When Platner observed, “we live in a political system that is not built for normal people”, the implication was that he is a normal person, which the shenanigans of recent months have comprehensively disproved.
Even if you don’t think Platner is a normal person, you can’t deny that he appealed to a lot of normal people. But then, maybe “normal” just isn’t a useful adjective. I don’t know. Of course, Platner doesn’t necessarily have to be a normal person himself for the statement to be true. Platner can be abnormal and we can live in a political system that is not built for normal people. It can also be true that liberal elites have a general disdain for “normal” people. Or at least they have disdain for the voters who find uncouth, crass, ill-mannered populists appealing. Whether or not those voters are “normal” is a matter of debate, I suppose. But if they’re not normal, who is? And even if the populists aren’t “normal,” they still exist. In the millions. Ignorant, unrefined and problematic they may be, they exist. In this society, with you. What will the liberal elites do about them? They’ve tried snark and condescension, but for some reason it just hasn’t worked.
Even if you don’t think Platner is a normal person, you can’t deny that he appealed to a lot of normal people. But then, maybe “normal” just isn’t a useful adjective. I don’t know. Of course, Platner doesn’t necessarily have to be a normal person himself for the statement to be true. Platner can be abnormal and we can live in a political system that is not built for normal people. It can also be true that liberal elites have a general disdain for “normal” people. Or at least they have disdain for the voters who find uncouth, crass, ill-mannered populists appealing. Whether or not those voters are “normal” is a matter of debate, I suppose. But if they’re not normal, who is? And even if the populists aren’t “normal,” they still exist. In the millions. Ignorant, unrefined and problematic they may be, they exist. In this society, with you. What will the liberal elites do about them? They’ve tried snark and condescension, but for some reason it just hasn’t worked.