[** This piece as written by Snoqualmie resident, Rob McCann **]
Please stop trying to slap an evil label on me so you can try to understand why I voted for Trump. I didn’t do that to you when you elected Obama, twice. And believe me…I wasn’t happy, and was just as confused. But hey, that’s democracy.
If you really want to understand why I voted for Trump, throw away your pre-conceptions and listen closely.
I’m not a racist, misogynist, or homophobe…nor have I attended church since adolescence. I also care a great deal about our planet – recycling, composting, and organically gardening with the best of them. I’m quite the opposite of the stereotypes I hear about “Trumpers” and “rural America”. I’m middle aged and supposedly well educated. I live in a notably liberal county, and I do tech work in a large city. I’m not even a greedy recluse…I’m an active member of my community, giving time and money to worthwhile organizations all year long. I know it would be easier to not believe me…to put me into some not-to-be-taken-seriously bucket…but seriously, that approach won’t help you understand.
Did I vote for Donald Trump because I connect with him on a personal level? Absolutely not. He’s a loudmouth and many of the stupid things he says suggest evilness within. If I was voting on demeanor and social views, he wouldn’t have had a chance. That said, Hillary isn’t exactly a peach either. Yes she’s much more polished and easier on the ears, but I wouldn’t want to befriend her any more than a sleazy car salesmen. At least Trump is open. None of this mattered though. To me this election wasn’t about personality.
Did I vote for Trump because of his policies? Well, partially…about 20%. I have “conservative” beliefs about the best way for a country to operate. I believe in things like fiscal responsibility and personal freedom. I do believe in government and organization, but I don’t believe in inefficiency, micro-managing society with unnecessary laws, or excessive wealth redistribution. So yes, Trump’s more conservative stance on these issues was a factor. That said, I also know that I don’t have all the answers, and that other viewpoints have their own merit. I haven’t seen an optimal society yet. Regardless, for me this election wasn’t about policy either.
In fact, this election wasn’t about anything to do with a single candidate. For me this election was about seizing a rare opportunity to try to fix a very broken political system. Call me a wacko, but when I think of the US Government, I think of House of Cards. Yes that’s cinema, but I’ve always had that gut feeling…and facts revealed in this election did quite a lot to reinforce that distrust. Do you actually think our top politicians care more about helping us than themselves? Do you think they spend more energy pushing our country in the right direction…or more energy enjoying perks, selling power, and figuring out how to get re-elected? I’m sure some politicians start out with good intentions, but it sure seems like they all end up carbon copies of each other at the top…flailing on their responsibilities while “getting theirs” before their time runs out. The one common denominator is the system…and if the system creates broken leadership, then that system is the problem.
Don’t believe that we’re broken? Look at the deficit. It’s huge, and we’re not fixing it. Heck, we’re not even disciplined enough to stop making it bigger. What sort of a sane government, business, household, person, …sane anything operates like that? …and at the same time tells me they’re putting us on the right track? …and at the same time has the gall to tell me what I need to do to help society get better (don’t use these non-PC words, be extra nice to specific groups of people even when it’s contradictory, give us just a bit more money for pet project X, …)?!!! It’s madness. Government, get your own house in order. Actually, please just leave and let’s start over. I know money isn’t everything, but if our country becomes poor and all of our milk and honey dries up, you’d better believe we’ll have bigger issues than social quibbles. When people are forced to survive, or even just lose luxuries they’ve grown accustomed to, priorities have a way of making themselves crystal clear.
So Trump was an easy choice. Hillary is the poster child for corrupt, career politician. Trump is an outsider. No he isn’t one of us…but he also isn’t one of them. Finally. Heck, I’d probably be happy if he just put the country on cruise control and spent 4 years exposing corruption. This is one place where his hyperbolic, brazen personality could really shine. I guarantee this would shake the political machine, and that type of change and awareness is what we all need most of all.
“But what about all those evils things he’s going to do to immigrants/women/LGBTs/…?” Honestly folks…don’t you think there are enough checks and balances in the system to keep him from doing something catastrophic and against the will of the people? “But what about the example we’re setting for our children by putting him in power?” This one was tougher for me…but I decided that I’d rather take the long-view and try to keep America afloat for my children. In fact, I’m using this as a perfect teaching moment – seeing past hype (critical thinking), making choices when you can’t have everything (prioritization), and noting how horrible evilness can be (contrasting your own moral compass with others). “But what about electing a female president?” That was the one bright spot about Hillary, but I wasn’t about to vote for her just to make this happen. I didn’t not vote for Obama because he was black, and I didn’t not vote for Hillary because she was female. As always, I simply voted for the candidate I thought would do best for our country.
So there ya’ go, that’s about as good as I can do to explain. Unreasonable? Makes perfect sense to me. We have checks and balances for a reason, and this time the people checked the system itself.
~ Rob McCann, Snoqualmie,WA
Comments
Rob, We saw the options differently, but I really appreciate this thoughtful narrative about why you voted the way you did. Now we can all do our part by communicating with those who were elected to let them know their priorities need to be a reflection of both what is best for the country and us who elected them.
I think this letter could have been from me because it mirrors my thoughts exactly and matches up with my style of writing. This election at best was a classic double avoidance and at the end of the day you had to pick one who you believed would do the least damage, along with the hope of change. But all choices were fear based and that is not a desirable scenario. I have posted an article on-line, “Healing the Divide” at www.selfgrowth,com
Conan, what is best in life? Never complain, never explain.
I’ll post here what I told my 6-year old daughter as she got ready for school Wednesday morning. She was in tears after I told her the winner. She doesn’t like The Donald because of what he has said about women (smart little girl if I may say so and I fully agree).
I told her God will judge him as a person, but hopefully he becomes a better person going forward. As President, America and the rest of the world needs him to do well at that and we need to support him in doing so.
Full disclosure – I did not vote for either presidential candidate, but usually vote Republican.
I don’t remember any school children being in shock when President Clinton was exposed for his disgusting treatment of a woman in the Oval Office. This is all “brainwashing”
A thoughtful letter, but still it feels like something is missing. If you voted knowing that Trump made statements or exhibited behaviors that you find inherently “evil”, you cannot simply dismiss them. You voted for him, so now you have to deal with them. You have to stand up and make sure that women, Blacks, Muslims, Mexicans, the LGBTQ community are safe. You have to do your part in this, those of you who put this “evil” (your words not mine…also see the irony in that!) man in the highest office have now made these populations frightened in their own country. Here is link to a great article that I hope you will read that explains this quite well. http://www.babymakingmachine.com/2016/11/friends-voted-trump-claim-arent-racist.html
Rob well said and thought out! Here is a great explanation!
http://www.truthrevolt.org/commentary/greenfield-american-uprising
Thank you for speaking for the “silent majority” who followed the democratic pprocess and voted with their minds and not their emotions, you are not alone obviously considering who won. Sad that the liberal media has effectively brainwashed an entire younger generation.
Great comments everybody, thanks. Also, good “non-Trump” Op-ed Danna.
I hear the concerns loud and clear. It’s horrible that some people see this as a green light to act like idiots…on both sides. There’s a lot of frustration out there, and it’s coming out. Maybe I’m naive, but I have confidence that the more reasonable majority will make it clear that this is NOT why Trump was elected. This is what I’m teaching my next generation, and this is why I’m bothering to do things like write the newspaper. In fact, if I was one of the vulnerable, the “Trumpers” I know would be exactly the people I’d want around…they’d intervene against wrong in a second.
Do I think Trump really wants to get rid of hard-working citizens of any race? I’m not a mind reader, but I can’t believe he thinks that shrinking our productive workforce will help the country, umm…be more productive. The trick will be finding a way to get everybody playing by the same rules and weeding out those with criminal intentions…something the previous several administrations failed at miserably.
Imagine if we can pull this off…quell the unrest, make things fair, continue welcoming those willing to work for the American dream, and fix our economy. Don’t you think a lot of this angst and resentment would die down? People have a way of getting along when things are good.
One thing that does trouble me is that we’re losing sight of what just happened. For all of those who like being part of history…do you realize that a private citizen just broke through the 2-party monopoly and became president? Someone actually gets to lead based on judgment rather than bought-and-paid-for obligations? Now that is powerful. That is powerful not just for blacks, or women, or any other “group”…that is powerful for ALL citizens…for generations to come. We should be celebrating.
K, I’ve been on this thing long enough. Thanks again for the dialogue. Now’s certainly the time to be frank.
I think the premise of your argument is a good one, and I will wait to see what happens with Trump in office. I didn’t vote for Trump, I consider him a vile human being and I was unwilling to throw the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak. Voting for Trump for the sake of change seemed like a false narrative to me. I think his recent appointments for his cabinet positions mostly bears out the idea that it will be more of the same for the next four years. I didn’t care much for Hillary either, but I was content to vote for her with the hope that we would continue to see incremental change towards the values and ideals that Western Washingtonians typically support; higher minimum wages, Wall Street reform, immigration reform, etc..
My experience as a counseling psychologist and business manager firm up my belief that people generally adjust upwardly or downward as the case may be, appropriate to the new situation they become part of, appropriate to the demands of the situation…rather than resorting to their old egoistic selves. But this may be due to my optimism rather than reality. At any rate Trump will learn he can’t do half the things he thought he wanted to do to get elected. I think the biggest learning curve he still faces is how to say what he is saying with less offense.