Why Trump?

The question of the day seems to be how anybody (intelligent, good, thoughtful, grown-up, non-sexist, non-racist, willing to take personal responsibility, etc.) can possibly vote for Donald Trump. I have thus far believed that ignorance is the only possible excuse. But I am beginning to think I am wrong.

What if Trump supporters are not really answering the question about who would make the best President? Maybe they are just trying to send a message to the so-called political elite? Hmm. What message might that be?

How about: “FUCK YOU.”

Granted, the election is meant to result in a candidate who can actually do the job, not just expose the deep-seated anger felt by those who feel their government has failed them. And yes, their timing is a little awkward since we can’t resolve that issue by a single vote. But timing is not always convenient.

As much as we are supposed to be focused on choosing the next President, we are also supposed to be listening to the will of the people—all of them, not just the so-called Elite. And we haven’t done such a great job with that.

There are people in this country who lost everything during the economic crises of 2008. Entire life savings were depleted. Some of these people spent their careers making things we can’t live without, and suddenly their retirement is gone and they are sweeping floors at Starbucks, just to survive.

You can’t blame them for this – they were not nearly as foolish as the people Bernie Madoff bilked, because they weren’t asking for something ‘too good to be true’. They just believed our government would protect them from abuse by our own financial industry.  Is that really too much to ask?

When companies disappear from towns that literally sprung up around them, how are the people that lose their jobs supposed to survive?  Where should they go? What if are now underwater and they can’t sell/rent their home?  What if they don’t have the money to move? What if their parents are living with them and are too frail to be uprooted? Do the so-called “Elites” ever think about those people?  

Hillary needs to talk to them personally so she can demonstrate her understanding of their needs.  Instead, she calls them “deplorables” and talks around them rather than with them.

She is a representative of the current establishment. On their behalf, she needs to apologize for the Iraq War;  the various financial institutions that have failed us; the police who won’t go into cities they consider to be too violent, even though they know innocent people live there and are trapped, without protection or hope.

Can you blame them for asking why we spend money helping people in other countries but ignore their needs?

These are people who have historically been dismissed as “ignorant or stupid”. They are tired of being side-lined in a country that brags about being a Democracy. They may not have spent their free time studying politics or government but that does not make them stupid or “deplorable.” They are still Americans, they need help, and we are not helping them. That is why they are voting for Trump.

The only way for them to consider the possibility that a veteran of the American Political System should be trusted with their future, is for Hillary Clinton to personally apologize on behalf of the entire American government, for having abandoned them in the past. 

Oh, and she needs to mean it.