In a now
infamous campaign speech in 2016, Secretary Hillary Clinton stated that half of
Trump’s supporters could be put into a basket of deplorables. She defined that “basket of deplorables” as people
who are “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic.” A smattering of laughter was heard at the
comment and late-night talk show hosts had a heyday with it. Indeed, many liberals laughed and cheered Clinton
on for her audacity. What she didn’t
know then but would find out on November 8th, 2016 was that that “basket of
deplorables” would win Trump the election – not the people themselves but the
sentiment and divisiveness of the comment.
Sure,
like many of my liberal counterparts, I too was guilty of laughing at Clinton’s
statement. I too felt like many of Trump’s
supporters represented the worst of the “isms” our country has dealt with. But after the laughing subsided, I realized
that Clinton’s statement was an example of what so many on the right call
liberal elitism. She was yet another ivy
league-educated liberal looking down her nose at the less fortunate, less
educated middle-American everyman. And
boy, hadn’t they heard this enough! From
their college-aged children coming home to tell them they are racist and
misogynistic, to comics and late-night hosts laughing at their lack of
sophistication and insight, to bosses and HR managers hyper vigilantly correcting
every minor misstep they make, these “basket of deplorables” had reached a
saturation point.
Clinton’s
statement didn’t serve as some glorious wake-up call to them, making them
realize the error of their ways. Rather,
it gave their anger, frustration, and sense of invalidation a target. Clinton became the bullseye and Trump the
master marksman. Any one of them that
had been on the fence prior to Clinton’s comment likely solidified their support
for Trump from that day on. Clinton had
managed to make an already divided country even more divided – and it cost her
the race.
Sure,
we would all love to be surrounded by countrymen who share our thoughts and
opinions on virtually all topics, but that’s not reality, especially not in this
complicated and layered republic of ours. What we need is not another Clinton (or Trump) who will capitalize
on and accentuate the divisions in our country, but a leader who will realize
that we are all, each and every one of us regardless of income, education and
sophistication, a part of this great nation and deserve to be heard and represented
with dignity, compassion, and respect. I hope to see that leader in 2020.
