Hope can be hard to find in a moment like this. More so when you think of the 50+ million people that are celebrating this colossal failure. Yet I know people who voted for this monster, and despite that fact, they are my friends and my family. These are people that stand up on Sunday to sing about a loving God and denounce sin. These are people that have fought overseas to protect freedoms that Donald Trump finds inconvenient. These are people that believe in community and helping your neighbor, both the one down the street and the one on the other side of the planet. They have faced real struggle, and instead of succumbing, they have risen. They are doctors, they are engineers, they are pastors, and they voted for a cruel predator. How can I reconcile these things?
Plenty has been written about the correlation between Trump voters and racism, misogyny, nationalism, authoritarianism, economic anxiety, and everything else. As someone who lives in the heartland, which has been the fertile ground that gave rise to the Trump presidency, I give my best shot at explaining what I see and hear from those that supported a candidate who clashes with many of the "American Ideals" that I and others hold dear.
- Trump is not Hillary. When the Democratic Party nominated Hillary Clinton, they signed off on a candidate that even their own base didn't want. Say what you will, but the DNC managed to assemble a primary in name only that served the nomination to HRC on a platter. They disregarded their own constituency as it clambered for ANYBODY other than Clinton. After being wholly rejected in 2008, Clinton walked into the nomination as one of the least popular nominees ever. With such an unappealing alternative, more independents ended up voting for third party candidates this year and disaffected Republicans felt justified in voting for an even worse candidate.
- They didn't know what they were doing. When I would tell people about Trump's ties to Russia, his shady business dealings, his flirtations with white supremacists, etc., people were often surprised. I read a lot, and I read a wide variety of sources. These were issues I thought were beaten to death, yet others hadn't even heard of this. I attribute this mainly to three factors: a lack of quality journalism, partisan echo chambers, and election fatigue. The decline of print journalism is pretty self-explanatory. Fewer people subscribe to newspapers and the entire medium is struggling to adapt to the new economics of a digital age. Part of this new digital age of journalism, however, seems particularly bad at providing quality reporting that reaches a wide audience. I fear that the days of objective investigative reporting are behind us. Instead, we have a country that clings to their partisan media. Fox News, Breitbart, Red State, and the rest of the hyper-right media pump out absurd stories that serve the interests of their investors, not their listeners. When a significant percentage of Trump supporters believe that Clinton is an actual demon, we have gone all kinds of wrong. The "alt-right" commentariat lies, conceals, and confuses on its way to burning down the political fabric that holds this country together. Short term profits for long term anarchy, but hey, we're all dead in the long run, right? And last but not least, election fatigue. I can sympathize here, as someone who got sick of hearing about every skeleton in Trump's closet (there are A LOT). The election cycle was way too long. As the contest dragged on, people stopped paying attention. Trump's campaign manager worked for a pro-Russian upstart in Ukraine? Trump abuses women? No tax returns? At some point, people just stop caring and walk into the voting booth with a willful ignorance of just how awful Trump is.
- Deeply rooted political tribalism. I spent two years living in Poland as a missionary and part of my responsibility was to convince the people to change religions. Poland is a staunchly Catholic nation, and Pope John Paul II is a hero there. One phrase that I heard often during that time was "I was born Catholic, and I will die Catholic." Some people said that to me directly after telling me that they don't believe in the supernatural. Consider that. They are Catholic, and yet they not only believe something different than the Catholic church, they fully reject the entire premise. So it is with politics. These people grew up in staunchly Republican households. That red elephant is as much a part of their identity as their last name. When Trump said he could kill somebody in Times Square and it wouldn't matter, he is probably right. As long as his name is on the line for the Republican ticket, he will get at least 40% of the vote, and probably more. As with pretty much everything on this list, the same is true for Democrats. Romney was demonized for his 47% comment, but, tone deaf as it was, he was right. American politics are a team sport, and both teams are in it to win.
- The enemy of my enemy is my friend. In exit polls, voters willingly admitted to pollsters that they thought Trump would be a bad president, but they voted for him anyway. Why? Because he hates blacks/women/Jews/immigrants/Muslims/etc. Trump magnifies the worst in everybody. Even good people have deep-seated prejudice, and Trump preyed on fears of terrorism, crime, economic anxiety, and religious fanaticism. His campaign speeches portrayed an apocalyptic wasteland that was either already here or well on its way. I heard a lot of "I really don't like Trump, but he would stop group X from ruining our country."
- One last hope for those that thought hope was lost. Trump appealed to those who have been left behind in the digital economy. Factory workers, coal miners, steel mill workers, etc. have all seen their industries collapse with the rise of global markets. For the displaced worker who doesn't have much hope of regaining their dignity in a world they no longer recognize, Trump seemed like a risk worth taking. Trump explicitly promised to revive the coal industry in West Virginia and put people back to work. He promised tariffs and reversals of free trade agreements to bring jobs back onto American soil. Spoiler: those jobs are gone, regardless of who is president. While the blue collar crowd generally supports Democrats, Trump took up their mantle with much more vigor (and magic fairy unicorn dust) than Clinton. With the Trans-Pacific Partnership, she was for it only until it became politically expedient for her to be against it. After eight years of losing under Obama, they convinced themselves to take a chance on Trump.
For progressives, get over yourselves. The elitism and condescending attitude only further alienates those you obviously don't understand. "Let them eat cake" didn't end well last time, either. Get involved in your community, but also get involved in a community that exists outside of your urban trappings. Recognize your solutions aren't THE solutions. There isn't a right answer in politics, so quit with the stupid "mic drop" commentary.
For those that voted for Trump, get over yourselves. As we learned from Brexit, be careful what you wish for. And if you find yourself justifying your vote for one of the above reasons... I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Trump isn't going to make things better. I hope for the future that Trump's campaign was an elaborate con just to get elected president, and now that he is there, he will simply hire good people and get out of their way.
I keep trying to find a silver lining in all of this, but the best I can think of is perhaps we have seen how fragile our freedoms really are. Maybe by opening this festering wound, we can finally treat it - maybe in exposing our weakness, we can become stronger. Let us be diligent now, lest we destroy the things that have always made America great.
