12/20/10 Columbia, SC: Gov. Nikki Haley official portrait.
Photos by Renee Ittner-McManus/rimphotography.com
By Paul V. DeMarco
Guest Columnist
Nikki Haley faces stiff head winds as she tries to become the Republican nominee for president. If only the Republican base participates in state Republican primaries, Trump wins going away. Her only path to the nomination is for independents and centrist Democrats to back her.
The majority of Americans recognize the unique threat Trump poses to democracy. Even his supporters are known to call him a “disrupter” or a “wrecking ball.” For them, his positives outweigh his innumerable negatives. They are willing to roll the dice on a second Trump presidency. I am not so sanguine. Trump is too unpredictable, too big a risk.
Our crucial national task in the primaries is to ensure that Trump is defeated. Almost anyone alive would be a better option than Trump. Surrounded with intelligent, capable advisors, any thoughtful, humble American would be superior. I know some teenagers to whom I would gladly hand over the reins of this country if it were them or Trump.
Biden is old and fails to excite. He has numerous policy positions that can be legitimately opposed. But he will not wreck the ship of state. If he loses in 2024, he will not spend his lame duck period trying to subvert the will of the people and remain in office, nor when he leaves office use the next four years to lie about the result.
The risk in my strategy is that Haley becomes the Republican nominee and beats Biden in the general. According to polls about a head-to-head contest with Biden, she is a stronger candidate than Trump. But I am willing to accept a Biden loss to ensure that Trump has no chance to be president again.
Haley, of course, has her own set of drawbacks about which I will write if she is the nominee. But she was a capable governor and has expressed dismay over January 6th, calling it a “terrible day.” She is willing to state the obvious truth that Trump lost in 2020, which leads me to believe that she would not engage in Trump’s corrosive brand of election denialism if she loses.
Here’s my plan. The SC Democratic presidential primary is February 3rd. The only candidates on the ballot beside Joe Biden are Dean Phillips, a congressman from Minnesota, and Marianne Williamson, neither of whom have a chance. Although I usually vote for the Democrat and voted for Biden in 2020, I will sit this primary out. Instead, I will wait until February 24 and vote in the Republican primary for Haley (remember a voter can only vote in one party’s primary).
Partisans on both sides will object to this. I employed the same approach in the 2022 US House 7th District Republican primary between incumbent Tom Rice and several challengers, including the eventually winner, Russell Fry. Since there were no pivotal races on the Democratic side, I voted in the Republican primary for Rice. Despite having major philosophical differences with Rice, I felt he had served my district well. He was one of the few Republicans brave enough to vote to impeach Trump for his part in January 6th.
I wrote a column titled, “Democrats, Let’s Elect Tom Rice,” to which Drew McKissick, the chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party wrote a rebuttal, arguing that people like me shouldn’t be allowed to meddle in the Republican primary and renewing the call that the Legislature pass a law forcing voters to register as Republicans or Democrats and be confined to that primary.
Folks like Mr. McKissick seem to view party affiliation as a deeply imprinted, immutable characteristic. One must be fully baptized into Republicanism and conform religiously to every tenet. If you fail to do so, you are consigned to the purgatory of RINOism. There are, of course, mirror images of McKissick on the Democratic side.
This strict ideological view defies the shifting moods and desires of the body politic. First of all, most voters hold their party affiliation loosely and are willing to vote for an inspirational candidate of their second-choice party – the Reagan Democrats were a prime example of this.
Second, the modern political parties have shifted seismically in the last 75 years. The Democrats were the party of white segregationists until the 1960s when Strom Thurmond and Richard Nixon attracted them to the Republicans. For decades after FDR’s New Deal, the Democrats were considered the party of the worker. Until recently, Republicans were hawks and Democrats were doves. But all that has been scrambled. Many now see the Democrats as the party of the rich, dominated by economic, academic, and cultural elites who are blind to the everyday reality of working people. Meanwhile, it’s the Democrats who support the war in Ukraine while a significant fraction of Republicans have retreated into isolationism.
So I invite you to consider voting for your country rather than your party. Whether Haley or Biden wins in 2024 is less important than Trump never being allowed to wield again the enormous power of the presidency. Neither Haley or Biden will threaten the democratic foundation on which our country rests. Trump’s most enduring legacy will be the lesson that our system is fragile and must be guarded from politicians who care more about their own power than honoring democratic principles. We don’t need a second kick from that mule.
A version of this column appeared in the January 17tt edition of the Post and Courier-Pee Dee.
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Thought about it. Can’t do it. Just can’t do it. I’ll be at the polls Saturday morning to vote for Joe and watch as he makes the case for re-election in November.
This might have been better as a podcast, so I could respond to Paul point by point. It would have gone like this:
Paul:
Me: “independents and centrist Democrats?” Yeah, unfortunately, this is South Carolina, and there ain’t enough a them. But I hope she does far better than expected, for a lot of the same reasons you do.
Paul:
Me: Actually, it’s not a matter of them thinking his positives outweigh his negatives. If we’re talkiing about his base, to them, the negatives ARE the positives. These are nihilists who want to blow the system up….
And so forth.
Anyway, to respond more generally…
I’m not going to do what Paul’s going to do, however valuable many of this points are. First, Nikki isn’t going to win — here, or across the country. Then, there’s the fact that if she DID win, there would be a chance she would become president. As soon as ANYONE is the nominee of either major party, that person has close to a 50 percent chance in any presidential race since, I don’t know, 1984. I’m not willing to participate in making that happen.
Would it be less bad than Trump winning? You bet, under the principle Paul states that “I know some teenagers to whom I would gladly hand over the reins of this country if it were them or Trump.” But I think I’m going to vote for someone I support without reservation, and that is Joe Biden. I’m going to vote for “good” rather than for “not as horrible.”
I’m concerned Joe won’t get much turnout this time, since everyone knows he’ll win the nomination, and all the coverage and hoopla is focused on the GOP primary. And I want to see him get as many votes as possible. And no one in South Carolina is a more enthusiastic supporter of this excellent president than I am. I’m deeply grateful to Joe for running in 2020, and again today, even though he has so richly deserved retirement. Why am I so grateful? Because there’s no one else who can both win election to this job and do the job properly.
By the way, you might see the Biden ad over to the right of this screen. Normally, with an ad, I would explain to the reader that the ad has nothing to do with me supporting the candidate — it’s business, not personal. Well, not in this case. There’s no business involved, because I’m donating the space. This is entirely personal…
But, if you’d like to join Paul on the Nikki primary bandwagon, you might want to learn the song:
https://www.timothydraper.com/nikki/Nikki_Haley_Anthem_Larry_Dvoskin_rap.mp3
I first heard that this morning, when Tim Draper — Haley donor and one of those of the “donor class” that the MAGA people hate — was interviewed on The Daily. He wrote the song.
Good thing he’s a gazillionaire as a venture capitalist, because songwriting ain’t his forte…
No rule of law,no democracy:
Like Kelce said, however: You Gotta Fight! For Your Right! To Party!
Unless you have White Punks on Dope. It may be too late …
I encourage Republicans who are opposed to another Joe Biden term to vote in the Democratic Primary for Marianne Williamson or write in Robert Kennedy. This is democracy in action! Try to rig the election so the guy you don’t like doesn’t win versus trying to make the case for the guy you like.
It’s already obvious that the Biden strategy will be to run on Trump’s record rather then his own. Nevermind that everyone already knows who Trump is… hundreds of millions of dollars will be wasted on claiming he’s a Nazi, a Putin sympathizer, a rapist… I suppose that is better than Joe trying to explain how 300K illegal immigrants waltzed across the border in December… yeah, I know, it’s not Joe’s fault… he blames Congress and specifically Republicans for not giving him billions of dollars — not to close the border but to help process the ones who do. It’s funny watching all the videos of those who enter illegally — it’s never families with kids.. it’s all males age 20-40…
Biden thinks he’ll win on abortion, making Trump into Hitler, and making up numbers about how “great” the economy is doing (as long as you pretend 2021-2022 didn’t happen). Trump will win on immigration and Biden fumbling us into another Middle East war.
“It’s already obvious that the Biden strategy will be to run on Trump’s record rather then his own.”
Yeah, I’ve been seeing and hearing about that lately, and I don’t like it. But the problem isn’t Joe; it’s the voters. He has a very impressive record since 2020, with more legislative accomplishments (some of them bipartisan, which is not only a major miracle these days, but help keep promises he made four years ago).
And he’s pointed out his accomplishments, and no one pays attention. In fact, bizarrely, people keep complaining about the economy, with pretty much all actual data showing that that’s nonsense.
So, yeah, he’s turned to talking about the other guy.
Of course, that’s completely legitimate, because people need to know — if they haven’t been able to figure it out by now, which is astounding — that the other guy is an unthinkable, nightmare option. In fact, as Paul says, pretty much anyone you could go out and find on the street would be better.
But Joe’s record is so good that I’d greatly prefer to see him running on that alone. But it hasn’t worked so far…
“. In fact, bizarrely, people keep complaining about the economy, with pretty much all actual data showing that that’s nonsense.”
That’s because people look at their actual incomes and spending and see how much things have changed in three years. 7.5% 30 year mortgage rates, 19% price increase overall with inflation since 2021, record levels of personal debt… Anyone who has been to a grocery store or restaurant or tried to buy a house knows things have changed drastically during Biden’s tenure. Layoffs are happening across the country: UPS 12k jobs yesterday, 2500 at Paypal, 2000 at Microsoft, 8000 at SAP, 1000 at Google.. all this month… You think all those people are saying the economy is good? Oh, yeah, they can all go find a new job at McDonalds or Taco Bell so Joe can claim unemployment rates are low!
I think maybe you haven’t been keeping up with news about the economy. But then, a lot of people don’t. And that’s the problem.
As for looking at their incomes and buying power. They’re not looking all that closely. While there was a problem for awhile, since last July, rising incomes started outpacing inflation, and I believe that trend is still running pretty strong.
Anyway, I was recently talking with an economist about all this recently, and he made a good point: People aren’t satisfied with the decline in inflation for a simple reason. It’s because prices aren’t getting LOWER, back to pre-inflation levels. And they want that because… they don’t understand economics.
They need to go back and study what was happening the last time we saw major deflation in the U.S. It was during this little thing we called the Great Depression.
Of course, gasoline prices have gone back down significantly. But even I don’t attach importance to that — gas prices swing up and down for a lot of reasons besides general inflation…
Who should I trust? An economist or my checkbook?
Do you believe the NY Federal Reserve? Personal debt is increasing — people are funding the Biden economy just like the government funds itself — by taking on more and more debt.
https://www.newyorkfed.org/microeconomics/hhdc
“Household Debt Rises to $17.29 Trillion Led by Mortgage, Credit Card, and Student Loan Balances
Total household debt rose by 1.3 percent to reach $17.29 trillion in the third quarter of 2023, according to the latest Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit. Mortgage balances increased to $12.14 trillion, credit card balances to $1.08 trillion, and student loan balances to $1.6 trillion. Auto loan balances increased to $1.6 trillion, continuing the upward trajectory seen since 2011. Other balances, which include retail credit cards and other consumer loans, were effectively flat at $0.53 trillion. Delinquency transition rates increased for most debt types, except for student loans.”
Another statistic:
“Prices have grown by 19 percent overall since 2020, with energy prices the most volatile.” Is your pay 20% higher than it was in 2020 just to keep pace with inflation? I got a big pay increase by switching jobs and then got a 2% raise in 2023.
How about poverty rates? Here’s the data from the US Census bureau:
“Supplemental Poverty Measure
The SPM rate in 2022 was 12.4 percent, an increase of 4.6 percentage points from 2021. This is the first increase in the overall SPM poverty rate since 2010 (Figure 6 and Table B-2).
The SPM child poverty rate more than doubled, from 5.2 percent in 2021 to 12.4 percent in 2022 (Figure 4 and Table B-3).”
You seem to believe the Biden spin that cherry picks and distorts statistics. Obviously, they can’t ever say things are bad — or when they are bad, they naturally blame Republicans or Putin. If you believe Biden, he’s never made a wrong move in his time in office.
“An economist or my checkbook?”
You mean, someone who is looking at the data and knows how to read it dispassionately — in other words, someone who knows what he’s talking about? Or my subjective impressions about whether I feel like I have enough money?
That’s no choice at all. I trust the one that’s looking at it clearly, and understands what he’s seeing, not the one who’s speaking from emotion….
Also, do you still use a checkbook? 🙂
When the stock market was at an all time high in Feb 2020 and mortgage rates were at 3.5% (7.5% now) , inflation was at 1.5% (3.5% now) , and unemployment was at 3.5% (4.1% now).. please refresh my memory… were you, bud, and barry talking about how great the Trump economy was? I may have missed all the cheerleading back then…
Or maybe all I saw was comments about how a high stock market was just good for rich people… and income inequality was Trump’s fault..
The hypocrisy on this blog is a great spectator sport. Biden would KILL for the economic indicators to be where Trump had them. Now he has run on “it was terrible (not my fault), but it’s SLOWLY getting better (just pretend the last two years didn’t happen).
You guys are still arguing about this?
The last time the unemployment rate was above 4% was January 2022. The current 30 year mortgage rate is 6.6%. So if you’re going to make any meaningful argument you absolutely have to have your facts right. Otherwise your words are just empty platitudes.
Doug leaves out some things
The world experienced a pandemic in the last year of the Trump administration that destroyed supply chains, wreaked financial havoc, and disrupted markets- some of which still have not recovered. That happened under Donald Trump. (I won’t describe my supply chain horror story again trying to order something as simple as a boat motor in 2020). Thanks Donald. LOL
All the data that Trumpers throw out is without context and, I assume, sounds great for those that forget about COVID and the year that was 2020.
It’s a bit ironic to watch them throw the American economy under the bus (and place all blame on Joe Biden), and then read economists and other financial experts from European countries write about how much better the American recovery was than what was experienced in Europe and most other developed nations.
Regardless, I can’t run around imagining anyone else’s situation by my own: 2023 was my most financially successful year yet.
and of course I think most people understand- as my wife herself likes to tell me when she’s making fun of Trump – if Trump were to win election, the day after election day he will be vomiting from the mouth the usual…..
“Everything is great. We are doing a great job”
“We are the bestest economy. The bestest ” THE BESTEST”
I suppose Doug’s “checkbook” earned an economics degree from Trump University 🙂
To say what I said to Doug and Barry, you guys are still arguing about this?
First interesting topic in over a month.
This child poverty statistic is perhaps the single most disgusting attack on an incumbent president in my lifetime. Democrats enacted the child tax credit without Republican support. Child poverty declined sharply as a result. Then when the Democrats wanted to extend the credit Republicans blocked the measure. Naturally child poverty rates returned to their previous level. This is one of the clearest examples of an effective policy supported by one party that was thwarted by the other party. Clearly Biden and the Democrats are on the right side of this issue. Yet the cynical bastards on the right falsely blame Biden! Wow! Thank you Doug for pointing out what a craven party the GOP has become.
Doug is cherry picking a selective handful of dated stats to paint a highly misleading picture of an economy that is doing very well. Virtually every recent statistic paints a picture of a healthy, growing economy that has rebounded nicely from rapist Trumps recession. Unemployment has remained low for a couple of years. Wages are rising faster than inflation, now at just above the feds target level. Stock market numbers are setting records. Oil production is at a record level. Mortgage rates are falling. Consumers are starting to notice. Biden will easily win re-election. And maybe the Republican Party will finally start to emerge from the very dark place it has occupied for the last 7 years.
Do you think inflation has any impact on the stock market valuation? Show your work. Think about what rising prices do to revenues.
Mortgage rates are falling? When do you expect them to be at the levels they were when Trump was in office? I mean, let’s be serious now. Here’s the official historical chart for mortgage rates.. check out the huge climb starting when Biden took office. Your statements are either willfully ignorant or a lie.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MORTGAGE30US
The last time mortgage rates were this high was 2006. The Fed announced yesterday that they are not cutting rates yet so why would you expect mortgage rates to drop?
I love to see bud’s commentary though. “Biden will easily win re-election” may qualify for the most out of touch comment of the year so far… it’s so dumb, that not even Kamala Harris would say it.
I’m reminded of what John McCain was saying on the campaign trail in 2008 and was one of the reasons why I decided not to vote for him… he also lived in the fantasy would that the party of the incumbent… McCain said:
“”The economic crisis is not the fault of the American people. Our workers are the most innovative, the hardest working, the best skilled, most productive, most competitive in the world, that’s the American worker,” McCain said at a town hall meeting here.
“My opponents may disagree, but those fundamentals, the American worker and their innovation, their entrepreneurship, the small business, those are the fundamentals of America and I think they’re strong.”
This was right before the economy tanked for three years… Biden’s doing the same thing… Whistling past the graveyard… trying to scam people with statistics while watching prices rise, people getting laid off in the thousands, and home buying screeching to a halt.
WHAT!!!!
McCain was reacting to a situation that was the worst economic crisis of my lifetime! Everyone KNEW things were bad, because they were horrible!
That is why he wasn’t elected.
Biden is presiding over an excellent economy. His only political problem with that is that we now live in a post-truth world, in which a HUGE proportion of the electorate simply doesn’t believe in facts.
To share a few facts:
The Wall Street Journal: The Economy Is Great. Why Are Americans in Such a Rotten Mood?
Politico: US growth shatters expectations, boosting Biden’s economic pitch
The Economist: Why are Americans so gloomy about their great economy?
Bloomberg: The US Economy Is Great. Stop Worrying About It.
I don’t think you’ll find anything substantially different from that from any reliable source of information.
It’s really kind of silly to argue about it. The economy’s doing very well, but a lot of people complain. Yet even that is getting better. Maybe facts eventually seep through the consciousness of the most hidebound complainers…
Even Fox News recognizes the robust nature of the economy. Didn’t Doug once say he had great respect for Stephen Forbes? Saw him a couple of nights ago reluctantly acknowledging the good economy.
You mean the Steve Forbes who posted this Tweet the other day?
https://reason.com/2024/02/04/the-bankruptcy-of-bidenomics/
“Bidenomics was, at heart, a philosophy of throwing money at programs, people, political allies, and favored constituencies. That spending contributed directly and significantly to the rapid rise in inflation that helped fuel voter dissatisfaction with the state of affairs. Thanks to misallocation, poor implementation, and self-contradictory regulatory requirements, the substantive public payoffs to that spending have been weak at best and counterproductive at worst.:
‘Well, Yes’: Steve Forbes Begrudgingly Tells Fox Host the U.S. Really Did Have the World’s Best Economic Recovery Post-Pandemic
Gotta be White Punks on Dope first.
Good point Bud.
In December 2023, domestic oil and natural gas production was the highest in the history of the United States- beating any production level under the Trump administration.
Biden’s failure to talk about this more is a problem. His team – and Biden- should be shouting this from the roof-tops every single day because those against Biden won’t ever talk about it – won’t admit it
and Fox News won’t admit it or talk about it. Fox will lie and say the exact opposite and the Trumpers watching won’t have a clue.
Barry, many liberals, including me, don’t see large fossil fuel production numbers as good news. So emphasizing it too much could backfire. Damned if you do damned if you don’t.
But as the founder of the Energy Party, I’m all for it, Barry. It’s going to be a long time before our economy doesn’t need the oil, and we need to be as independent as we can be from imports…
Micro mobility. I need a parasail and an electric bike when I can’t use my Wing Suit Or Uber/Lyft. Public transportation will “miniaturize.” Oil is so 20th Century!
The problem with this strategy is most people are not motivated to go vote for someone that don’t really support. Oh sure, a few will do that. But not enough to matter in any way.
Most people in South Carolina won’t vote at all in one of the two primary elections. A tiny percentage might vote for someone they don’t really support.
Biden would be crazy not to run on Trump’s record/rhetoric/demeanor/personality/dementia or on his threats.
I’d run on abortion too- to some degree. Obviously, can’t ignore the subject because it’s a winner with so many college educated people and suburban women.
Given the economy was strong in 2023, and interest rates will soon be falling which should help the economy even more, Biden will have some good things to sell on the economy. More importantly, more and more people are likely going to feel things are going well no matter what any politician says.
May want to check your facts on interest rate cuts. The Fed said yesterday they aren’t cutting rates yet: “After the Federal Reserve announced that interest rates would remain unchanged, Jerome H. Powell, the Fed’s chair, signaled that cuts could come this year — though not by the central bank’s next meeting.”
Did you see the word COULD from Powell? Any change made this year will be small if at all.
Well, I trust the Fed’s judgment on this more than my own, but since the current rates have been working well this past year in taming inflation, I’d be very careful about lowering them.
Of course, I’m not as concerned about interest rates the way younger people are. They grew up over a couple of decades when I was marveling at how low rates were, and that shaped their expectations. I was buy a home and cars and such in the early ’80s. I know what HIGH rates look like…
And dagnabbit, we LIKED it…
My oldest is considering home purchases. Not entirely sure yet.
But the rates aren’t the issue. Given history, the rates right now are good.
When I purchased my first home, we landed an 8% rate and we were happy. So a rate in the high 6% would have been a treat.
As I mentioned elsewhere, the millions with 3% mortgage rates don’t care about them either. The millions that aren’t going to buy anyway don’t care either.
Even so, the housing market projections for the Spring are good and favorable. That’s another notch in the economic belt for Biden.
I said interest rates will be falling soon- which is true unless something unexpected happens.
Even so, 37% of Wall Street investors still are predicting a possible rate cut in March. But many more are predicting one by May/June- which would signal the economy is running smoothly along.
Mortgage rates have already been declining slightly. They are currently at 6.63%, down from 6.69% last week per Freddie Mac’s news release today.
“The US housing market should experience a warm return this spring, thanks to calming economic data.”
Freddie Mac also predicted rates will continue to decline. They released a positive housing outlook for the Spring today.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mortgage-rates-drop-for-the-second-time-in-2024-180307956.html
However, mortgage rates don’t impact everyone. Millions with a 3% rate don’t really care about mortgage rates today.
To say what I said to Doug, you guys are still arguing about this?
The 30 year average mortgage rate according to FRED is 6.61% today. That’s down from 7.76% in early November. 15 year rates are lower. Of course as we’ve established interest rate may be too high or too low given your specific life situation. Higher rates are good if you have investments that earn interest. On balance though it seems to me rates are a tad higher than ideal. Yet returning to the very low pandemic levels would not be a good thing.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MORTGAGE30US
I have to point out one claim made in this op-ed, namely that the GOP is now the working class party. This myth began during the Trump 2016 campaign, when it was asserted that his base was in the working class. Not true. His support then as now tends to come from higher income groups, especially the higher-end median. The same is true with respect to party affiliation generally: the lower the income level, the smaller the support for the Republican Party (and vice versa), the higher the income, the greater the support for that party (and vice versa). For evidence, examine this Pew Polling data:
https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/compare/party-affiliation/by/income-distribution/
as well as
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1184428/presidential-election-exit-polls-share-votes-income-us/
Actually, I think that story line started long before 2016, with the “Reagan Democrats”…
Yeah, but 2016/17 was when the press got into the habit of trying to explain (or lay blame for) the success of the Trump campaign and election as in large part due to working-class support, esp. economically dislocated working class folks. (It was when everybody was turning to J.D. “Hillbilly” Vance to explain this supposed shift — effectively launching his political career.) But the numbers just didn’t and don’t bear that out. More of the – White – working class have drifted over than once was the case, but the majority still do not affiliate themselves with the Republican Party.
Certainly.
I remember when everyone was recommending Vance’s book. I read AROUT the book, and decided it wasn’t really worth a read, because the problem was a lot more complicated than his explanation.
But as you say, the fact that OTHERS paid so much attention to him is what launched his weird career…
Back to my point, though — right after I posted that, I got to thinking that it started before Reagan, at least in the South. Here in South Carolina, the first step toward the white working-class shift to the GOP started with Strom Thurmond (and, less well-remembered) Floyd Spence switching parties in the early 60s. Although that demographic shift wasn’t complete until the early-to-mid 90s…
OK, this is really weird…
Maybe it was the mention of Vance and the “hillbillies.” But a few minutes ago, Google Adsense put an ad at the top of my blog urging readers to stare at pictures of Walmart customers. You’ve probably seen that sort of clickbait before….
Well, that’s embarrassing. Let’s not mock our fellow citizens. And hey, I shop at Walmart too, so…
Never have seen or even heard of that sort of thing before now.
Maybe it’s just me. Of course, I DO go to Walmart a lot…
Vance is an embarrassment IMHO. He wrote a book of his challenge to survive, then GREED (and other deadly sins). Read “Wild” (Cheryl Strayed, a pseudonym) or watch the movie (with Reese Witherspoon).
Well, there’s where we get into Kevin Phillips territory, with the “Southern Strategy” of the 1960s. And we know what that was about. And it wasn’t pretty. Still isn’t: fear and resentment – which, incidentally, aren’t solely working class phenomena.
Venturing into social entrepreneurship and servant leadership, I employ these skills to shape for-profit and non-profit ventures, addressing the deficit in practical, trade-related education. Motivated by frustration with the system, my initiatives strive to blend profit motives with a dedication to social impact, addressing tangible societal needs.
Having received a balanced education in my poor, rural hometown, I carry a sense of loyalty and gratitude. However, returning home presents challenges. Social entrepreneurship champions hands-on learning and community service, fostering innovation and empathy. Despite this, anti-intellectualism remains a hurdle.
In my own version of Vance’s “Hillbilly Elegy,” profit motives play a role, though not solely. My mantra, “Give me this day, my daily bread,” reflects the aspiration for sustainable income, acknowledging the realities of inflation.
This philosophy (unlike Rand’s and Vance’s) balances the pursuit of profit with a commitment to community well-being, mirroring the nuanced approach necessary in navigating the challenges of social entrepreneurship, particularly upon returning home. A balanced education and a multifaceted perspective become paramount in creating businesses that are not just profitable but also socially responsible and resilient in the face of economic complexities.
watching the Frontline documentary on Trump trying to steal the election is fascinating.
Trump listened to so many crazy fools. That’s what happens when your mind is diseased and you are mentally incompetent.
At one point in Dec 2020, the acting assistant attorney general yelled at traitor Michael Flynn who Trump had let back in the White House for a meeting. Flynn, like the coward he is, backed off.
I am leaving for the Philippines as quickly as possible, and my haste is exacerbated by watching the Frontline Documentary on PBS last night. Immigration into this country is nearly impossible now, which GRATEFULLY forces me to leave this mess.
This is so difficult – I love this Country! So I will be back, as there is a total eclipse here in the Southern Tier of New York on April 8, around 3:20 pm. I remember 2017 in South Carolina so very well, and miss my old “‘hood” Rosewood (now “The Wood”). I was raised in this area, the very Northern edge of the Appalachians, Trump Country.
Social Entrepreneurship – make money using “enlightened self-interest.” In the Modern Mobile Economy – Stop complaining and get to work!
I voted for “Mayor Pete” in 2020. I still like him.
OMG! That is HORRIBLE! Nikki – N I K K I – Nikki.
I needed a good laugh, so THANKS Mr. Draper, you are my “Start-Up Hero!”