I went to get my hair cut today — an old Italian barber type — and he asked me what I thought about Trump. I could tell he was a Trump supporter, and so I soft pedaled it a bit: “I still don't think he is the right type of person to be president.” As I thought, this killed the conversation dead. So, I purposefully threw a few compliments: “He doesn’t seem to be 70 years old, a lot of energy.” That sparked some life back, and we talked about Trump’s qualities.
I say this only because it replicates almost all my conversations. A Trump friend I know claims that she hasn't been paying attention lately and so “missed” any of the last three weeks of Trump mania. (Nothing to talk about, then.) Another Trump friend I know — where politics was a major source of fun between us — is palpably hoping that I don't bring up the subject. Another friend only told me that he is sick and tired of hearing Trump bashing at every Super Bowl, Grammy’s, SNL, etc.
The key: I have not heard a single Trump supporting friend suggest a hint of remorse or disagreement with their Trump choice.
We shouldn’t ignore this. The last three weeks or so to us were a shocking and confirmatory dystopia of not just incompetence, but other-worldly, disqualifying behavior. We have a “pod,” a malevolent Kramer as President. But . . . to Trump supporters? I haven't heard anything.
Kevin Drum had a short piece about this the other day. Reflecting on the chart below, Drum noted that:
I've read a bunch of stories saying that Trump's job approval has cratered since he took office, but that's not really true: it's gone up two points. Now, it's also true that his disapproval rating has skyrocketed, which means that his net approval rating (approve minus disapprove) has gone down (from +3 to -6.4).
My take is simple: this means that his fans like him more than ever, while everyone else dislikes him more than ever. Perhaps this level of polarization is normal these days. But it's a little more complicated than "Trump's job approval has gone down."
That has been my personal experience too and, on a personal level, it is jarring: these folks really can't get what is wrong with him. It’s no coincidence that my friends who voted for Trump once voted for a ticket with Sarah Palin on it. They don't get this . . . What more evidence could you put in front of their face?
What the above tells me — and the Womens March, and the ACA town hall protests, and general cultural elite aversion to Trump — is that everything the Dems do from now on out has to be about reassuring, mobilizing and turning out the base. Turn out is the magic phrase. Because the “other side” is a lost cause that will turn-out.
That means Dems should take the maximalist position on cabinet choices, Supreme Court nominees, filibustering legislation, symbolic protests, public appearances, etc. That means you pick the DNC chair that the activist side wants. Everything has to be pushed towards supporting and nurturing conflict and turn-out, not norms and reasonableness.
The above is, honestly, not my natural instincts, but it seems plain now. If I am wrong, first tell me: has anyone here had experiences with Trump supporters that have changed their mind?