OMG. Now I have to go back, oh, wait, I remember. You were referring to Trump voters in a disparaging manner, claiming that they were voting with emotion and not with reason.
I think that is a way over-reach. Yes, some people really feel an emotional fervor for Trump, which I don't understand. But a LOT of people voted for him.
I would have voted for him even thought I bitterly opposed him all through the primaries. It would not have been an emotional decision but a common sense one.
We could not have afforded Hillary. She would have completed Obama's job of ruining the nation.
I would not let Trump hate prevent me from making rational decisions. I was for him because I wanted someone not named Hillary. Even if he had done nothing but been a place holder, we would have been better off.
But he has been much better than I expected. You can nitpick that original list posted here and we certainly haven't got much of what we want but we've got a lot. I think we can all agree that a big reason we haven't gotten some things is Congress, not the President.
There were major emotional drives present in those who supported Trump.
One was the 'getevenism' that has been quite prominent among some of his supporters, even if much of that was misdirected at conservatives.
The whole "MAGA" thing relied on an emotional response. America already is great. We even survived the Obama years. We can be greater, and I'm all for that.
Then there was the flip side, people who voted for Trump out of FEAR that Hillary might win, and of what that would mean for America.
So yes, there was a stew of emotion surrounding people's motivation for voting for Trump. Even in the primaries, the whole "Lyin' Ted" smear campaign was based on emotional responses--look at Ted, and tell me does he look like the type to have seven hot mistresses? He seems to be a snart guy and all that, a Conservative, and sharp on the Constitution, but seven mistresses? Really?
Or that his father was in with Oswald to kill JFK?
Nope to both, not credible, but the emotions played well for making him less likely to get votes in the Bible Belt and New England, respectively, and were well timed to push a bow wave of emotion through those primaries--after which, the allegations died. No coincidence, and masterfully played, but again, relying on emotions, positive and negative, to collect votes.
You don't even have to be a shrink to figure that out.
There may well have been those voters who sat down and figured, without emotion, that Trump would be best for the country. I won't discuss my opinion of their logic because it is moot; he got elected. But I think those are in the minority, frankly, when it comes to what compelled people to vote for the President.
The ad I linked plays on emotions, too, rather blatantly, to use as a sales device. Make of that what you will. It is real, and I have seen it on television.
I posted that list of promises
here, while it was still fresh, in the spirit of letting Mr. Trump set his own standard to meet. I wasn't holding him to MY standards, which many would have patently considered unfair. I was seeking to get around the animosity of those who did support Mr. Trump who were busy calling those of us who did not anything from "Hillary Supporters" to "traitors" who should be shot. (Seems a mite emotional, to me anyway, and nonsense that could not have been farther form the truth.) So, while you may not have been one who voted based on emotion, there were plenty who did. If, by making that generic statement, you felt I was specifically referring to you personally, I apologize for any undeserved insult.
In many aspects he has done well, especially for the energy industry which was under relentless attack by the Obama administration, and I commend him for progress, and with the aid of Congress, stopping some of the most onerous policies of the Obama EPA from going into effect. That, and all his subsequent accomplishments had no bearing on people's motivation for voting for him, because those things had not been accomplished.
As for the Congress, I remain puzzled as to why the repeals of Obamacare which breezed through when they had no chance of being signed can't be passed now, but I think that particular perfidy rests solely with the Congressional Leadership, as do other measures which must originate with the Congress in order to be made law. Without overreach, Mr. Trump has done well at going around that Congressional roadblock, to the point of removing some of Obama's overreach, which did not require anything more than a pen and phone to remove. If the Congress had remained true to the promises they made on the stump to TEA party types just to get elected, we'd be doing a lot better than we are. As ever, it is readily apparent the Congressional leadership has little or no desire to fulfill those promises, and none to lead the Majority Party to unite behind policy which would do wonders to restore the economic health of the Middle class in America, that of small business, and to liberate people from the yoke of the ACA so they can make their own appropriate health care decisions in a marketplace ripe with options better suited to the needs and beliefs of its customers.
A fine opportunity to reduce the size and scope is being squandered by a few in the Congressional GOP who have emerged as their own special interest group, just one in a position to stymie any alteration to the status quo which is causing this nation and it people grievous harm. (May Almighty God reward them as they so richly deserve.)
All in all, with the exception of the twitter wars and the usual full court press by the liberal media, the president has done fairly well. In some regards, better than I had expected. Trust me when I say that is an unemotional assessment.
However, a great number of those who voted for him voted out of the euphoric attachment to 'their guy' or the abject fear of another Democrat in the White House, and if online posts and articles are any measure, that factored heavily in his electoral victory (present company excluded, of course).
