The Big Picture

The recent protests have illustrated that there is a much bigger underlying problem in our country, and demonstrates how the Democrats are as much to blame for Trump’s getting elected as are the Republicans.

Trump is everything that the protesters claim, but that is not why people voted for him.  Most Republications were as offended by his racist, bigoted comments and actions as were the rest of us. 

No, they voted for him because he represented resistance to what they perceived as an attack on their way of life.  Christianity is being systematically attacked in this country, while Islam is being celebrated.  The Second Amendment is doomed.  Illegal immigrants are taking jobs away from hard-working Americans, and are getting welfare benefits most Americans are not even eligible for. The middle class is increasingly bearing the weight of a lower class unwilling to work and living on welfare, while the rich are paying less in taxes every year.  Violent crime is on the rise, fueled by illegal immigrants who flout our laws and simply return if they are deported. Terrorism attacks are on the rise, yet we are letting more and more refugees from Syria and other dangerous countries in without the slightest vetting.

Now, we all know that none of the above claims are true, but each does have a little bit of basis in fact, and Trump used those nuggets to form the core of his message.  If you ignore the outrageous things he said, you will see that his core message relentlessly repeated and validated their fears, citing specific, but isolated, facts to support his claims.

At the same time, he relentlessly attacked each of his opponents, identifying and amplifying each of their weaknesses.  While most politicians avoid naming their opponents, referring to them as “my esteemed opponent” or some other civilized title, Trump went the other direction and not only named them, but gave them catchy nicknames as well:  “Crooked Hillary”, “Lying Ted”, etc.  He repeated and embellished false allegations to the point that the lie became the truth.

By the end of the campaign, most Trump supporters honestly believed Hillary was the most corrupt individual to walk the planet since Hitler. They honestly believed their entire way of life was being threatened.  They were, and are, good, honest, hard-working Americans who just want a better life for themselves and their kids. Just like us!

At the same time, the Democrats failed to recognize this. Instead, we all focused on Trump’s outrageous antics and ignored his core messages. We labeled and belittled Trump’s supporters in much the same way he belittled Hillary, Ted, Bernie, and the rest. All that did was deepen the divide.  The more that people and institutions attacked Trump on his racist and bigotry issues while ignoring his actual policy flaws, the more isolated Trump supporters became. Isolation creates paranoia, and Trump encouraged that by claiming that everything was rigged against him and his supporters.  It became truly an “Us VS Them” mentality.

By late summer, Trump’s core supporters were not even willing to listen to anything anti-Trump. They believed that he recognized the coming end of their way of life, and they believed he could stop it. They realized that much most of his racist rhetoric was just that, and focused on his core message.  They saw their only choices were between a dedicated, even if rather immoral, outsider who could clean up the corruption (Trump), or the ultimate, corrupted insider (Hillary).

NOW HE IS THE PRESIDENT.

Our only hope to reunite the country is to stop attacking the Trump Supporters and further alienating them. Just because they supported Trump does NOT make them racists and bigots.  They voted for who they thought cared about them. We need to stop focusing on Trump’s actions of the past. We need to stop focusing on every little mistake he makes. We need to stop relentlessly attacking everything about him.

Instead, we need to focus on POLICIES.  We need to start spreading a POSITIVE message. We need to explain how the Democrats’ policies will make THEIR LIVES BETTER. We need to tone down the “political correctness” and feelings of superiority. Some of Trump’s policies are NOT all bad, and we need to support them and offer suggestions to make them better. Which would YOU rather have told to you:  “Your idea sucks, but mine is awesome!” or “I like your idea!  But how about we do this as well, or maybe do this part instead?”     

We could begin by admitting Obamacare is not the greatest law this country has ever passed.  Let’s stop focusing solely on its successes, and admitting to some of its flaws.  Let’s say, “Obamacare has helped 20 million Americans, but it has resulted in higher premiums, hospital expenses, and out of control drug costs.  How can we work together to lower the costs of premiums, drugs, and hospital stays?  How can we help you Republicans FIX the problems?”  

It will be a hell of a lot harder for the Republicans to ignore Democrats who are asking how they can help than it is to ignore those who just attack everything they say or do.  It’s easy to hate the haters.  It’s hard to hate those who are trying to help.

Let’s be part of the SOLUTION and not part of the problem.