Since NAFTA, both parties have extolled the virtues of "free trade," which means that other countries sell their products in our country at will.  This has reduced the price of consumer goods, although while the price is low, the quality of the products seems to match the price.  Virtually all clothing, toys, consumer electronics, tools, and many other products are made in China, Vietnam, and other foreign countries.

The consequence is the loss of jobs in those American industries that made the products now made mostly in China.  Fifty years ago, companies moved to southern states to avoid the unions in the northern states.  Now these companies have moved their operations to foreign countries.

Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans addressed the issue of workers who lost jobs to foreign countries.  They gave lip service to retraining workers and educating workers for high-tech jobs and service jobs.  But not everyone goes to college, and even for those who do, there is no guarantee of a good job.

Donald Trump is the first major presidential candidate to emphasize this issue.  Pat Buchanan raised it, but he was not taken seriously as a third-party candidate.  Trump has clearly stated the problem: that we have negotiated one-way deals, and there is no such thing as free trade.  China, Vietnam, and the other countries that flood our markets with their goods do not have labor unions to represent employees, do not have the massive employment regulators and laws such as the EPA, OSHA, the EEOC, age discrimination, the NLRB, and others.  It is impossible for most American-based companies to compete with foreign countries because our cost of doing business is so much higher. 

This imbalance in the cost of doing business has to be reflected in the price at which foreign-made goods are sold.  It is, as Trump said, a matter of negotiating trade deals that reflect the cost of doing business.

Economists usually justify "free trade" by arguing the theory of "comparative advantage," which means that products and services should be provided by the lowest-cost producer.  This sounds great, but it ignores why some producers operate at the lowest cost.

The Democratic Party and the establishment wing of the Republican Party, which daily is refusing to support Trump and is comfortable with Hillary as president, have abandoned American workers who lost their jobs and, moreover, those Americans who will not be able to get good jobs because of "free trade."

We are seeing a realignment where the Quisling Establishment  Republicans are jumping ship, refusing to support Trump, which helps Hillary.  This is addition by subtraction – or, as Clemenza said in The Godfather, "this gotta happen every ten or fifteen years.  It gets rid of the bad blood."

We are seeing workers responding to Trump because they know that the Democratic Party has abandoned them.  This ties in to American workers who have lost jobs in the coal industry as a result of Obama's and Hillary's war on Coal, refusal to authorize the Keystone Pipeline and offshore drilling, and increasing regulations on American business.

Trump appeals to the self-employed, small business owners, and workers – in short, to those who work and create jobs for Americans.  Trump has a good chance to appeal to these disaffected workers in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Ohio, where towns have been hollowed out as a result of factories closing because of "free trade."

Trump offers hope that he will renegotiate trade deals, cut taxes, reduce regulations, and authorize drilling, all to revive the economy.

Hillary offers nothing except class envy.  She will tax the "rich."  (Although she did have a moment of truth where she said she will tax the middle class.)