I’m a Democrat living in a dark red state, Texas. My friends and family are a mix of progressive Democrats, traditional Republicans, and I-don’t-like-either-of-them-but-I’ll-vote-for-Trump Republicans. I often feel like the world I read about on Daily KOS and the world I actually live in are in two different realms of reality. They are completely disconnected.
I read here that Trump’s speech was the worst ever. Yet, I read commentators on CNN (hardly a bastion of conservatism) that his speech was effective. I read polls that show he got a convention bounce despite all the disruptive news that caused us glee here. I read here how Trump is so outrageous he will give the election to Hillary Clinton — but I seem him get free publicity for every outrageous remark and his ratings don’t go down.
I am reminded of the George W. Bush/Al Gore election. The feeling of my liberal friends was, “No way Bush will win! He can’t even talk.” Well, he didn’t win the popular vote, but we got him as president for two terms.
I have stopped talking to my husband, a strong progressive Democrat, about politics. We just talk past each other. I start trying to talk about my election concerns and he jumps into a rant against Trump and how ridiculous he and his supporters are. I’m not speaking to defend or support Trump; I’m speaking because I hear the concerns of my friends and family who don’t like either Trump or Hillary Clinton and I want to find ways to address those concerns. I am afraid that many of us who are here at Daily KOS are like my husband. We listen to those who believe as we do and don’t recognize that there is a completely different view of reality outside our bubble.
Just to be clear: I think Donald Trump is ridiculous and dangerous. I do NOT want him to be elected to any public office. I will do everything I can to elect Hillary Rodham Clinton. However, I believe talking to the already convinced here on Daily KOS and surrounding ourselves with those who agree with us does nothing to get Hillary Clinton elected and handicaps us in our fight against Donald Trump.
There are a lot of voters who do not like Donald Trump, but don’t like Hillary Clinton either. No matter how many times people here write about how wrong that view of Hillary Clinton is, the reality remains that many voters do not trust her. Her negative rating remains very high. Denying that reality, or ridiculing it, does not allow us to reach those voters who do not want to vote for Donald Trump, but are still unable to support Hillary Clinton (for whatever reason).
In order to help Hillary Clinton get elected, we can do several things. We can give our money. We can give our time to get her supporters to the polls in November. And we can try to get more supporters for her by reaching out to those who really don’t like either candidate. However, to reach those voters we have to recognize the reality as they see it. We have to be able to talk to them without ridicule or condescension. The people here are already convinced. We need to reach those who are not convinced.
I don’t know if we can reach those distrustful voters. It may already be too late. But I do know that we have no chance of reaching them if we do not break out of our bubble to recognize and try to understand their concerns. The only way we can effectively address those concerns with them is from a place of understanding and respect for them as well-intentioned individuals with whom we disagree.
