“In a new survey by the Pew Research Council, half of the registered voters surveyed (51%) said they think the future for the next generation will be worse, while just 24% said life will be better for the next generation. The survey indicated this pessimistic sentiment is spread across racial and economic lines.” – Optimism Is a Casualty in Campaign 2016, Wall Street Journal

30 years of wage stagnation followed by one wealth-eviscerating asset bubble after another has drained the optimism from the collective American psyche. Most people now think things are going to get worse for themselves and their children. This pervasive pessimism shows up in other surveys as well, like this recent Gallup poll in which the sample-group was asked, “In general, are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way things are going in the United States at this time?”

You’d think that would be a slam-dunk for President Obama who never misses a chance to boast about his great economic recovery. But the fact is, 71 percent of the people said they were dissatisfied with the way things are going. Only 27 percent said they’re satisfied. That’s not just a knock on Obama, it’s also a powerful statement about the abysmal condition economy. The vast majority of people are clearly frustrated that they can’t get ahead because the economy isn’t improving. At the same time, they can’t help but notice that more and more of the nation’s wealth is being shifted to the people who least need it, the 1 percent elites at the top.

The point we’re trying to make is that Donald Trump’s meteoric rise in the GOP can be traced back to the failed economic policies of prior administrations. He’s the political beneficiary of 3 decades of stagnant wages, falling incomes, declining living standards, and a cataclysmic financial crisis that wiped out trillions of dollars in home equity leaving behind a battered middle class and sluggish economy that doesn’t grow, doesn’t generate opportunities for upward mobility, and only produces low-paying, deadend, service-sector jobs that barley pay the rent. In other words, if the economy wasn’t in such dire straits, Trump probably would not be the GOP frontrunner. Here’s a summary of what’s really going on by Mechele Dickerson:

“The American Dream that has existed in this country for over 70 years is on life support. For some Americans, it may already be dead….One-fifth of all employed Americans must find ways to supplement their income just to pay bills and buy groceries. Fourteen percent are spending more on their credit cards to pay for their monthly living expenses, and 17 percent of workers have been forced to sacrifice their retirement security….

His supporters, many of who are blue collar conservatives from small cities and towns across the country, love the fact that Trump is not self censoring and that he says what he thinks whether others find it offensive or not. They see his patrician condescension, his outspoken xenophobia and his blustery showmanship as a refreshing antidote to the other candidates who are invariably scripted, wooden, and fake.....'