As the old saying goes, the fox knows many things while the hedgehog knows one big thing.
Looking back over the past five years and ahead to the election, consider how much hay the president has made on one or two massive, overwhelming, totally un-prioritized insights.
Politics — campaigning, especially — always mixes some pathos with logos and ethos. But we haven’t had a fully emotional platform in decades, not to mention one that appeals directly to the lower angels of our nature (at best).
What you end up with is the same perspective error that’s at the heart of “all lives matter.” Of course they do, and that’s never been the question. Instead, Those People become the most salient issue, and a flood of votes based on hate rather than heart is released.
Democrats can be prone to yak-shaving: arguing about the design of seatbelts and the rules for wearing them, as though the plane can’t fly unless everyone’s wearing one. But the Trumpists’ argument is and has always been that FIRST CLASS SITS AT THE FRONT!
Not only is that not a real issue (people grumble in line, but the diamond-elite customers always board first across the cheap red carpet anyway), but it’s definitely not the most important one if it looks like the wings might be coming off.
At that point, you want a pilot who knows enough about aerodynamics, engineering, and crew management to land safely.
Colin Steele 