The stereotype of liberals being condescending is largely accurate. They really do think they’re smarter than today’s so-called “conservatives.” The problem that these “conservatives” have with the knucklehead stereotype is that they keep proving it’s largely accurate. What else explains the belief that Donald Trump’s business judgment will get uneducated white people in the hinterlands rich? City slickers may not recognize a skidder, but they easily spot the difference between the art of a deal and an artful dodger.

Imagine if Hillary Clinton or any Democrat running for president had run three companies into bankruptcy, lost $916 million in business deals and hired an ex-felon with a rap sheet longer than Melania Trump’s legs to be “his guy.” After meeting him twice, Trump hired Abraham Wallach as his executive vice president for acquisitions and finance based on a gut feeling that his business acumen was as sharp as his elbows.

While working for Trump, Wallach stayed busy on the side as an accomplished receiver of stolen goods. He was a thief and got caught stealing and defrauding people he knew multiple times. Had Trump had the stamina to complete even a minimal vetting process – a Google search, say – he would have picked up the story about Wallach stealing fine art off the walls of his neighbor’s house. Have “conservatives” who support Trump no concern that a Trump administration might plunder the West Wing and ransack the Museum of Natural History?

Wallach was Trump’s right-hand man – advising him on business deals that went bust – while his left hand was rummaging through the purse of his sister’s best friend. Trump’s executive vice president for acquisitions and finance stole her credit card for a $4,888.33 binge at Saks Fifth Avenue. And this is the guy rural “conservative” America wants in the White House?

There’s not even one thing conservative about Trump. He has no traditional moral values: He’s been married three times, and not getting venereal disease was his “personal Vietnam.” He dodged serving in real Vietnam. Trump wouldn’t know a Federalist Paper if it hit him on the head, and he probably thinks Alexander Hamilton got his start on Broadway.

Trump started adulthood with a million bucks from his father and blew it. And guess what happened? At the end of 1990, when he was facing an $18.4 million interest payment, his father sent a lawyer to the Castle casino to buy $3.3 million in chips and leave without cashing them, providing his son with an infusion of cash, reported the New York Times. If this is the kind of pull-yourself-up and dust-yourself-off story that resonates with the struggles of people who lost their job in American factories, then you can’t blame liberals for thinking them fools.

Do today’s “conservatives” believe the self-described “King of Debt” is going to rein in the U.S. debt? Do they realize the reason Trump could claim a $916 million loss on his tax return is because his businesses lost $916 million? How is that winning? Have they considered how Trump’s “brilliant” business strategy would work when applied to major government programs like Social Security or Medicare?

Trump is like Gov. Paul LePage in several important ways. They both mistake gastrointestinal distress with a gut feeling, and very poor decisions result. Do Maine’s “conservatives” remember when LePage met Gary Alexander on a plane, and based on his gut feeling agreed to pay him $1 million of our money for a plagiarized report about welfare reform?

Trump and LePage are both so temperamental, thin-skinned and high maintenance that their aura of chaos and rage is mistaken for strength by people weakened by financial desperation and social shame. They can’t see through the haze of personality that there is absolutely nothing of substance. No policies that will bring back the glory days of meat and potatoes on the table every night and a shiny Chevy pickup truck in every driveway. No ideas that brighten the future.

Trump and LePage bark out simple nonsense words in staccato style that “conservatives” mistake for great wisdom, but they aren’t nice guys like Chance in the movie “Being There.” They don’t have solutions for today’s complex problems.

Trump had a feeling about Wallach and hired the guy who puts Fagin in “Oliver Twist” to shame. Who’s he going to put in charge of the Treasury? Trump bankrupted at least three companies he named after himself – the Trump Taj Mahal Casino, Trump’s Plaza and the Trump Castle – and people not named Trump got hurt. Working people lost jobs and got stiffed while bankers and lawyers and Trump got ahead. Trump’s “brilliant” use of the tax code screwed guys very much like the ones now hell-bent on getting him elected, so it’s no wonder some liberals think today’s so-called “conservatives” are knuckleheads. They vote against their economic interests and brag about it.

What rural Maine will get in a businessman like Trump in the White House is what they get having businessman LePage in the Blaine House: nothing. There’s not going to be a Trump Tower in Caribou. Ivanka and her fancy sibs won’t be sipping bubbly in Bangor. The check is not in the mail for Grandma.

Cynthia Dill is a civil rights lawyer and former state senator. She can be contacted at:

dillesquire@gmail.com

Twitter: dillesquire