Trump supporters, please come in

I didn't vote for the President-elect. But. In the interest of taking a "wait and see" approach, I am genuinely trying to understand his supporters, their motivations, the policies they want to see put into place. I'm not going to respond with memes or insults, and I'm going to ask that everyone else does the same. That's certainly not going to unify us.

PM me if that's easier.

Thank you.

Message edited 11/15/2016 9:11:09 AM.

Re: Trump supporters, please come in

There are many reasons why I supported Trump. Hillary had too much baggage with her that I couldn't look past. And honestly, I just don't trust her.

I truly believe our economy will continue to go to shit if we keep allowing our companies to operate overseas. We need to keep our jobs here. Employ our people. The more WE make, the more WE spend. Its a cycle. Its good for us, its good for the economy.


The number ONE reason why I voted for Trump was because of this:

(Taken right from his website)

DONALD J. TRUMP’S VISION

Negotiate fair trade deals that create American jobs, increase American wages, and reduce America's trade deficit.
Donald J. Trump's 7 Point Plan To Rebuild the American Economy by Fighting for Free Trade

1. Withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which has not yet been ratified.

2. Appoint tough and smart trade negotiators to fight on behalf of American workers.

3. Direct the Secretary of Commerce to identify every violation of trade agreements a foreign country is currently using to harm our workers, and also direct all appropriate agencies to use every tool under American and international law to end these abuses.

4. Tell NAFTA partners that we intend to immediately renegotiate the terms of that agreement to get a better deal for our workers. If they don’t agree to a renegotiation, we will submit notice that the U.S. intends to withdraw from the deal. Eliminate Mexico’s one-side backdoor tariff through the VAT and end sweatshops in Mexico that undercut U.S. workers.

5. Instruct the Treasury Secretary to label China a currency manipulator.

6. Instruct the U.S. Trade Representative to bring trade cases against China, both in this country and at the WTO. China's unfair subsidy behavior is prohibited by the terms of its entrance to the WTO.

7. Use every lawful presidential power to remedy trade disputes if China does not stop its illegal activities, including its theft of American trade secrets - including the application of tariffs consistent with Section 201 and 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.

Re: Trump supporters, please come in

I wouldn't consider myself a Trump supporter but I will tell you the things that I like and why I think I identify more with him than with Hilary.

First, I have often thought that the country would be run best by an experienced, successful businessman rather than a politician. Kind of like the Bloomberg model with NYC. I think Bloomberg was one of the best mayors this city has ever seen because he ran it like a business.

Next, I agree that we are losing way too much manufacturing to other countries and past presidents have negotiated deals that are taking advantage of the American people. We may not feel it very much in this area because we are not an industrial area, but for a large portion of the country it has been devastating. I believe someone who is experienced in business over politics will be more in touch with what needs to be done to stop companies from moving out of the country and how to incentive companies to bring operations back.

Third, on issues like abortion, I am pro-choice but I don't believe that planned parenthood should be federally funded. Abortion is a choice but I don't think that it should be universally free, funded by our federal tax dollar.

I think Trump is unpolished, lacks charisma, and speaks off the cuff too much which could present a problem. But I also think that the fact that Clinton was so smug and dismissive of him was more of a problem. Look at how much this took her by surprise. Now can you imagine if this was a small middle eastern country making threats against her and she had the same smug, dismissive attitude of "they can't beat us." And then what if they
did? That puts us all at risk.

I think that Trump is socially liberal (although he didn't run his campaign that way I think that is how he will run his presidency) and fiscally conservative and that is much more in line with my beliefs. Almost every democrats plan is "tax the wealthy, make them pay their fair share." But that almost always means just raising the tax rate on the wealthy and not eliminating the loop holes, so the super rich stay super rich and there is no motivation to be upper middle class or better because you know that you are just going to get taxed to death. I think this particularly impacts people around here because our cost of living is so high and so our salaries are so much higher than the national average. Nationally a $250k a year combined income is considered RICH! Here I would say it's upper middle class at best. That's a big difference but the federal tax rate will never take into consideration cost of living.

As far as immigration is concerned I think that people forget that Trump is referring to people that are here illegally. For me it is never okay to enter and stay in a country illegally. It is draining us as a nation. Illegal immigrants are entitled to healthcare, education, etc. Many of them have a better quality of life than Americans. Again, something we may not see here but go to rural, poverty stricken areas and you might think differently. Why should an illegal immigrant be entitled to more than an American citizen?

These are the things that I agree with. There are plenty of things to disagree with and there are plenty of things that I would've supported Hillary on. But since this post is about Trump, that's my answer.

Trump supporters, please come in

I just have to say-finally! It's not really changing my mind and some things I don't agree with, but at least there is something real being spoken about here instead of just name calling and mud slinging. Thank you.

Re: Trump supporters, please come in

Re: Trump supporters, please come in

Re: Trump supporters, please come in

This is worth the read and I think that maybe it will give people some insight into middle America.

What so many people don't get about the US working class

It particularly resonates with me as the daughter of a blue collar police officer.

Re: Trump supporters, please come in

Re: Trump supporters, please come in

I actually agree with you on quite a few points, but I have to point something out on this one:

Re: Trump supporters, please come in

Re: Trump supporters, please come in

Posted by GoldenRod

Posted by lululu

I wouldn't consider myself a Trump supporter but I will tell you the things that I like and why I think I identify more with him than with Hilary.

First, I have often thought that the country would be run best by an experienced, successful businessman rather than a politician. Kind of like the Bloomberg model with NYC. I think Bloomberg was one of the best mayors this city has ever seen because he ran it like a business.

Next, I agree that we are losing way too much manufacturing to other countries and past presidents have negotiated deals that are taking advantage of the American people. We may not feel it very much in this area because we are not an industrial area, but for a large portion of the country it has been devastating. I believe someone who is experienced in business over politics will be more in touch with what needs to be done to stop companies from moving out of the country and how to incentive companies to bring operations back.

Third, on issues like abortion, I am pro-choice but I don't believe that planned parenthood should be federally funded. Abortion is a choice but I don't think that it should be universally free, funded by our federal tax dollar.

I think Trump is unpolished, lacks charisma, and speaks off the cuff too much which could present a problem. But I also think that the fact that Clinton was so smug and dismissive of him was more of a problem. Look at how much this took her by surprise. Now can you imagine if this was a small middle eastern country making threats against her and she had the same smug, dismissive attitude of "they can't beat us." And then what if they
did? That puts us all at risk.

I think that Trump is socially liberal (although he didn't run his campaign that way I think that is how he will run his presidency) and fiscally conservative and that is much more in line with my beliefs. Almost every democrats plan is "tax the wealthy, make them pay their fair share." But that almost always means just raising the tax rate on the wealthy and not eliminating the loop holes, so the super rich stay super rich and there is no motivation to be upper middle class or better because you know that you are just going to get taxed to death. I think this particularly impacts people around here because our cost of living is so high and so our salaries are so much higher than the national average. Nationally a $250k a year combined income is considered RICH! Here I would say it's upper middle class at best. That's a big difference but the federal tax rate will never take into consideration cost of living.

As far as immigration is concerned I think that people forget that Trump is referring to people that are here illegally. For me it is never okay to enter and stay in a country illegally. It is draining us as a nation. Illegal immigrants are entitled to healthcare, education, etc. Many of them have a better quality of life than Americans. Again, something we may not see here but go to rural, poverty stricken areas and you might think differently. Why should an illegal immigrant be entitled to more than an American citizen?

These are the things that I agree with. There are plenty of things to disagree with and there are plenty of things that I would've supported Hillary on. But since this post is about Trump, that's my answer.

These things make sense, and I honestly think that most of his voters are thinking the same things. I don't agree with many of his posted policies, and I don't think some of them are practical, but I can definitely see the appeal.

Unfortunately, it's the person behind the policies that make people nervous. If he can pull of even a fraction of what he's promised, that would be awesome.

Most of the people who are opposed to him are not upset about him being a Republican, or even a lot of his policies (not happy about them, but not angry about them), it's the person representing us that causes concerns.

Hopefully this thread can show that both sides of the aisle are looking at two different components. Supporters see hopeful positive policy changes, and opponents see someone with a huge amount of personality flaws (trying to keep this civilized, so I'll leave it at "flaws" for this thread... )

Re: Trump supporters, please come in

Re: Trump supporters, please come in

Re: Trump supporters, please come in