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Unrepresentative Policy of the Week: Americans are Tired of Trump and Republicans

Tick, tick, tick, tick. That is the sound of the last of Donald Trump's presidency running out on Wednesday, at precisely noon. Despite all of Donald Trump's tantrums, despite all of the chicanery of the Republican party, despite the violent delusions of Trump’s supporters, Joe Biden will be inaugurated the next president of the United States. With this occurrence, it is important to look back on Donald Trump and his time in office. Americans are in agreement, they are sick of him! His unfavourability ratings are at an all-time high, with nearly 2/3 of the country having a poor view of our soon to be former president. An overwhelming majority of the American people want the Republican party, and by proxy America itself, to move on from Donald Trump and leave him in the dust bin of history, not allowing his poisonous influence to continue to degrade the already unrepresentative and decrepit Republican party. Republicans themselves are split on this issue, which is a seismic shift from the unwavering support with which Republicans view their former leaders. It seems that the Capital riots were indeed a tipping point in America. It remains a mystery to us here as Don't Shop on Tuesdays, why the myriad of faults and travesties committed by Trump and the Republican party throughout the last 4 years and indeed for many years before were not sufficient evidence to evoke action, but it does seem that the immediacy of the attack on Congress has finally stirred the powerful into action. It is about time, as 3 in 4 Americans agree that the riots and the storming of the Capitol building are a crisis or a major problem! Do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president? Approve: 34% Disapprove: 62% Once Donald Trump has left office, would you rather see the Republican Party (continue to treat Trump as its leader) or (move on from Trump) Move On: 77% (53% - Republicans) Keep Trump: 19% (43% - Republicans) Do you think that the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6 represents a crisis, a major problem, a minor problem, or not a problem for American democracy? Crisis: 36% Major Problem: 39% Overall, how much do you blame each of the following for the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6? Blame Trump: 65% Blame Republicans in Congress: 59% Blame Rioters: 88% Do you think the country has changed for the better or changed for the worse? Better: 31% Worse: 65% So America is hungry for change, and ready to for a new direction, but we must make certain that as we turn this new page, we avoid two dangerous mistakes: First, would be to think that turning the page and leaving the Republicans behind means not holding them accountable. There must be deep and profound accountability for all of those members who pursued this type of violent insurrectionist activity! We cannot allow violence and anti-democratic behavior to go unchecked, or it will grow as we have already seen. Second, is that we must not let the low bar set by Donald Trump and the Republicans be all that we expect our new leaders to clear. The crises America faced 5 years ago, that allowed Donald Trump to come into power, have not gone away they have only gotten worse! Thus the actions that we need are not just a return to normalcy, but a profound change in the understanding of what the role of government is in our society. We must make sure that we continue to have high standards, and continue to raise the expectations. While we might be understanding of the struggles the incoming administration faces after the appalling devastation the Trump administrator has wrought, we cannot allow that sympathy to stop us from insisting that we must do better, that we can do better, and that in pursuit of better, perhaps we need to think differently. To pass the policies the American people are demanding through the new administration is going to take large amounts of organizing and public pressure. To win this we will need to reshape through branding and narrative perspectives what is considered reasonable and want is considered unreasonable policy. In times of change like this, the range of those parameters can have large ramifications and ripple effects into the future. We must make sure that we can wield the moral, political and indeed economic leverage in order to change the public’s understanding of, and expectations for our government, so that it begins to listen to the people and take action, not merely say “we hear you, but were sorry there is nothing we can do.” We know that this government can act, it can find the money, and it can do what is necessary to make good on its promises of representation and democracy, but it won't do that on its own. It is going to take all of us organized and together, so join us every Tuesday as we build a growing economic cudgel to make sure that the powerful in this country begin to respect us, and allow our government to represent us! Don't Shop on Tuesdays!