At least part of Donald Trump’s appeal is that his supporters see him as a sort of cultural crusader, a white knight willing to use government power to defend the America of Coke, apple pie and mom. I have spent a lot of time since Ted Cruz dropped out looking for some inkling of a reason to vote for him – other than I hate Hillary! In that time I have spoken with many, many Trump True Believers to try to understand what it is that they see in him. Invariably, I get the “he’s going to ‘Make America Great Again’” answer – which to them means he will protect back-yard barbecues and fireworks on Independence Day, he will defend the Super Bowl and the World Series, pickup trucks (not knocking them, I own a carbon spewing 4 wheel drive), red and white checkered picnic tablecloths, watermelons and homemade ice cream.
I’ve never interpreted Trump’s message as racist, mostly because it isn’t – but based on my conversations with some (and I emphasize SOME) of his supporters, it is clear they do. They do see him as a protector of white, Christian, blue collar America. They note in that defense, he’s going to use the power of government to build a wall and make those damn Mexicans pay for it, he’s going to protect Christianity by blocking Muslims from coming to America and he’s going to smack those evil ChiComs in the face with tariffs to bring industry back and protect the dirty fingernail, blue collar, Harley riding working man. They say he is against Wall Street money buying politicians and he is “one of us.”
To have internalized this message is to have created a belief system, one requiring the same faith and exhibiting all the trappings of a religion.
It may come as a surprise to many who know I am not a Trump fan, but as I have said many times, I don’t dislike Donald Trump – I do; however, dislike the idea of a Trump presidency. I actually agree with the validity of the need for protection of this majority segment of American culture – because these are the very people progressives have been attacking for decades.
There are two aspects of this belief system are, to me, simply irreconcilable. The first is how his supporters can believe that a man who grew up in a rich family, received a “small” (in his words) million dollar loan to get started and has always been rich has any concept of what a guy who used to work in a steel mill or a coal mine and now has been on unemployment for multiple years because government, not the free market, shut their employers down. Trump shares very few of their values and has none of their life experiences, the only evidence he does is that he says so. Trump is a billionaire who operates in the same strata as Hillary Clinton, Michael Bloomberg, Chuck Schumer and other insiders and as such, knows the big money of Wall Street well.
The second aspect is the belief that government can be used to stop the erosion of American culture without completely compromising the constitutional rights of all Americans. The issue is rooted in the word “belief.” Believing in something is an individual act and as such cannot be eliminated by walls, rules, laws, prohibition, punishment or persecution. A belief exists in the mind of the individual and no government has the ability to eradicate it. Beliefs are like other ideas, they respect no borders nor are they blocked by any walls and forcing “approved” beliefs on a populace is guaranteed to divide, not unite.
America is falling in stature, not due to economic or military failures, rather because for decades, it has been flooded with people who have no respect for the traditions of America and the citizens already here either have been taught not believe in her or have simply lost what beliefs they once held.
Perhaps Trump is being honest and does sympathize with blue collar America and he does want to try to reverse the cultural rot – but even if he is true to both in his wishes, failing at one or the other will constitute a failure in both. It is a very small needle to thread. I wish him success
The Rio Norte Line 
Why can’t people see that:
“He’s going to make America great again” = “Change you can believe in.”
They saw it when it was Obama leading his people down the path, but now that they like the piper, they can’t see past the music any more than the Obama supporters could.
😦
A good percentage ARE former Obama supporters. The rest of the “Hope and Change” crowd are following Bernie the ‘Pied Piper of Marxism’.
I know 😦
One thing I see about Trump’s claim to make America great again is that it is presented largely, entirely?, without content. This leave everyone free to fill-in-the-blank as to what it means. No matter what your pet issue is, you are free to see Trump as the guy who will fix it for you. After all, that (whatever that is) is what made America great.
Reblogged this on The way I see things … and commented:
While the sentiments this author expresses are not mine in their entirety; I can relate to what is being said.
How many are searching for reasons to vote for #Trump2016 – other than the obvious #Neverkillary.
My hope is that as the #Election2016 process continues that persons with such feelings will see clearly the reasons to vote for #TrumpEarthquake.
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“America is falling in stature, not due to economic or military failures, rather because for decades, it has been flooded with people who have no respect for the traditions of America and the citizens already here either have been taught not believe in her or have simply lost what beliefs they once held.
Perhaps Trump is being honest and does sympathize with blue collar America and he does want to try to reverse the cultural rot – but even if he is true to both in his wishes, failing at one or the other will constitute a failure in both. It is a very small needle to thread. I wish him success”
I agree with everything except the claim of racism. One aspect of his claim to want to work with an America First priority is the push back against the :
“flood of people who have no respect for the traditions of America and the citizens already here either have been taught not believe in her or have simply lost what beliefs they once held.”
That flood of people and those here undermining American culture are now and have been painting the “America is racist” meme for decades. Thus any meaningful push back against Illegals and progressives by definition confronts this La Raza/progressive racism and hatred of America if it is to defend American culture and traditions. In short any racism is a reflection and reaction to the current administration’s own racism and efforts to dismantle America based directly on those racist memes and tropes. “White privilege”……white Hollywood…3rd wave feminism….BLM…..attacks on Police….etc.
Other wise I get what you are saying……. except about “Home made Ice Cream”…..what’s with that ? I mean come on can we just agree to leave Ice Cream out of all this………… Sheesh !
Michael – I don’t know where you find these Trump supporters. I live in the south, work in Defense, and almost everyone I know is not some dreamy eyed believer, but rather patriots, most serving or having served in the military. They are tired of the anti-American March of progressives, the gutless lack of resistance from the traditional GOP sources. The field had their chance to demonstrate they see the real problems we face – they could have easily gone tougher on the key issues (immigration, radical Islam, and American job growth), but by attacking Trump on his America first stance on these issues, they looked like the same old GOP cranks who have proven themselves incapable of stopping the left. I suspected it was over when virtually every other candidate opposed Trumps position on pausing Muslim immigration – the entire rest of the GOP field were more interested in Muslim rights, or what the rest of the world will think about us than protecting innocent American lives. Add into the mix Trump’s innate knack for saying and doing politically incorrect things, and not apologizing, and you get what appears to most people, who are not professional political analysts, like someone who is not part of the corrupt cesspool that is DC, who seems to think we should put America first in all things, and who can not be pushed around by the PC media.
I have friends in Mississippi and Florida who have admitted as much. I was very careful to state SOME and noted that I do not believe that it is a racist message. As far as your comment, you actually hit the nail on the head – Trump “appears to most people”to be what they want him to be but his life history points to something else. You also write of someone who is not a part of the “corrupt cesspool that is DC” – well, he admits to be part of the cesspool in New York, giving to politicians to get from them. As to Trump’s Muslim ban, it was another example of BS because it could never happen as a practical matter – how do you know if a Middle Easterner is a Christian, a Zoroastrian or a Muslim? Ask them? The idea that people of a certain religion can be blocked is ludicrous. If a person is committed to terrorism, a little lie about not being Muslim is not a big deal.
Agree 100 % with the essence of your comment.
The answer to the muslim ban is one which is Country specific irrespective of religion. Limiting movement of people from those Countries where muslim terrorism is currently and those like Iran who are known sponsors. The pressure would mount in these countries against the terrorism. But to continue to do nothing and allow free movement to and from those countries is also not a solution and appears to many ( if not most ) Americans as capitulation to more of the same.
The Muslim immigration problem does not seem very challenging. Since it is not about religion, you focus on anyone coming from regions where Sharia is prevalent, and about whom you can not safely verify. There are no non-citizens out there who have some right to enter the country. If you look at the problem from an America first perspective, the sensible, responsible approach is to manage the risk as low as reasonably practicable. The M&M analogy illustrates it well. If I have a jar of peanut M&Ms on the counter containing 1000 M&Ms and I tell you that 3% are laced with deadly poison, how many are you going to eat?
Thanks Pete …. for leaving Home-made Ice Cream outta all this…… it’s a small thing I know. But Hey !