Months ago, before the issue was decided, I went to several Trump events, to try and understand why people were attracted to such an unattractive person. I was surprised.
I talked to as many people as would take the time to answer my questions and here’s what I learned:
None of the several dozen people to whom I spoke were active in Republican politics. None of them were active in Democrat politics but, all of the several dozen to whom I spoke had previously voted Democrat.
This surprised me but, both events were held in states with open primaries so, it took no planning or effort for Democrats could cross over and vote in Republican primaries. My admittedly unscientific discovery correlates with what took place in the Republican primaries; Trump won open primaries, Cruz won closed primaries. My conclusion is, Trump attracted an unknown number of Democrat voters.
When I asked why these people liked Trump, dismay set in. One woman told me she was voting Trump because he’d “arrest all those Congressmen and throw them in jail.” A loudly cheering man told me he was voting Trump because Trump would “undo all the wrong things Obama did.” Nothing about law and order or the Constitution, just anger at Washington, both Congress and the President.
I was fascinated to find so many Trumpites are disillusioned and angry Obama voters but then, I see Trump as the flip side of Obama. They’re both authoritarian elitists.
Trump said nothing of significance at either event, exaggerated the crowd numbers and, at both events, at some point, when the noise subsided he discovered someone in the crowd carrying and anti-Trump poster, whereupon Trump shouted “get him out of here!” bringing on thunderous cheers and applause. He’d pulled the script straight from Wrestlemania, where, at some point in the evening, the bad guy shows up and the announcer tells the good guys to “get him out of here!” If you’re not the Wrestlemania type, google Trump+Vince McMahon+Wrestlemania and watch the video of our possible next president playing the same role then as he is now.
The gist of what I’m attempting to say here is: Obama can’t expose Trump because Trump isn’t hiding anything. Trumpites don’t just overlook elite authoritarianism, they embrace it, it’s what they want. They’re not reluctantly holding their noses and voting for a strongman who knows nothing about the world, they want a strongman who will ignore or bully the rest of the world. Obama isn’t the man to undo Trump because he’s too much like Trump. He ignores Congress, breaks laws, and lies or stretches the truth at every turn. Trump competes with Clinton, another elite authoritarian and, if anyone were to spend the money on a Trump vs Obama poll, I think you’d find Trump would do rather well. My interpretation would be; Trump does well against Obama because Obama’s had time to fail but, Trump doesn’t yet have the cross of failure to bear. “Hope and Change” hasn’t worked. “Making America Great Again” has yet to be exposed forthe hollow slogan it is.
Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, is the anti-Trump and, by chanting his anti-elitist anti-authoritarian mantra he can expose and undo Trump, expose him for the wealthy elitist he is and undo him because the public is tired of wealthy elitists. Polls bear me out; Sanders does much better against Trump than does Clinton.
I’m neither a Democrat nor a Republican. I find both parties and most of their members disgusting and, Trump one of the most disgusting examples of both.
