Democratic strategist Dave “Mudcat” Saunders is predicting that Donald Trump will beat Hillary in the general election. In fact, he believes it will be so bad that he described it thusly, “Trump will beat Hillary like a baby seal.” He makes the point that many blue collar democrats have already deserted the democratic party and in his opinion, those who haven’t already will before the 2016 election. He says that many of his friends, some of whom are lifetime democrats and they tell him they intend to vote Trump.
“I know a ton of Democrats — male, female, black and white — here [in southern Virginia] who are going to vote for Trump. It’s all because of economic reasons. It’s because of his populist message.”
Saunders is known for working on John Edwards 2008 presidential campaign and in helping Jim Webb get elected to the Senate. He has a knack for making a connection between southern redneck voters and democratic politicians. But he says this year it’s Trump doing all the connecting. He says that southerners abandoned the democratic party over social issues but now northern blue collars are deserting over economic issues:
“Working class whites in the South have already departed the Democratic Party for cultural reasons. Well the working class whites in the North are now deserting the Democrats because of economic reasons, this is the new age of economic populism, man. This is about survival for a lot of people.”
Saunders notes that one demographic that Clinton has consistently lost in the primaries is the white male vote. He sees no reason for them to join her in the general election.
“I know less than half a dozen white male Democrats in my part of the world who are going to vote for Hillary.”
“Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump have very similar messages, they’re just dressed in different clothes. I think you’re going to see a lot of Sanders people jump to Trump.”
Bernie Sanders has been an easy mark for Hillary Clinton. Before the campaign started, he promised not to go negative. The Clinton campaign was able to bring him to heel every time he would make any remark against her. Saunders says that Trump will hit her hard and often and righteous indignation by liar for hire Brian Fallon will have no effect on Trump:
“Hillary hasn’t been shot at yet. I hear on TV people taking about Bernie Sanders being negative, he ain’t attack her, he just tapped on her. Trump’s going to take a wire-brush to her.”