Donald Trump talks about himself — a lot. “Am I doing a good job?” he asked the crowd at the Cross Insurance Center last week. “I don’t even need commercials.” “They said, ‘You can’t win.’” “I employ thousands of Latinas.”
As for topics beyond Trump himself, such as policies he would implement if elected president, the presumptive Republican remains boastful but vague. He will build the wall, eliminate the Common Core State Standards Initiative, repeal Obamacare, withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, renegotiate the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, preserve the Second Amendment, label China a currency manipulator and, most important, “make great deals.”
And that’s about it. Thousands came to see the spectacle, the attitude, the “stick-it-to-’em” rhetoric in Bangor. Because they certainly didn’t go for the ideas. Only in the race for the most powerful position on earth is there so much excitement centered on so little substance.
Nevermind how Trump would find the billions necessary to build a wall — oh, that’s right, Mexico would pay for it — that people would just find a way around. Don’t pay attention to the fact that the decline in manufacturing jobs started long before NAFTA or that Trump’s branded merchandise was made abroad, including in China. Forget that the Common Core standards were developed and voluntarily adopted by states, not the federal government.
Seeing him up close, in our backyard, made his emptiness shine through all the more clearly. He said nothing about how he would help schools with high numbers of low-income children struggling to pay attention and learn. He didn’t even mention teachers. He said zero about strengthening higher education.
He failed to talk about how he would stem the opioid epidemic — one of this state’s greatest public health crises. The only time he mentioned drugs was in relation to Mexico: “We get the drugs. They get the cash. Not a good deal.” He never mentioned how he would reduce demand or save lives.
He said nothing about women, unless hating on Hillary Clinton counts. There was no mention of the discrimination they’ve overcome and the distance they still have left to go, in terms of workplace leadership, gender-based violence, health care and societal expectations.
Other than making great deals, he didn’t talk about how he proposed to bolster rural economies. He never mentioned infrastructure, taxes, technology, innovation or energy. He stayed away from the issues of poverty, inequality and food insecurity. He said nothing about the criminal justice system.
There was no mention of policy concerning forests, water systems or agriculture. He avoided talk of all major environmental issues, including climate change.
We’ve heard people say they appreciate how Trump talks about what no one else will. Apparently that makes him “honest.” They like how he “says it like it is.” But the fact is that he doesn’t. He’s actually saying nothing at all.
