Well, I just got a taste of "The Donald".
I found out last night that Trump would have a rally in Tampa, and I figured it would be interesting to go and see for myself, unfiltered, the attraction.
Some of it was as I expected, other was how contrived and ungenuine it was. There were warm up acts, rock and blues music, and then introductions by Sarah Palin (what a vapid individual she is) and Chris Christie, who I always had thought fairly well of. I could not understand his endorsement of Trump, until he dropped the hint, subtle, but it was there, that Trump would appoint him as the Attorney General for the US. Now it made sense to me; I could not see much else the two had in common. For the record, Christie used to be the AG for New Jersey, a fact he spent some time discussing. The third politico on stage was the current AG for Florida, who "always listened to her mom, and her mom was for Trump".
What surprised me most was the small crowd. It was held in the Tampa Convention center, so I took a bus as Franklin St. was shut down, and I know parking could be tough in the area. I expected many thousands; I doubt that there were more than 1,500 people there total. It seemed that some were there out of curiosity, like myself, but most were pretty strong Trump supporters, to no surprise. Security was pretty tight, with both uniformed police and what my guess was Secret Service agents in large numbers. All those CCW permits in Florida? You were not allowed in if you were carrying.
It was a very, very white crowd. A few blacks, and I didn't see one Hispanic except for convention center staff in the building. Tampa has a large, large Hispanic community, so all that bluster about how much support Hispanics were giving Trump certainly was not reflected in that crowd.
Trump was his normal self; bluster and no details of his platform. He discussed the wall between Mexico and the US, the Second Amendment, Free Trade and how he would kill all the deals, and how he would make the Armed Forces larger. Oh, and China. Not once did he say how he would do all these things, not once did he discuss international agreements and how he break them, and his answer to American companies that would move their manufacturing to Mexico (he gave Carrier as an example), was that he would phone the company's president, and tell him change your mind, or I will tax your imports with a 35% import tax.
Never mind that would be illegal, but what the hey, it's Trump and bluster.
Over all I came away feeling a bit dirty for going, confirming that I just can't understand why people can't see through his schtick. He is a disingenuous as they come, feeding fears and perceived fears of aging, white Americans who somehow feel their country is not what it was. Guess what? They are right. Taking it back to the 1950's won't make it great though. Things change, and the real winners understand that and help make the change, even with missteps, rather than just look back.
Trump looks back, or at least plays on the fears of those that do. Everything he said was playing on that.
He may likely win the Republican nomination. We might as well get used to the first First Husband in the White House in that case, because Hillary will clean his clock in the general election. I truly am surprised that more do not see through his facade. The Republican party had real candidates (still has some) in the race, but, even though they were the grown ups in the room, primary voters wanted raw meat, and Trump sensed that and was and is giving it to them. He even pointed out that when his wife Melania and daughter Ivanka suggested to him to "be more presidential", that, talking to the crowd, he said, "I'm not going to do that, because you guys wouldn't like that, would you?". It got one of the bigger cheers... his supporters love the raw meat.
Many of my neighbors here have been Republicans all their lives, and they are worried about a Trump candidacy destroying their party. Many of them are not sure if they would vote in a general election with Trump as the nominee, and some have even said rather than have their party destroyed, they would put up with 4 years of Hillary, and wait for the next time. The general consensus appears to be that Republicans will control the House and Senate, although some have expressed concern that a Trump nomination could cost some Republican seats in some parts of the country.
At any rate, thought some of you might be interested. Sorry for the pics, one never knew when signs would be waved.
Just came home from Trump's Tampa rally
Hybrid Mode
