Seriously, is there even such a thing as a swing voter, and how on earth am I supposed to persuade a hardcore Trumpist into voting blue? Just as H. G. Wells predicted, the human race has bifurcated–not just politically but on a molecular level. Take, for example, my hometown in Carbon County, beneath the surface of which lies a bituminous coal seam honeycombed with dank tunnels in which my forebears toiled in hopes of eventually working their way to the surface. Ideally, one’s offspring would be afforded a college education that would lead to a white collar career. In other words, upward mobility.
But things have changed. Once a Democratic stronghold, Carbon County has turned Republican. Why? Because Donald Trump has convinced the local working stiffs that he has their backs, and that those of us who have elected to live and work elsewhere are the enemy. Coastal elites, if you will.
I blame television, in particular cable television, for poisoning the rural mindset. And NBC, which for thirteen seasons aired a so-called “reality show” that enabled Donald Trump to cosplay a successful businessman and portray himself as a “tough guy.”
Donald Trump is fortunate he didn’t grow up where I did, because he’d never have survived middle school. The first time he badmouthed a Mexican classmate, he’d have undergone a corrective interview in the schoolyard, and after he got out of the hospital he’d be a changed person. A much better person, in fact. Sadly, it’s too late for that. Trump is set in his ways and now has a security detail, so he’s free to talk smack twenty-four hours a day without much pushback. But I, for one, am sick and tired of the blowhard’s shtick. Come November, let’s all join hands, change the channel and move on.