Letters/Editor

Losing His Supporters

by Norman Halls, contributor

During Trump’s campaign he made 76 promises, very few he could accomplish. There is one, number 17 from the Washington Post list that he decided to not do: “Never take a vacation while serving as president.” As we know to date, he did pick a Supreme Court justice. The 74 others are now getting him in trouble. A number of Trump’s directives are being ignored by those on Capitol Hill in his own party and the military. Trump does not understand how to govern. If he did, many of his supports would approve of his job as president.  

Recently, Quinnipiac University reported: “Just 33% of American voters approve of how President Trump is performing as president.” The report continues saying; “Trump’s numbers declined more among Republicans than they did among Democrats, who had already viewed the President unfavorably.” “The poll found that 63% of voters say they don’t believe Trump has good leadership skills and that he does not share their values.” 

The question should not be why voters think or thought that this businessman could accomplish the job of being president without any experience in any governmental position. It’s possible that what Trump had promised was not true. Many voters heard something that could be better for them. Many communities thought he could bring back many of the industries that had moved to other states or countries. One example is the coal industry, that particular industry today will never hire the number of people it had 10 years ago. New technology today, equipment and standards, has resulted in fewer employees. This is true in manufacturing in this country and worldwide. We are going to see more solar and wind energy. This energy source will create more jobs.

Forbes magazine reported: “American Preservationists (a 20 percent cluster) is the core group that propelled Trump to the nomination. Nearly nine in ten of these voters described their vote as a vote for Trump, and more than three-quarters (77 percent) had a very favorable opinion of him. The Preservationists have lower levels of formal education and lower incomes than other Trump groups. They favor higher taxes on the rich, back the social safety net, believe the economic and political systems are rigged, and are skeptical of free trade. They are very skeptical about immigration. They vote for both Democrats and Republicans and look like Democrats on many economic issues.”

DAVID CITY, Nebraska (CNN) – “A gleaming series of pipes and engines tower over one corner of Bob Hilger’s acres of alfalfa fields. Hilger sold the land for a new pump station for the Keystone XL pipeline, a project President Donald Trump revived that had been halted under President Barack Obama. “I’m really impressed with all of the things that (Trump’s) accomplished,” the 72-year-old farmer said, looking over the chain-link fence securing the installation. “Energy security is one of his big things, and that’s what this is all about.” Hilger is one of the almost 80% of voters here in Butler County who voted for Trump in November’s election, out of a total of 3,770. “You won’t find much buyer’s remorse around here,” Mayor Alan Zavodny of David City, the county seat for Butler,” told CNN to Marquardt and B. Vitagliano. Reading this article there are 2 topics that it’s hard to comprehend; one, President Obama was considering to safety of the pipeline, and two, the farmer made money selling his land. But, he lost his field to grow his product.

Ed Kilgore, New York Magazine reported, “Support for Trump is solidifying. So, too, is support for his impeachment. There is a venerable centrist point of view that partisan polarization is a function of Washington’s warring politicians, who inflate artificial differences into causes for political war. Out there in the country, it is thought, Americans simply want politicians to come together and work out sensible, centrist policies. Whatever this applicability, it is increasingly clear that in the era of Donald Trump it’s The People who are even more polarized than their representatives in Washington. Unsurprisingly, these sentiments closely match partisan preferences. According to this same poll, 82 percent of self-identified Republicans (18% voted for Trump) approve of Trump’s job performance, 46 percent of them strongly. Seventy-nine percent of self-identified Democrats disapprove of Trump’s job performance, 65 percent of them strongly. These grassroots Americans are really, really at odds.”

“Understanding Trump’s Personality Type and Why it Matters” by Beatrice Chestnut; “There has perhaps never been more attention focused on interpreting the behavior of a world leader as there is on Donald Trump right now. His ascendancy to the U.S. presidency shocked and surprised people around the world. Even as it was happening, many in the U.S. believed it couldn’t happen. And then it did. The slogans and policies espoused by Trump have been called reactionary, inhumane, heroic, authoritarian, and fascist. He campaigned on an “America First” platform that is troubling and problematic given the increasingly global and inter-connected world we live in. Like an unhealthy Eight, Trump seems unwilling (or unable) to moderate his often impulsive, excessive behavior and reckless claims. A recent New York Times editorial highlighted Trump’s self-centered, impulsive hostility towards his opposition: “The news conference proved to be another signature recapitulation of himself by himself—Mr. Trumps’ relentless superlatives of self-congratulation, his paint-ball putdowns of any and all critics, his swaggering dismissal of controversies already occurring in plain sight.”

Some of us are optimistic about the communities they live in—but not their nation. I have seen a number of president’s over the years. I remember the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Riots in most major cities. The impeachment of Nixon. The Vietnam War, and the 16 year war in the Middle East, which doesn’t make sense. Our economy has gone up and down, how far will the Dow go and is good?

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