I posted this to Facebook in October 2016. It's one glimpse into the mind of some Trumpers.
Last night I was at the hotel bar with a bunch of people from a real estate convention. Talk turned to politics, as it does, and I found myself in a crowd of Trump supporters. Once we got past the really shallow talking points (Hillary emails, whether Trump pays taxes, a few silly memes), some interesting details emerged.
These people were mostly small business owners, aged 50-70. They cited Trump's business skill and his likely ability to clean up a bloated system, because "running a country is just like running a huge business". I disagreed with them, but don't think I was able to impress the differences upon them.
They hated that their taxes went to support "deadbeats who would rather not work", but were very compassionate towards people who experienced misfortune and felt there should be government programs to help them. We agreed we did not know how much of our taxes went to such scenarios.
They hated Obamacare (because their personal rates were moving up) and all of them agreed that a universal socialized medicine system would be great.
One lady was adamant that we have to close our borders and keep the terrorists out (well yeah, no one wants to let the terrorists in), but an hour later talked about an Iranian guy who'd worked for her (remotely, she's never physically met him) for years that she wants to help get into the country and considers a family member. Another said hated both candidates, but was reluctantly siding with Trump because of Hillary's position on 1031 (a real estate tax thing).
More than one of them, without even being pressed, admitted they probably woulda Lewinsky'd it up in her position too. I mean, if they would have blown a Democratic president, could he really have been all that bad?
We agreed to disagree on some points, connected on some others. These people were not assholes. It amazes me that they're willing to support someone who so unapologetically is one. My take was that they had a hard time extending their compassion to the general population, even though they had it for individuals.
I think the more we make conversations about the issues people care about instead of attacks on the politicians they support, the more we can diffuse the rampant and extreme partisanship. By the end of the night, they decided I was a great guy, even though I openly told them I will not be voting for their candidate.
Last night I was at the hotel bar with a bunch of people from a real estate convention. Talk turned to politics, as it does, and I found myself in a crowd of Trump supporters. Once we got past the really shallow talking points (Hillary emails, whether Trump pays taxes, a few silly memes), some interesting details emerged.
These people were mostly small business owners, aged 50-70. They cited Trump's business skill and his likely ability to clean up a bloated system, because "running a country is just like running a huge business". I disagreed with them, but don't think I was able to impress the differences upon them.
They hated that their taxes went to support "deadbeats who would rather not work", but were very compassionate towards people who experienced misfortune and felt there should be government programs to help them. We agreed we did not know how much of our taxes went to such scenarios.
They hated Obamacare (because their personal rates were moving up) and all of them agreed that a universal socialized medicine system would be great.
One lady was adamant that we have to close our borders and keep the terrorists out (well yeah, no one wants to let the terrorists in), but an hour later talked about an Iranian guy who'd worked for her (remotely, she's never physically met him) for years that she wants to help get into the country and considers a family member. Another said hated both candidates, but was reluctantly siding with Trump because of Hillary's position on 1031 (a real estate tax thing).
More than one of them, without even being pressed, admitted they probably woulda Lewinsky'd it up in her position too. I mean, if they would have blown a Democratic president, could he really have been all that bad?
We agreed to disagree on some points, connected on some others. These people were not assholes. It amazes me that they're willing to support someone who so unapologetically is one. My take was that they had a hard time extending their compassion to the general population, even though they had it for individuals.
I think the more we make conversations about the issues people care about instead of attacks on the politicians they support, the more we can diffuse the rampant and extreme partisanship. By the end of the night, they decided I was a great guy, even though I openly told them I will not be voting for their candidate.
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