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The Screaming Moderate

Does Brexit apply here?

6/27/2016

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Brexit is the new word we’re all learning now that Great Britain has voted to remove itself from the European Union, and world financial markets are dizzy from the reaction.

Watching and reading the stories the last few days, one reaction stood out to me as to its effect on the United States. It’s not that the vote in Great Britain is foreboding for the U.S. There are sufficient differences in our voters that it isn’t necessarily predictive. Sure there’s the immigration issue that is similar here. Sure there is anger at the “establishments” in both countries. But the voters over there are not as diverse as voters in America and we elect presidents based on the Electoral College, not a national vote. So while there is a message in the vote "over there" it isn't that there is a trend and Trump will win here.

The  reaction from average voters that struck me: Some said on being interviewed after the somewhat surprising result to “leave” that had they known “leave” would win, they would have voted to “remain” because, really, they were mad and really wanted to just send a message that things needed adjustment, not really withdraw from the EU.

There’s a lot of that feeling, I think, among Donald Trump voters: They don’t like the status quo and he’s certainly not the status quo, so we’ll vote for him to send a message. When you read the polls, many of his supporters don’t believe he’ll build a wall, or ban Muslims, or do many of the nutty things he says. But they want to send a message.

If I could add a message to Hillary or Gary Johnson’s arsenal it would be this: Message received!!

And be sincere about that.

That's being done on the Democratic side when it comes to Bernie Sanders. Hillary has not only moved more to the left but clearly is courting his voters by sending the message – even including Elizabeth Warren on her vice presidential list – that she heard you, so join her.

Well, hear the Trump voters too. They have a point, many of them, that they have been left behind or left to hang out to dry because Washington doesn’t work. Because they aren’t being trained for the jobs of the new, or current, economy. That political correctness is nice but not to the exclusion of common sense.

Many of the “leave” voters in Great Britain now not only have buyers’ remorse, but have second, third and sixth thoughts about what they thought was “merely” a protest vote that instead is sending the world economy into palpitations over what the future holds and, likely, changing their country dramatically economically and in its global role.

So, let’s say “message received” to those voters here and try to avoid a similar “game changing” move that we’ll all regret later.


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    B. Jay Cooper

    B. Jay is a former deputy White House press secretary to Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He also headed the communications offices at the Republican National Committee, U.S. Department of Commerce, and Yale University. He is a former reporter and is the retired deputy managing director of APCO Worldwide's Washington, D.C., office.
    He is the father of three daughters and grandfather of five boys and one girl. He lives in Marion, Mass.

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