….And will we still have him for four more years?

By: Hayden Cunningham

It’s been nearly three years since election night 2016 when Donald Trump became President-Elect. In what was perhaps the biggest political upset in American (and world) history, Trump over-performed in a contest where his odds of winning were less than ten percent. So how did that happen? How did a man who had never held office, had been ridiculed by his own party in the primary, had been attacked mercilessly by the media, had said outrageous and inflammatory comments… how did that man become President of the most powerful country in the world?

A growing sense of restlessness in the Republican Party

Let’s go back to election year 2008. The George W. Bush Presidency was coming to an end and America’s critique of it varied. Democrats had painted him as an illegitimate President since the Florida “hanging chads” dispute was resolved. He was also heavily criticized by the Democratic Party and the media as… well… stupid. In many instances he slipped up on his words and misspoke when reading speeches. Bush tried to be the “compassionate conservative” but it just wasn’t working.

The by-product was a youthful, black senator from Illinois named Barack Hussein Obama. For the Democratic Party, this candidate was a dream come true. He reflected the exact opposite of George Bush: he was well-spoken, charismatic, and yes black. Republicans scrambled to find a candidate, and looked to Arizona senator and war hero John McCain.

The media, who before and after the election praised John McCain for his service, were merciless. They pushed their narrative that if you didn’t vote for Barack Obama, you were a racist. Why vote for the old white guy who’s been around when the charismatic black guy deserves to office because of foundational racism our country has?

Don’t get me wrong, with an election victory of over TEN MILLION votes, Barack Obama most definitely won because more people liked him than McCain, but the narrative was undeniably there and black turnout was record-breaking in 2008.

Between 2008-2012, the failures of the Obama Presidency was abundantly clear. The American people saw scandal after scandal, failed policy after failed policy (we can get more into that in a separate article). Republicans, angered by the failures of Democrats, began the Tea Party movement. This was a call for a decrease in government spending and a decrease in taxes. Remember that while Obama was in office, the national debt DOUBLED.

The 2012 election approached and Republicans linked arms and got behind a candidate. Mitt Romney…. yeah let’s see how that turned out. To combat the incumbent President they nominate the whitest guy in America: a rich, privileged Mormon. For Republicans, they were set and ready for the election, but it still wasn’t enough:

Obama’s re-election came swiftly and easily. Sure Republicans gained some ground; Mitt Romney flipped North Carolina and Indiana back to Republican. Obviously, It wasn’t enough.

This election had even worse media backlash than 2008. The media attacked Mitt Romney to no end. They made fun of his wife, a victim of Multiple Sclerosis. They accused him of abusing his dog. Joe Biden went on the campaign and said that Romney wanted to put black people back in chains. Yeah… he said that. (side note, remember when Joe Biden would talk like he was awake?)

For Republicans, a party that has been unsure how to respond to years of attacks had gone quiet. But while party leaders had gone quiet in an attempt to act like the more mature party, voters have become increasingly angry at the accusations and ridicule occurring for the last decade.

A business man, a media superstar, a pop-culture icon

The 1980’s was a time for business growth, wall street, and consumerism. The republican-led government deregulated business and lowered taxes to encourage the American people spend more. It also was a time for pop-icons: Madonna, Michael Jackson, Michael J. Fox. People resembled the cultural celebrities they wanted to be. Teenagers went to school dressing like their favorite stars, and individuals with star value always had an audience.

Enter Donald J. Trump. You can argue the essence of the 1980’s is portrayed in this one man. Trump was the American Dream. Interviews, television shows, business empires, casinos. The billionaire playboy rose to stardom in the era of business growth and celebrity idolization.

Three very important things can be seen in this specific video that shows how Donald Trump rose to popularity:

1.) He sounds smart. Yes I know. It may be a little shocking but during the 1980’s, Donald Trump was seen as a very intelligent individual. he’s calm, collected, intelligent, well-spoken. He did come off as a little arrogant. But people envied him. Which brings us to the second point:

2.) Look in the video how both Oprah and people in the audience look at him. They’re nearly on the edge of their seats with everything he is saying. They are looking to Donald Trump as a credible source of information. During the yuppie culture of the thriving economy of the 1980’s, people wanted to be like Donald Trump. They wanted to make money and appear intelligent. That’s how he made a brand out of his own name. He wrote a bestselling book, he had a board game. People valued what he had to say.

3.) He’s consistent. What he’s saying in this video is exactly what he’s doing in his presidency. The best example is his demands for out NATO allies to pay their fair share. He hasn’t changed with the big things, and that is something most politicians can’t say.

The 2000’s saw Trump become a reality television star, where he played with the idea of running for office. It is here the Trump kept his relevance and came into the homes of millions of Americans with his wits and his arrogance. People laughed at his insults, and listened to his ideas.

Trump collides with the Republican Party

Make America Great Again. A simple phrase with a a specific purpose. Trump understood that America had been taken advantage of for years and people knew it.

His announcement for candidacy included many ways this was occurring: the Middle East, the Mexican border, and trade with China. He called out the failures of President Obama and called for change. Trump did something that the Republican Party had avoided for years: he started calling people out. Some still saw him with his 1980’s mind but in a 2016 political environment.

People listened to him when he said the right thing. President Trump understands common sense policy, something that politicians today either don’t understand or are too afraid to say.

This came with it’s backlash. No different than McCain and Romney, the media was ready to fight Trump with every accusation you can think of. Trump, unfortunately, didn’t make it any harder for them as he stated several inflammatory and poorly-worded things. Remember the Republican party elites did not like him. It was the Republican party that started the “Never Trump” movement, as many of them called for someone more conservative , more religious, and less inflammatory. But luckily for Trump, an incredibly week primary led to an easy path to the nomination. To many, he was seen as the best of the worst. And he took advantage of that.

This is why he won the nomination. His attitude on the stage, his words, the boos from the audience. Republican voters wanted someone to go after the corruption of Washington. For a brief amount of time, it was Jeb Bush who the media thought would win the nomination. But people didn’t want another Bush. No family should have that much power in American politics. Republican voters wanted an outsider who was not part of all the corruption we’ve seen with the Clinton’s, the Bush’s, Obama, etc.. Republicans voted for Trump because they were sick and tired. They were ready for someone who would go into the general election and fight.

Symbolic voting and a political revolt against the elite

American voters became sick and tired of being told who to vote for. They watched the far left emerge and became weary of the empty promises it alleged.

Trump didn’t necessarily run on policy. Sure, he gave a list of bullet points (that he has continued to do in office. Kudos for keeping your promises) but everything else was who he was, who he represented, and what he stood for.

Trump was not the nicest guy, Trump was not the most compassionate guy, Trump was not the most well-spoken guy, and Trump was not the smartest guy. But he was a symbol that the voters of America could use. Voting for Donald Trump was a middle finger to the political and social elite. It was America’s way of saying that you can’t tell them who to vote for, what to think, and how to act. The anger Republicans and Independents had during the last decade fueled the fire in 2016. They watched McCain be attacked, Romney be ridiculed. They watched themselves be called out on national television as racist, sexist, stupid, etc. and they were sick and tired of it. Trump was there to push back anyone who attacked him, and Trump was there to give the silent majority a voice.

No one saw it coming. To win, Trump had to win just about every swing state, and flip a big enough blue state in order to secure 270 electoral votes. He won Ohio, Iowa, North Carolina, Arizona, Georgia, Florida, and an electoral vote in Maine. Then he flipped Pennsylvania. Then he flipped Michigan. Then he flipped Wisconsin. Trump destroyed the blue wall in industrial states. No one saw it coming. Manufacturers and workers in the industrial states were furious at the Democratic party, and Trump was their voice. Voters were tired of the Clinton’s and corruption and how much of a failure the Obama administration was on a world stage. Trump showed voters that he had strength as a leader that Obama didn’t. They wanted a guy who explained that America needs to stand up and fight, even within it’s own country.

The 2016 election changed the way candidates will run. Trump spent far less money in the election than Clinton did because he had a weapon she didn’t: information and coverage. There’s a reason why Donald Trump uses Twitter. He sidesteps the entire media and speaks directly to the people. President Trump knows that if he turns on the television and doesn’t like the coverage, he can tweet anything and watch in real time as the coverage turns to whatever he just said. Now that’s power.

We don’t live in a world of advertisements anymore, we live in a world of information. Anyone can search a candidate and learn all about them. Anyone can go on YouTube and listen to conservative or liberal commentators. That’s how you get votes. And it’s why big tech industries are trying to sensor him and conservatives.

The first four years in office

He’s said a lot of stupid things but he’s done a lot of good. This critique is what separates the left and the right. The left values emotions and words while the right looks at action and decision-making. Trump supporters have the ability to separate the eye-rolling statements and the serious statements. The media chooses to be outraged by everything, acting like each new statement is the worst thing he’s ever said.

All in all, things under President Trump have been pretty good. You don’t even have to like the guy to admit it. Disliking his personality is not enough to demand he be removed from office. Yeah he can be a jerk and say things that make you cringe, knowing that it was wrong to say. But so what? Has he really said or done something so bad that we need to rush to the polls to vote for one of these far-left socialist disaster candidates the Democratic party is offering?

The Democratic party has moved further and further left: Free college, medicare for all, $15 minimum wage, bans on guns, abortions, FREE abortions, the “Green New Deal” etc. You even have Bernie Sanders and AOC practically calling for Socialism. The political ideology that has led to the deaths of millions of people and the inevitable collapse of every county that has imposed it. Every country founded on socialism has ended in failure. American capitalism fuels competition, which creates more productivity. Not only that, but it’s just common sense. The American concept that you can keep what you earn is fair (assuming you pay some taxes, just not an absurd amount for your wealth. Remember one of the reasons the American Revolution occurred was because of a rebellion against high taxes). If you do well, you make money. You don’t have an obligation to share the money that YOU earned by YOUR hard work and risks. The Democratic party is seeking a fundamental change in American society as we know it.

It’s odd to me that this is the party’s strategy to combat President Trump in the 2020 election. And it becomes more apparent that deep party leaders such as Nancy Pelosi (despite her corruption and greed) know that a far-left party will be disastrous in the election cycle. The only people willing to advocate for this is naive college students who need to learn more about history and less about how there are “more than two genders.” And because Pelosi knows this isn’t likely to work, impeachment attempts begin.

A preview of the 2020 election

The left is going to try to scare you into not voting for Donald Trump, just like they tried to pressure you into voting for Obama. If you don’t do what they say, “you’re racist”. The American people who voted for Trump know better. They know he’s not a racist. He may say inflammatory things, he may say stereotypical things, but he is not standing on the White House lawn yelling out racist and derogatory statements.

Impeachment is the only policy the Democrats have. They aren’t trying to combat the President’s policy with their own, they’re trying to impeach him for something he didn’t do wrong. After trying to stop the election results from something else he didn’t do wrong. And we will see as more information comes out but nothing points in the direction that the President has committed an impeachable offense.

If President Trump were to get impeached, that could very well be the last straw for Republicans. We could very well see protests and a call to action. We already saw riots and violence from the left after the 2016 election, something that the right isn’t as prone to do (because usually they’re the ones who own the stores being looted on the streets where the riots occur). However, they will most definitely retaliate (as they should) if they watch a political party oust a President who has done nothing wrong because they don’t like him.

So what is this election going to look like, assuming the President isn’t impeached? Well, history shows that when the economy is thriving, the incumbent stays in office. But we can throw every known rule from past elections out the window. Do the Democrats have enough “Trump haters” to overpower the silent majority that elected him in the first place. To be more specific, do they have enough of them in the more controversial states? Hillary Clinton did still win the popular vote in 2016.

My Conclusion…

I think we need President Trump now more than ever. As an independent, the modern Democratic party deeply concerns me. They lie, scheme, and introduce policies that frankly will ruin America. You think President Trump is divisive? Their policies will uproot what America is founded on and change the values of our country. We KNOW that many of their policies will not work, and I honestly think they would throw out the Constitution if they could. They shouldn’t be able to get away with corruption, false impeachment accusations, etc. The Democratic party is too corrupt for me to vote for their nominee any time soon.

I like the symbolism of what President Trump stands for, even though he’s not really a conservative, he’s a populist. He’s not my ideal candidate by any means, and I constantly wish he would talk like he did in the 1980’s and the 1990’s. I’m sure he talks differently now with the intention of firing up his voters.

But I value the fact that President Trump is the leader of those who want to stop what Democrats are trying to do, what terrorists are trying to do, what the media/big tech companies are trying to do, and what other countries are trying to do. He’s fighting battles on several fronts, and he’s winning.

The Democrats are going to try to guilt trip you into not voting for him. Don’t let them.

Posted on November 1, 2019