The post-election conversation with Michael Steele was so good that I divided it in two. Last week, you heard the former chairman of the Republican National Committee declare that President-elect Donald Trump “is not a Republican. He’s a pragmatic populist.” We’ll see if Trump governs as hopefully as Steele’s description makes it seem. The incoming president’s appointments so far leave a lot to be desired.
But how did we get here in the first place? How was it possible for the least experienced and most unpopular candidate for president in history to win? In this part-two episode of “Cape Up,” Steele zeroes in on the electorate.
“In essence, what Donald Trump did was he reawakened the Reagan Democrats,” Steele said of white voters. And their economic pain combined with the billionaire builder’s ability to make them feel like “he’s just like me,” as Steele quoted one memorable focus group participant, overrode whatever concerns they might have had about his temperament or moral standing.
But Steele’s most searing observation was about the African American vote and its relationship with Hillary Clinton.
Steele: Bill Clinton was what for black folks?Capehart: First black president.Steele: And Hillary was?Capehart: His wife.Steele: But she wasn’t the first black first lady. … There’s no connection to her. Black folks have not had a connection to her. They’ve not had a real substantive feel for her. Hillary’s there, I’m not saying that there’s no respect and none of that, but Hillary never animated the black community the way her husband did. … There was never that kind of “We got her back.” Now, Bill Clinton, something happened to him, black folks would rally around, right now, would rally to his side because of that connection that they have to him.
Of course, that personal connection also applies more deeply to President Obama, the actual first black president of the United States.
Steele gets into why African American millennials did not emulate the support of their elders for Hillary Clinton. He talks about what to do about “all of this misogynist, racist, … xenophobic, KKK stuff” given credence by Trump’s candidacy and victory. And listen to the podcast to hear Steele’s response when I asked him what job he was getting in the new administration.