Politicians everywhere appeal to people who look, talk and act like them.
Given this universal truth, it’s revealing who Donald Trump appeals to because he’s like them.
So let’s look at how many votes could come Donald Trump’s way because of what we know is true about him.
First, he’s a man. 120 million American men are entitled to vote in the U.S. election.
Next, he’s white. 165 million U.S. voters are white.
At age 78, he’s also old. 650,000 Americans are 78 or older. But let’s loosen the definition of ‘old’ and say he’s “a senior citizen”. Over 72 million Americans fit into that group.
Trump is also a Christian. 150 million voters identify as Christian.
He plays golf, not well, but a lot. 10.4 million Americans play golf.
Trump is also a college graduate, like 125 million voters, and an Ivy League graduate, like 504,000 of them.
He’s a grandchild of immigrants as are 60 million voters.
He’s been married 3 times. 9 million Americans have been married 3 times or more.
Trump is a billionaire. There are 813 billionaires in America. The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, could be in Trump’s Cabinet. But another billionaire, Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker, noted at the Democratic National Convention this week: “Donald Trump thinks that we should trust him on the economy, because he claims to be very rich…But take it from an actual billionaire, Trump is rich in only one thing: stupidity.”
A number of Trump’s businesses have also been bankrupt, as have 37 million other Americans.
He’s also a convicted felon. There are 19 million convicted felons in America. And he’s a sexual predator, one of 750,000.
Finally, he’s one of six former U.S. Presidents who are alive, and the only one of them to survive an assassination attempt.
I admit, these numbers may not be statistically rigorous, although they are generally true.
But I suspect, even if we added up all of these people, if every single one of them voted for Donald Trump, they still don’t add up to the number of voters who are not men, not white, not old, not Christian, not golfers, not Ivy League graduates, not thrice-married, not billionaires, not convicted felons or sexual predators, not bankrupt, not grandchildren of immigrants, but actual immigrants, and not even assassination attempt survivors.
Let’s hope on November 5th, God still favours the big battalions.
Meanwhile…
1.“I’m feeling empty and more cynical than ever.” Here’s Aussie rocker-writer Nick Cave’s answer to emptiness. “Hopefulness is not a neutral position. It is adversarial…
Speaking of hope, no one used to get dementia. Now, it seems everyone does. But it is preventable.
Again hopefully, Toronto poet, classicist, and “likely candidate for the Nobel Prize” Anne Carson, was diagnosed this month with Parkinson’s. Here’s what she had to say about that.
2. Hopeless. Toronto won another superlative this week: worst traffic in North America.Worse than New York and even Mexico City. Worse still, four of the ten worst cities are in Canada, including Montreal (9), Winnipeg (7), and Vancouver (4).
3. For Jordan Peterson, one door closes and…In November, 2022, the embattled professor was ordered by the College of Psychologists of Ontario to undergo social media training or potentially lose his license to practice. They claimed Peterson made comments “that may be degrading, demeaning and unprofessional.”
Peterson appealed. This month, the Ontario Divisional Court denied that appeal. Wrote Justice Paul Schabas: “Dr. Peterson sees himself functioning as a clinical psychologist ‘in the broad public space’ where he claims to be helping ‘millions of people.’”
“Peterson cannot have it both ways: he cannot speak as a member of a regulated profession without taking responsibility for the risk of harm that flows from him speaking in that trusted capacity.”
Then this week Jordan Peterson launched a series of online university-level courses called The Peterson Academy that offers “Education, Devoid of Ideology. Affordable to all, taught by the best.”
4. Having a panic attack on-air? Here’s what to do. Australian TV weatherman Nate Byrne handled his attack wonderfully, as did his anchor. Here’s how to help someone who’s having a panic attack.
5. Triumphs out of disasters. In 1975, the Cologne Opera House had never hosted a jazz concert. Keith Jarrett’s total disaster in Köln produced the best-selling piano album of all time.
Next, IKEA was invented out of a dire need.
Next, what to do when the AI bubble bursts which it surely must, because it’s tech.
Finally, a straight-up disaster for democracy, newsworthy because of the venue (Turkey’s Parliament in Ankara) and the presence of women.
6. So many things are bad for us. It’s a bit of a miracle that slouching isn’t one of them.
7. Everyone old is young again. Madonna turned 66 last week. Elton John, Bill Clinton, David Letterman and Arnold Schwarzenegger are all 77. Al Pacino is 84, Jane Fonda 86, Robert Redford 87 and Sophia Loren 89. Gloria Steinem 90, William Shatner 93, Clint Eastwood 94, Frank Gehry 95 and David Attenborough 98.
8. Replacing your brain. ARPA-H is the new US government ‘skunk-lab’, much like DARPA is to defense, that’s looking for moonshot health breakthroughs to find new ways of prolonging our lives and even eliminating our…deaths. They’ve just hired Jean Hebert, to figure out how to replace our body parts. All of them. Even our brains.
9. Giant 3-D Printed Neighbourhoods. Making guns by 3-D photocopying them is so pre-COVID. Making 3D printed houses the same way is newer and harder. But it’s already happening with entire neighbourhoods in Texas.
10. “What do women really want?” Gillian Anderson and a cast of nine women will narrate the audio version of Want, where she collects anonymous letters revealing the sexual fantasies of women from around the world. In other words, how do women feel about sex when they have the freedom to be totally anonymous?
11. What I’m liking. I’m beginning to learn why Roger Federer is beloved by zillions of tennis fans: he’s a real person. This documentary on the 12 days from when he announced his retirement in 2022, to his final matches in London with Rafael Nadal, Andy Murrayand Novak Djokovic, is oddly affecting. As he says: “I’m an emotional guy…”
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ON SEPTEMBER 23, TANYA TALAGA STANDS CANADA’S PAST ON ITS HEAD. BE THERE.
The Knowing reshapes our sense of Canada in a way only Tanya Talaga can.
The famed Anishinaabe journalist and Massey Lecturer reveals how all-embracing our mistreatment of our founding people was, and offers a way forward to real reconciliation.
Big new ideas like hers are rarely comfortable, and The Knowing is the big new book of the year. So it deserves a big hall to hear what’s vital to us all.
Tanya will also be interviewed by Mark Sakamoto, author of Forgiveness: A Gift from My Grandparents. 
Date: Monday, September 23, 2024
Time: 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (Doors open at 6:30 p.m) ET
Place: Koerner Hall, 273 Bloor St. West, Toronto, just west of the ROM
TICKETS HERE
Please pass this invitation on to like-minded friends and family.
Cheers,
Bob Ramsay
In partnership with
