Naomi Klein Quotes
Because the Republicans are never going to turn on Trump so long as he still has his base, and he will continue to have his base so long as this idea that he is standing up for workers, it remains intact. And the only way that that gets eroded is if it isn't just about Russia all the time, but is also about those economic betrayals.
Klein, Naomi. No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump's Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need. Haymarket Books, 2017.
In 1912 TR lost the Republican primary election because of archaic rules that gave party regulars overwhelming power relative to ordinary Republicans with whom he was be far the most popular. So Roosevelt ran for President on the Bull Moose Party and proved his point be outpolling the Republicans. However the right wing was split and Woodrow Wilson became President by a plurality.
He does not mean that all of a president’s actions betray the principles and promises to the president’s political base. But there are inevitably, some issues where every president does this. The most popular president in American history--Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1882-1945, 32nd President of the United States (Democrat, NY)—was constantly being criticized by his most ardent supporters for not doing enough or allowing unfair situations to remain uncorrected. Racial discrimination—even in the armed forces—was one. Internment of Japanese American Citizens was another. Essentially the President’s election is partisan, but his governing must serve those who did not vote for him as well as those who expect his partisan loyalty.
Theodore Roosevelt had pledged to serve only two terms and everyone was looking to see whom he supported to succeed him in 1908. He had absolutely decided it should be William Howard Taft, his Secretary of War, and old colleague. But he didn’t want to offend the party leaders by precluding their ability to appear to have a say in the choice of nominee. So he made no public statement. But most journalists in Washington realized what the reality was and the Kansas City Times simply published this little ditty.
Trump, in the 2016, Presidential Campaign viciously attacked not only his Republican opponents for the Republican Nomination, but almost every other Republican leader, the Republican National Committee members and the “Establishment Republicans.” He not only called them names, and ridiculed them and their families, but he lied extensively about each of his opponents and the Republican National Committee. Trump also alienated women, Hispanics, Muslims across the country. The Republican party was fractured and there were great resentments. Many blamed Tump for the Party cleavage. However, what is interesting about this quotation is that Roy admits that there were huge cleavages within the party as the Result of the Tea Party Republicans intransigence before Trump entered the campaign. He just took advantage of it and used it to his advantage. Roy at this time saw the Republican splits and resentments as too deep to be able to bring the party together shortly. The split persevered.
Naomi A. Klein is a Canadian author, social activist, and filmmaker known for her political analyses and criticism of corporate globalization and of capitalism. On a three-year appointment from September 2018, she is the Gloria Steinem Chair in Media, Culture, and Feminist Studies at Rutgers University.
