My response so far is…Thank you for posting.
Hey now! Dial it back, tiger!
My SIL held her nose & voted Trump. For her:
- Johnson seemed like a lot of fun but was hard to take seriously as a POTUS candidate
- Hillary was another Clinton–like me, her principle objection was to yet another move toward “dynasty”, royal families, whatever you want to call it. 300 million+ people and the candidate pool has to include spouses of former POTUSes? Whether or not you liked Bill, could the Dem party not find ANYONE outside of his family?
With that, she loathes Trump. She’s glad Hillary didn’t get the job, and she’s glad to see the Republican party covered in Trump’s flung poo. Like many people I think, she’s hoping either party will take the next election seriously and allow only qualified people to run.
I’m going to try this, because I trust you, Czarcasm, and I greatly respect your opinions. I think you’re honestly looking for answers, and that this thread won’t turn into another flame war. If it does, I go back to keeping my peace.
I voted for Trump, and will vote for him again, because:
- His economic policies made much more sense than Clinton’s.
- The proposed Clinton policies for the social programs would have caused a huge hit to my pocketbook.
- I seriously wanted a purge of the existing Washington staffing, and a shake-up of the political process. The existing folks were just in too deep, and they were not focusing on the issues that we’d elected them to do.
- Trump gave me hope that someone who truly cared about America would be in charge. Not someone that would apologize for every action.
There are more, but I don’t want to get into the weeds.
Thank you for keeping this civil.
Sorry, missed the edit window.
How would I stop supporting him?
- If he goes back on his campaign promises. I understand some were scaled back, but it looks like he’s doing his best to keep them.
- If he succumbs to the Washington peer pressure, and becomes just another bureaucrat, pushing out loads of crap that equate to taking more of my money in taxes, and using it to fund near-socialistic programs.
- If I think his actions no longer support the concept of the truly amazing things America is capable of, and no longer are striving to become a beacon of hope.
- If he backs down to other foreign leaders, in an egregious manner, that isn’t just part of negotiations for a greater end.
I would also stop supporting him if another Republican candidate aspired to his same goals, but didn’t come with the baggage of being a TV star, or being such a boisterous public figure in his past. I’d vote for Reagan again in a second.
Thank you for keeping this civil.
Yeah, this is, ah, refreshingly um, informative… <grinds teeth>
Oh, I’m not in a “bubble”. I live in Bum-Fuck Nowhere. Don’t work. Don’t have any social engagements. Sometimes don’t leave the house/yard/larger desert area for days on end (except to go off-roading every day). Just me and the dogs (they don’t vote. Felons, all!)
I haven’t met anyone new in years, period.
To y’all who are responding, know that though this thread has only 24 responses(most of whom are the target audience), it has been viewed almost 950 times: Agree or disagree, you are being listened to.
Another person that says it better than I could!
Agree. I shied away from this thread at first because I assumed it would turn into the same sort of shitshow that past threads with similar goals have devolved into. I was wrong and it has not. Good job Czarcasm and the rest of the SDMB for keeping this one quite civil.
No big deal-how hard can it be to just shut up and listen?
I hesitated to post here, mostly because I don’t want some SDMB members to refer to this post elsewhere in a " look what he posted here - you know he’s one of them" kind of outlook. But also because I haven’t been a Trump supporter per se. Trump’s media persona, his speech patterns, and his crudity have always turned me off. I did not vote for him, but instead chose the weasel’s way out by voting for Johnson in a state where it was a forgone conclusion that Trump would win.
But I have been pleasantly surprised by the things that President Trump has done that really matter. The hyperbole of incessant ‘tweets’, and the revolving door for officials and advisors at the White House still put me off, but those things are just momentary fluff for the left to have fun with.
In my youth I was a ‘movement’ conservative and idealized Bill Buckley, Barry Goldwater, and Ronald Reagan. The first primary vote I was able to cast was for Reagan over Ford in 1976. We youth were going to revolutionize America by rolling back the excesses of the New deal and Great Society (and the “me too” Republicans of the era), eliminating regulations, unneeded cabinet departments, and putting judges on the bench who had not only read, but actually believed in the constitution.
Until now Reagan was the only Republican president who really tried. The rest have only given lip service to those ideals. Nixon’s actions were in downright opposition to them. Trump has at least begun his presidency by proposing policies and appointments that would further the ideals that I hold. If he stays the course I will proudly vote for him in 2020.
I’ve asked Question #1 to several family members & friends who I know to be decent, caring people, yet voted for Trump. The prevailing answer is that they are sick of the status quo/politics as usual. IOW they like that Trump is shaking the tree & mixing things up.
To the OP, what the heck do you want?
Here is the FACT: The DNC put up a bad candidate who ran a bad campaign which didnt connect with the voters and they lost. Just as they did back in 2008 with John Kerry. So instead of going after the DNC, they go after Trump.
Face the fact: Trump won, and IS STILL WINNING.
People are enjoying the fact they have jobs.
People LIKE the tax cuts.
Trump has met with the leader of North Korea.
People, REAL people, not the media, isnt as mad about border detentions as the media is. Plus Trump signed an order stopping separations so saturdays march was just a waste.
Thing is Trump has a near 50% approval rating right now which is growing even among hispanics and democrats.
So maybe the question is why are you still hating Trump so much when its clear the majority of Americans are ok with him?
Answered in the OP.
Given the minimal responses from Dopers, I checked what others think. Fox News poll here:
Top reasons given:
Economy/jobs
Getting things done
Keeping promises
MAGA
Shaking things up
Cutting taxes
Foreign affairs/NK
Immigration
Outsider
Pro-life
I’m transcribing on my phone and may have missed something or written out of order.
Likely paywalled but with data visualization from wapo:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/politics/wp/2018/06/08/americans-like-trump-on-the-economy-they-dislike-trump-for-being-trump/
Any one of those could make for a healthy debate. Or not so healthy. But this is probably not the place.
I did not support Trump in the primaries. He would not have been my choice. However, as long as there is no place for pro-life people in the democratic party, I cannot vote for their candidate. I also felt Trump would be more likely to appoint justices who do not try to make law but rather interpret it. Currently, I find his antics somewhere between horrific and amusing - he likes publicity and will do anything to draw attention to himself.
What would turn me against him - a radical shift in the democratic party to recognize that pre-born people deserve protection.
“Support” is too strong a word. In November 2016, there were no good options. I held my nose, and voted for the lesser evil.
Clinton’s handling of classified documents should have disqualified her from becoming deputy sheriff of Mayberry, much less president of the USA. If you and I had done that, Jim Comey would have sent us to jail in a heartbeat.
Ditto.
Ditto.
I am not a fan of his tariff threats. But the European leaders are utter hypocrites on the issue.
I don’t know if he will be able to get China to stop stealing IPs, but at least he seems to be making the beginning of an attempt. The last half-dozen presidents were scared to mention the topic.
I don’t know if Trump will accomplish anything useful in North Korea, but none of the previous half-dozen presidents did anything useful, so I am willing to give him a shot.
In the Middle East, there are pro-American bloodthirsty bastards, and there are anti-American bloodthirsty bastards. It’s fun to fantasize about non-bastards taking power somewhere, but it’s not likely to happen in our lifetimes. Obama tried to pretend otherwise. Trump acknowledges the realities. Israel is an ally. Iran is an adversary. The Saudis are S.O.B.s, but they are relatively pro-American S.O.B.s.
I don’t expect the Wall to be built, but the country needs immigration reform. And when I say “immigration reform”, I do not mean “another amnesty”. If we don’t tighten the border first, and amnesty the Dreamers afterward, then twenty years from now, we will have another generation of Dreamers demanding yet another amnesty.
I favor abortion and gay marriage, but they should have been achieved through legislation, not litigation. If you want something to be a legal right, put it in writing, and vote for politicians who will add that writing to the law code. If you want something to be a constitutional right, put it in writing, and get that writing amended to the Constitution. Judges and justices should interpret the law as it is written, not wave a magic wand and pull stuff out of their . . . . hats. What is given by five un-elected judges, can be taken away by five un-elected judges.
Under what circumstances would you stop supporting Donald Trump?
Economic policy. If he starts talking like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren, he will lose me. Capitalism can be a harsh taskmaster, but overall, in general, in the long run, it does a better job of feeding people than the bleeding-heart, touchy-feely stuff.
Many of those opposing Trump accuse his advocates of being low-brow and ignorant of the global economy. As someone who watched town after town, including mine, lose its major industrial employer to be replaced by nothing or at best a half the earnings start over job, it became a matter of economics. When weheard and saw
even though she followed it with
we tended to understand when
These are people that were screwed a generation ago by NAFTA.
. Don’t need no college degree to understand this one.
And believe it or not, we paid attention to
only to see
Yeah, really cool move. Come to this country with the open borders and burn its flag while waving the flag of the country you left behind. And then wonder why some use that act to swing support to the politician that denounces it.
About Twitter:
Trump can be crass, but at least I know what he thinks. What he says on Twitter can be mocked, twisted, mis-analyzed, and inspire panic attacks, but I get to see what he said, not just what the media says he said.
Agree
Exactly this
I like what he doing now, Twitter, saying what he wants to say whenever. Our government needs a big shake up!
Quit supporting him?
If he outlaws social security. Not sure what else.
:D:D