Tuesday, October 22, 2024

Trump Belongs to the Common Man

Susan D. Harris  

"At one point, Trump admitted, “You think this is easy, standing up here and doing this in front of half a room that hates my guts and the other half loves me?' ”

"Life will never be the same for Donald J. Trump.  Nowhere was this more evident than the Al Smith Dinner in New York this past Thursday.

"At first glance, Trump’s delivery seemed a bit lackadaisical compared with the passionate loquaciousness we’re used to hearing at his rallies.  Perhaps some thought he was tired, but it’s more likely he was tired of playing the game.

"There’s no other way to say it: Trump belongs to us now.  He’s become something more than a man of the people, more than a populist orator.  He has a palpable empathy for the common folk and understands real America — from the Bronx to the boonies (like a field in Butler, Pa.).  History will likely show he’s visited more American cities than any other politician.  He’s been listening to our stories, holding our hands, laughing with us and mourning with us.  He’s been giving encouragement and hope, even sending supporters cryptic messages with songs like “Hold On I’m Coming.”

"Looking at Trump sitting up there on the dais in his fancy suit, raising money for Catholic charities — well, he just didn’t seem to fit in anymore.  Trump is soiled with the dirt of the common man now, and he’ll never be part of the sequestered elite again.

"As the wealthy and powerful sat smirking with derision at the man they once accepted as one of their own, it was hard to believe that in years past, many of them desperately sought his patronage, his attention, or any crumb that fell from his table."

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