’s stands at $13.7 million. The Port contracted with an
outside engineering firm which placed the damage at $14.2 mil-
lion last year, while FEMA estimated it at a fraction of that
amount at $860,000. Port Executive Director Jim Knight said
the Port and the engineering firm will continue to press the issue
with FEMA.
Suggestions?
Do you have a Shoutout or Callout you think we should know about?
Let us know at news@dailyastorian.com and we’ll make sure to take a
look.
was talking the other day to a
wise executive friend and he
recalled for me something his
favorite boss liked
to say: When peo-
ple rise to the top
of an organization
and get power, they
usually do one of
two things: “They
either swell or they
grow.”
Donald Trump has swollen.
Every character flaw he had
before taking office — from his
serial lying to his intellectual lazi-
ness to his loyalty just to himself
and his needs — has grown only
larger and more toxic as he has
been president. He seems not to
have grown a whit in the job. He
has surprised only on the downside
— never once challenging his own
base with new thinking or appearing
to be remotely interested in being
president of all the people, not just
his base.
What strikes me most about
Trump, though, is how easily he still
could become more popular — fast
— if he just behaved like a normal
leader for a month: if he reached out
to Democrats on health care, taxes
or infrastructure; stopped insulting
every newsperson who writes
critically about him; stopped lying;
stopped tweeting inanities; and
actually apologized for some of his
most egregious actions and asked
for forgiveness. Americans are a
forgiving people.
With the Dow at 22,000 and
unemployment at 4.3 percent, oh my
God, this guy could actually become
more popular outside his base with-
out much effort. That’s scary. But, as
I said, it would require Trump doing
something he has shown no ability
or willingness to do — to grow in
office, not just swell.
Win the argument
Still, Democrats would be wise
not to count on Trump swelling
forever or on Robert Mueller taking
him down. Whatever happens,
Democrats need to win the argu-
ment with at least some Trump/
GOP voters. There are many ways
for Democrats to counter any new
and improved Trump. I’d start by
acknowledging a simple fact: Some
things are true even if Donald Trump
believes them! That is, Trump’s core
base of support — those people who
he says would stick by him even
if he shot someone “in the middle
of Fifth Avenue” — are people
AP Photo
A giant inflatable chicken bearing the unmistakable hairstyle of the
commander in chief on the Ellipse, just south of the White House.
who have heard and appreciated
all his nativist dog whistles: from
his slur that Barack Obama was
not born in America to his focus on
voter suppression to his restricting
transgender people in the military to
his reversing affirmative action and
imposing immigration restrictions.
That white nationalist constituency
is beyond the reach — for good rea-
son — of any Democratic candidate.
But Trump did not win, and
could not win again, with that group
alone. His genius was expanding
beyond that nativist core with just
enough votes in the right places to
get him over the top — by pushing
other buttons. These were things
that many conservative and centrist
voters believe in their guts, even if
they don’t articulate them.
Trump connects with these
gut issues and takes them in a
destructive direction. It’s vital for
Democrats to connect with them
and take them in a constructive
direction.
What issues? Here’s my list:
• We can’t take in every immi-
grant who wants to come here; we
need, metaphorically speaking, a
high wall that assures Americans
we can control our border with a
big gate that lets as many people in
legally as we can effectively absorb
as citizens.
• The Muslim world does have a
problem with pluralism — gender
pluralism, religious pluralism and
intellectual pluralism — and sug-
gesting that terrorism has nothing to
do with that fact is naïve; countering
violent extremism means construc-
tively engaging with Muslim leaders
on this issue.
• Americans want a president
focused on growing the economic
pie, not just redistributing it. We do
have a trade problem with China,
which has reformed and closed
instead of reformed and opened.
We have an even bigger problem
with automation wiping out mid-
dle-skilled work, and we need to
generate more blue-collar jobs to
anchor communities.
• Political correctness on college
campuses has run ridiculously
riot. Americans want leaders to be
comfortable expressing patriotism
and love of country when global-
ization is erasing national identities.
America is not perfect, but it is,
more often than not, a force for good
in the world.
Listen through stomachs
Voters don’t listen through
their ears. They listen through
their stomachs. And when you
connect with voters in their guts,
they feel respected, and when they
feel respected, they will listen to
anything — including big issues that
are true even if Democrats believe
them. Such as the fact that a major-
ity of Americans like Obamacare
and want to see it built to last, and
a majority of Americans do not like
the way Trump is despoiling the
environment and bringing back coal.
Indeed, the biggest wind power
states in America — Texas, Iowa,
Kansas, South Dakota, Oklahoma
and North Dakota — are all red
states. The Democrats literally have
the wind at their backs on health
care and clean energy.
But to be heard, they need candi-
dates who can pass a gut check with
the more moderate Trump/GOP vot-
ers. Just 10 percent of Trump voters
would suffice. Trump’s core base is
solid, but he’s clearly losing the soft
support around his core. Democrats
can grow into the soft support — as
long as they’re smart and Trump
continues to just swell.
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