MONEY IN
POLITICS
“In mid
September [2015] I travelled to a small town in southeastern
New Hampshire called Raymond, where John Kasich was holding a
town-hall meeting in a middle-school auditorium. Eighty chairs were
arranged around a stool. One of the early arrivals was a
twenty-six-year-old named Mark Lynch, who had come with his
grandmother. Lynch, the son of a firefighter and a factory worker,
had a crewcut and stubble, and wore a Red Sox T-shirt that exposed
the tattoos on his biceps. He had just finished four years of service in
the Navy and was training to be a policeman. Lynch wanted to hear what
Kasich had to say, but he was more interested in the billionaire with the
copper comb-over.
New Hampshire called Raymond, where John Kasich was holding a
town-hall meeting in a middle-school auditorium. Eighty chairs were
arranged around a stool. One of the early arrivals was a
twenty-six-year-old named Mark Lynch, who had come with his
grandmother. Lynch, the son of a firefighter and a factory worker,
had a crewcut and stubble, and wore a Red Sox T-shirt that exposed
the tattoos on his biceps. He had just finished four years of service in
the Navy and was training to be a policeman. Lynch wanted to hear what
Kasich had to say, but he was more interested in the billionaire with the
copper comb-over.
“ ‘Trump is tapping into this belief that politicians are self-serving," Lynch
told me. ‘ He's telling these donors “I don't need your money, I'll finance my
own campaign.” If you look at what’s controlling government these days it's
lobbyists and all these big corporations." Lynch liked Trump's positions on
trade, taxes, and Wall Street. ‘People don’t want to see billionaires getting richer,’
he said. ‘If Donald Trump, a billionaire in his own right, is saying billionaires in
Washington and New York should be paying more - that says something.’"
told me. ‘ He's telling these donors “I don't need your money, I'll finance my
own campaign.” If you look at what’s controlling government these days it's
lobbyists and all these big corporations." Lynch liked Trump's positions on
trade, taxes, and Wall Street. ‘People don’t want to see billionaires getting richer,’
he said. ‘If Donald Trump, a billionaire in his own right, is saying billionaires in
Washington and New York should be paying more - that says something.’"
“Lynch sounded a bit like a Sanders guy. When I pointed this out, his
grandmother made a face. Lynch said that he couldn't possibly vote for Sanders –
‘a self-proclaimed socialist from Vermont.’ Lynch was a conservative, not so much
on specific policies but in his values and in his ideas about America's character. He
didn’t want an overweening government creating costly programs and interfering in
people’s lives. He just wanted a system that wasn’t rigged in favor of the rich and well-connected.
grandmother made a face. Lynch said that he couldn't possibly vote for Sanders –
‘a self-proclaimed socialist from Vermont.’ Lynch was a conservative, not so much
on specific policies but in his values and in his ideas about America's character. He
didn’t want an overweening government creating costly programs and interfering in
people’s lives. He just wanted a system that wasn’t rigged in favor of the rich and well-connected.
“In Lynch's eyes, his antipathy toward this privileged class didn't make him an
unwitting Democrat. ‘I don't think Republicans are the party of big corporations and
billionaires,’ he said. ‘They're for ordinary middle-class people.’ The problem wasn't
conservatism but the' dirty role of money in politics. Change would have to come at
the hands of someone who wasn't beholden to the system-a rich outsider like Trump.”
unwitting Democrat. ‘I don't think Republicans are the party of big corporations and
billionaires,’ he said. ‘They're for ordinary middle-class people.’ The problem wasn't
conservatism but the' dirty role of money in politics. Change would have to come at
the hands of someone who wasn't beholden to the system-a rich outsider like Trump.”
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Packer, George, “The Republican Class War,” pp: 26-34 (30), The
New Yorker, November 9, 2015.
