Donald Trump, more than likely, will be the undisputed Republican nominee for President in 2020. This will present a real problem — a crisis even — for millions of voters.
Many voters do not want to vote for Trump because they find him dishonest, unprincipled, undisciplined, sexually immoral, personally obnoxious, juvenile, and/or self-indulgent. His personal conduct and public and private discourse are far below the standard we expect in a president.
Voters’ concerns about Trump are certainly reflected in his low approval rating, about 45 percent at its high-water mark. Despite many voters’ deep concerns about Trump’s foibles, they still support him or at least will vote for him. Persuasive evidence of the support he enjoys is found in Trump’s remarkable 2019 fundraising. According to Vox, “nearly 99 percent of donations received in the first quarter were for $200 or less, with donors giving an average donation of just $34.” Small donors are a gold standard of support because rank-and-file voters don’t give political money lightly, especially this early in the cycle.
Person after person I talk to in this group say they reluctantly support him for at least one of three main reasons: First, Trump has nominated and will continue to nominate conservative candidates to the Supreme Court and other federal courts. They believe that Congress doesn’t do much of anything — that the Supreme Court is the real battleground for the issues these people care about. Thus, the power to nominate to the Supreme Court is one of the most important issues for this group. They fear that any Democrat president will nominate liberals to the Supreme Court.
Second, they agree with Trump’s policies or believe his policies are producing favorable results. The economy continues to impress, and they give Trump a lot of credit for that. Third, they cannot vote for socialist, far-left candidates who attack our free enterprise economy and want to spend money we don’t have for free college tuition, Medicare for all and other progressive ideas in line with Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. They feel the movement to socialism and forsaking traditional American political principles will hurt our country. Several have said to me that while they decry Trump’s antics, they “like his policies.”
Here are some of the other things that either make them favor Trump or disapprove of the Democrats:
- The emergence of extreme progressives Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar as thought leaders in the Democratic Party.
- The Democrats’ recent lurch to the left on abortion.
- They distrust the mainstream media and give Trump a pass on lots of things the media reports about him.
- Trump tells it like it is. He may be a very blunt instrument, but he attacks the things these people disagree with.
- Trump has endeavored to protect and advance religious freedom.
- Trump’s has rolled back many regulations people find extreme and overreaching.
- They like the 2017 tax cuts.
- He has poked the elites and the establishment in the eye, and these people love it.
- He has stood up to China and called out their dishonest trade and currency practices.
- He has tackled illegal immigration; he forced Mexico to take some responsibility for illegal immigration.
- He has stood up to the liberals in Congress.
- He has called out free speech hypocrites in academia.
- He fights for a strong military.
- He’s tough with North Korea and Iran.
- He’s pro-Israel and even moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.
Many of these people feel the Mueller report vindicated Trump. Liberal politicians and the mainstream media got carried away with Trump’s presumed guilt, and House Democrats are continuing the witch hunt with little or no cause.
Many of these folks feel the mainstream media, Hollywood, universities and Silicon Valley are completely controlled by aggressive, self-righteous, progressive liberals. They are glad that someone, namely Trump, has taken a stand against them. He has proved perfectly willing to be their warrior.
People of a more conservative persuasion but who are concerned with personal morality and decorum are often repelled by Trump’s personal failings and boorish behavior. But in a binary face-off between him and a liberal Democrat they will likely pull the lever for Trump.