politics

The Price of Grapes And A Space For Political Opportunity

You would do well to remind yourself that nothing is permanent in politics.

There's more than a little magical thinking among Trump supporters, and nowhere it that clearer than in their economic wishcasting about what the Big Boy can do as president.

The New York Times published a story (here's the gift link) last weekend documenting the weeks before the election in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, once a Democratic stronghold and now the home of an enormous blackpilled Trump electorate. In it you'll find all manner of bad-faith reasoning for supporting Trump four years after he staged an unsuccessful toppling of the U.S. government: Folks were scared of trans people in schools for no particular reason; they believed their broke-down, postindustrial town was being invaded by migrants; they were fearful of their children being sent to wars in which American troops are not involved; and they pretended the president controls interest rates.

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These people – including an undocumented immigrant who said he would still "love" Donald Trump even if Trump's deportation forces forcibly removed him from the country – saved their most magical thinking for kitchen table economics. They believe wholeheartedly that Trump can and will bring down the price of groceries and, more generally, daily living expenses. A working class mother of three who bailed on the Democratic Party and backed Trump in 2020 and 2024 pointed to the price of grapes – $9.99 per bag, she claims – as the reason she had no choice but to vote for the man promising the end of representative democracy in the United States.

This woman, who told the Times she wants to see her undocumented friends taken by Trump's deportation storm troopers, is one of tens of millions of people who voted to plunge us into a fascist nightmare because her groceries got more expensive during the first 18 months of the Biden administration. For Americans like this, Trump is the answer to their economic woes. Their deal with the devil goes like this: You can have your pogroms and concentration camps and you can crack down on press freedoms and deploy the military against your opposition and you can have your tax breaks for billionaires as long as you make my bag of grapes two dollars cheaper. Even one dollar would do. Times are tough and the devil is dealing.

This is where I hope Bad Faith Times readers will remember that political arrangements and coalitions are not forever (look no further than labor unions leaders backing a candidate pledging to destroy collective bargaining).

The chaos and panic and yes, the death, that will come in the early part of the second Trump administration is not what these magical thinkers signed up for when they cast a vote for the insurrectionist candidate. Wait a second, these people will say when their daily expenses tick ever upward as Trump unleashes tariffs and removes cheap labor from the workforce. This isn't what was promised. Why is my bag of grapes now $10.99? You promised cheaper grapes!

Jamelle Bouie, NYT columnist and prolific Bluesky poster, pointed out the "space for political opportunity" this chaos might open for Democrats and others who oppose fascism. When a Bluesky replier told Bouie that confrontations with the nation's military brass – Trump wants to purge "woke" generals – and some of the most dangerous Cabinet picks in the history of western democracy were exactly what Trump voters wanted, he pushed back.

Right-wing propaganda pumped into the American mainstream over the past forty years has Americans believing Republican presidents are good for their finances. This, of course, is only true if you own between two and four helicopters and have a live-in chef. But belief is powerful, and working and middle class voters are more than happy to turn a blind eye to the injustices to come if Trump follows through with his promise to make everyone rich and happy. That's his trick, the one Democrats cannot replicate: Vote for me and I will solve your problems and you do not ever have to think of anyone else. Supporting me, Trump says, allows you to be an asshole – and a rich one at that.

The disconnect between what people voted for and what they'll get will likely be immediate under a second Trump White House. As Trump and his acolytes accidentally lay the groundwork for a military coup or the collapse of entire industries, and as people suffer from tariff-driven sticker shock, political space will open. Opposition forces, namely Democrats, will be able to step in not to say I told you so – that goes nowhere, however satisfying – but to offer a different way. Trump's pledge of enriching beleaguered working class Americans will have vanished (quickly) and in its place can be a workable alternative if Democrats are finally willing to address the dread and hopelessness of working class folks who are increasingly amenable to fascism.

You would do well to remind yourself that nothing is permanent in politics. Political gravity still exists. There will be a concerted effort across all mainstream media in the coming months to convince you otherwise – that politics is over, that our current political arrangement is set in stone, that the war has been won and you, dear child, were on the losing side. None of that is true.

The Trump coalition is more fragile than you think it is. It will crack wide open amid the coming horrors.

Take Action Szn

A regular part of the BFT newsletter going forward will be opportunities to advance democracy in small but meaningful ways. I for one can't just sit around and write about all the shit that's happening around me.

In the weeks before the election, I joined the Harris campaign to make phone calls to swing state voters who had submitted invalid or incomplete ballots (this process is called ballot curing). I talked with folks who were happy to hear that they still had a chance to correct their ballot. One voter recognized me as the Bad Faith Times guy, which was cool. It felt good to help, to be of use, despite the final results.

Today – and in the coming weeks – I hope BFT subscribers and readers will rally around a critical Wisconsin Supreme Court election coming up in April. You can support Judge Susan Crawford here. Crawford would join a liberal Court majority that will work to undo the blatantly anti-democratic measures put into place by Wisconsin's radical right-wing Republican leadership over the past fifteen years.

I wrote in April 2023 about the importance of un-fucking Wisconsin's electoral maps. The 4-3 liberal Court majority has already done important pro-democracy work since 2023. Now more than ever, the left needs power at the state level. Power, of course, being the only thing that can save us.

Follow Denny Carter on BlueSky at @dennycarter.bsky.social