Cameron Smith: I wasn’t wrong about Trump, but I wasn’t listening either

The current Republican Party has markedly departed from the days of Ronald Reagan. I could drone on about my conservative principles, but most Americans trying to make ends meet aren't interested. The importance of maintaining democratic norms doesn't resonate with a parent whose kid isn't safe at school. The line mechanic whose job was sent to Mexico can't stomach my defense of free trade. Donald Trump may make a mess of American politics, but at least he's not telling the American worker to eat cake.

"The best plan for the future," quipped one of my former employers, "is to be really, really rich." I got the joke, but I didn't fully understand the truth of the matter. Three-quarters of America reports living paycheck to paycheck. For most people, planning for the future is a luxury. When you're working just to break even and provide for your family, philosophy and policy are someone else's problem.

By that measure, most Americans have little patience for people pondering principles.

Trump is rising as Vice President Kamala Harris fades because he's actually a populist while Harris plays one on television. Trump is a billionaire who rambles incoherently between attacking his many critics. For years I couldn't understand the appeal. As a conservative, I liked some of his policies, but the ego and chaos remain a tough pill to swallow.

In the summer of 2023, Trump said something that stuck with me. "At the end of the day, they're not coming after me," Trump told the Atlanta crowd. "They're coming after you, and I'm just standing in the way."

It connected like a right hook to the jaw. As pundits like me have been waxing poetic about ideological consistency, Trump has been speaking to every American concerned they're going to be left behind. Those Americans are wrestling with cold reality instead of political philosophy. With all of his flaws, Trump has zeroed in on a critical political shift that simply isn't grabbing the headlines it deserves.

For a generation the Democratic Party represented blue-collar America. From 1996 to 2023 , the percentage of Democratic voters with at least a college degree more than doubled from 22% to 45%. Republican voters have also increased their levels of educational attainment, but only 35% have a college degree.

Education directly correlates to the kinds of jobs Americans hold. It also informs the issues they care about most.

As of September , healthcare and Supreme Court appointments rank higher than the economy for Harris supporters and abortion is on the same level. Meanwhile, the economy is the overwhelming concern for Trump supporters followed by immigration and violent crime.

America's working class wants to know they'll have safe communities and steady jobs that won't be taken by cheaper immigrant labor. Frankly, most of those voters don't give a damn about your pronouns, toxic masculinity, or the temperature of the earth in 500 years.

If Trump can deliver on those core issues, voters will excuse his narcissism and bizarre personality.

What about the evangelical Christians concerned that Trump isn't passionately anti-abortion? Fiscal conservatives certainly won't find a champion in Trump. His approach to tariffs gives free trade economists hives. He has a loose relationship with the truth, and he probably doesn't even sing in church when he manages to make it.

Trump is willing to bet that the majority of concerned GOP voters aren't upset enough to vote for Harris. Those who do are unwelcome in Republican circles and little more than partisan novelties among the Democrats who cheer them on. Trump will gladly trade that crowd for Black men who suddenly realize Trump might have more to offer than Harris's political pandering and Barack Obama's scolding.

Call Trump out-of-touch. He's a billionaire with his name on skyscrapers. The man is quintessentially a country club Republican. At least he owns it. He'll tell everyone who will listen that he's a best-ever stable genius who also happens to be the " father of IVF ." He thinks Reagan was a pretty dignified president. Trump also likes Abraham Lincoln too even if he thinks the Civil War probably wouldn't have happened if he were president back then.

I've realized that many of the people who hate Trump spend a lot of time telling Americans what they ought to care about instead of paying close attention to what they actually do. Make fun of Trump. Point out the crazy stuff he says. Keep a list of his lies. Go after him for breaking the law. So much of the Democratic focus is on stopping Trump instead of helping Americans who need it.

Meanwhile Trump has positioned himself as the defender of the average American against an burdensome federal bureaucracy and inept political class.

Principles matter, but they cannot operate in a vacuum. If our ideas and values don't connect with actual day-to-day needs of our fellow Americans, we aren't wise defenders of our Republic. We're simply more clashing gongs and clanging cymbals in a political chorus increasingly out of touch with the American people.