News Donald Trump's Popularity To Date

[Justmehere]

These unbound national delegate positions are some of the delegates that could vote at the convention for anyone, are becoming increasingly important and contentious. My state is experiencing a small version of what will happen if the national convention ends up being a contested convention. Our national delegates will be able to vote for whoever they choose, during the first round of votes at the national convention.

My state could vote for Cruz at all the caucuses. And Cruz did win the straw poll at the caucus level, but none of the delegates were picked this way. It's instead been a long and weirdly complicated process. These delegates, those that make it to the national convention, could ignore that popular vote, and all vote for... whoever the hell they want. Even Mickey Mouse.

My state did this specifically because they were tired of being discounted and wanted to have a greater attention, and they took a gamble that the convention would be contested when they saw 17 people first enter the race last fall... So they made all the delegates unbound (like most other states who all have delegates bound to popular vote.)

At the caucus, I had a moment of passion, and I raised my hand to run, and I keep getting elected to the next level.

I figured, I have made it this far. I kind of know a little of what I'm getting into, I keep getting the highest number of votes, might as well keep going....

Most of the people running are long time party elites, but Trump's popularity is proving, if nothing else, that anyone seen as an "outsider" is wildly popular. I have been to the national convention for the Democrats in the past, so I kind of know a little of what I could be getting into. Maybe. I was encouraged to run by some of the party leaders, and one person even offered to help pay my way if I won. So I thought, why not? I turned in my Intent to Run paperwork to run for one of these unbound National Delegate positions.

Then I proceeded to have a massive panic attack. A week in Cleveland in the middle of the summer being in the middle of contentious Republicans and possibly violent riots?

What was I thinking?! Yeah, no. Just no. Not for this PTSD sufferer.

I mean, I want to do everything I can to vote this man down...

But I would likely be curled up in the hotel with flashbacks being surrounded by that much angry group-think even without the rioting. :( I would be useless. :( I contacted party headquarters an hour after sending in my paperwork and withdrew it. I feel like shit about this. I dunno if I had any real shot of winning or not. I'm still frustrated with myself. I have been feeling like a failure a lot lately, and this is just another example.

My therapist thinks I made a wise choice, and says she is "uber proud" of my standing up to make it this far.

I'm still headed to the state convention to case my vote for the people running to be national delegates who PROMISE to never vote for Trump. Ever. It's been a flurry of emails and phone calls and so much... ICK. I have had to take a shower several times just to get the feeling of ick off of me. Some people say they don't like him but they wouldsupport him if he is the niominee. I was told again and again, things like "the party has to survive." "

To which I responded, "The party does not survive if the COUNTRY does not survive."

What I really wanted to say? curse words. like ya know, "f--k the party. Get your head out of the sand." I refrained from saying this. It would not have helped. Sigh.

Which is one of a million reasons why I am glad, actually glad, that maybe PTSD helped me back up and take a little more sane of a position on this.

All the state delegates have been informed that Cruz is scheduled to speak. Kasich is probably going to speak. Trump - well, there is drama around the scheduling of his speech. Yes, I know, SHOCKING.

I dealing with all this political ick, but I reject Trump even more. I'm a little anxious about enduring a day of all this political nonsense just to vote against the guy. All delegates are required to check in at 9am, and they don't tell people ahead of time when the vote will be because they want everyone to stay and hear all the yammering on before they vote.

So, I am making a trip of it. A friend is going to come with me the day before, and we are going have fun in the city. I am seriously excited about waffles at the hotel. After breakfast, she will head back home, and I will go throw myself into the political circus, with my sweet service dog by my side.

I am debating about bringing a NEON pink shirt that says something like "Women Against Trump" just in case he speaks. If I go through with this, I would not disrupt anything, but everyone that sees me, would know my butt in that chair is not a vote of support for the man. I would wear that shirt silently and peacefully, but very proudly.

And hopefully no one will hit me for using my constitutional rights to do so...

 

[Justmehere]

Well, sadly I think Trump won over the Mormons when he said Mit Romney wasn't a Mormon. Salt Lake Hates Mit Romney because he almost cost them hosting the 2002 Olympics.
So he won a lot of pf people over sadly. I am seeing a lot of comments in news here about how "You can't prove he is racist or misogynistic." :facepalm:

Mormons are one of the groups of people amoung which Trump is the least popular. (See: Dead Link Removed) At least he didn't win over everyone...

But you are right on about the dynamic that is happening that lead people to run to Trump, and then to be so blind about his faults. People so despite and feel hurt (or have been financially hurt) by one person, they run to the person who seems most powerful to fix it, and yet somehow are blind when that person is terrible too. It's the same dynamic that happens with people who have survived domestic violence and end up with someone new who is terrible, but they ignore or try to justify all the faults of the new abuser.

The therapists are prolly talking to therapists about him :p

I wouldn't be surprised. Therapists are supposed to have their own therapists because of the nature of their work.

I can confirm this is actually happening. I know a therapist went to her therapist (who is actually a refugee from a violent dictatorship) and talked to her about Trump and what to do about clients and all the emotions they have about him, one way or another...

I think Trump has gotten more scary and dangerous over time the more successful he is at this.
Hillary is way less scary.

Hillary is a known. Trump is a big unknown. He has said many times he will change if he becomes president.

Hillary's popularity is something I understand. And those that don't like her... also understandable. Understanding is different that agreement. All political leaders have some amount of personality cult like popularity, but what personality cult weirdness there is around other politicians... it PALES in comparison with Trump's cult of personality.

And it is Trumps PERSONALITY that people are voting for. His ideas are so all over the place, and so awful. I don't speak to many supporters who actually get into in depth discussions of why they support his ideas. They like his personality - "he says it like it is" "he's a take charge kind of man" "he is going to finally win for America."

These are statements based on picking a person based on personality, not ideas. We all know the difference between picking a leader with a good personality for leadership AND good ideas, versus picking someone because of feeling like we NEED this personality, this PERSON, period, whatever the ideas are.

Personality cults, like all cults, are very much driven by emotions. Personalities. People looking for a person to save them from what they feel emotionally.

I saw Americans start to pursue political candidates with a personality cult like feel to it when I went to the national convention as a delegate for the Democrats in 2008. It was really shocking to me. I was exposed to high level politics in high school and college, and I didn't see the personality cult stuff as strong as I did in 2008.

Now with Trump, Americans have taken the personality cult thing to a whole new level. If it wasn't Trump, it would have been someone else.

I have even read a number of articles comparing America is like the abused person who keeps going back to her abuser... lying scheming politicians who promise to give, give, give.... win, win, win. Look at what people say about Trump! Well, ok, so maybe I'm extra immersed in it right now being a delegate. (I seriously want to pull my hair out.) People are saying things that abused people say when they are trying to justify going back to that abusing person. "Well, his campaign manger didn't mean to hurt her" and "Trump doesn't really mean it that way when he says he would torture and kill the families of humans accused of terrorism...." and "I know he threatened riots and encouraged people to hit protesters but he didn't really want violence, he is a good man who will unite us"

And to those that stand up and say enough, we need to stop this person from hurting more people, people freak in the same way as when someone stands up to an abuser in a family system. It echos the things I heard as a kid when I stood up against my abusing father. Trump supporters say, "you are threatening the unity of the party. Trump is really not that bad." My family said to me as a kid, "You are trying to tear this family apart, now get in the car with your father, he didn't have THAT much to drink." My mother even said, "You are threatening my marriage." I told her then,
GOOD." It's like when people have said not supporting Trump if he is the nominee threatens the survival of the party. I want to tell them the same thing. "GOOD." But then I'm just regressing back being a feisty teenager... it didn't work with my mother, and it doesn't work with Trump supporters either.

Getting angry back at them SHUTS them down. For them, they say they are voting for him out of so much fear. So much.

It's like the person who leaves one abuser and goes and finds another and stays with him because they saved them from the previous abuser. This happens all the time. I think this is happening with people rejecting Hillary, and running to Trump.

If you honestly believe that Hillary is just as bad as Trump, please go vote for Trump. I know there is no argument out there that would be able to change this mindset.

Nobody (here, there, anywhere) has yet to point out to me exactly why Hillary is so hated which is why I believe much of it is because she's female.

I have been immersed among people who would vote against Hillary, who would passionately vote for her to go to prison even. In my anecdotal but extensive experience, I would say about 3% of people are swayed against her because they are prejudiced against women.

Mostly, people are against her for the same reason they are for Trump. She is establishment. They feel betrayed by her. So what do they do? They take a we-need-a-rescuer stance, and fall for the strongest guy promising to save them from her. They are so emotionally upset and feel so betrayed by her, they make a reactionary decision, and fall for the sales pitch of Trump. @Tearsofawarrior has said it so well.

Trump, like most politicians, is a master manipulator. He engages people's feelings/emotions and controls a large general audience by making them feel frustrated. He tells jokes or insults to make people laugh and feel good. He references stories to make you sad. He's on top of his sales pitch. He's been a salesman for years.

Exactly.

 

[EveHarrington]

I fear....

I feel that many/most have no idea what it's like to deal with personality disordered people. Their rules do not apply to the rest of the world, and conversely the rules of the rest of the world do not apply to them. Logic? Throw it out the window. Reasoning? That's gone, too.

People are so locked into their own realities that anything contradictory is not just unimaginable but not even on the radar map.

I see it here, I see it there, I see it everywhere. Some would argue that I see it too much, but once your eyes are open to what this stuff really is, you can't shut off those spidey senses.

Armchair diagnosing may be "bad" but at the same time there's an even greater danger in the idea that nobody has a disorder until it's confirmed by proper medical personnel (especially when the personality disordered oftentimes don't seek treatment---why would they? All is well in their world.)

I realize that I probably sound extremely paranoid but I don't think so.

 

[hodge]

Brilliant post, JMH. Just absolutely brilliant. I am very glad that you are going to be a delegate. I certainly don't blame you for bowing out of the other stuff. You have to take care of yourself. I was just blown away by all the insights you compacted into your last post.

Eve, I think your post was brilliant as well. You really nailed what some people are like. My mom, for one. She is for Trump and I can't believe it, but then maybe like attracts like?

 

[Justmehere]

GAH!

Trump is confirmed to come and the protesters are organizing. I ordered an iron on transfer thing, and found a cheap pink shirt. I am going to put "One of Millions of" on the back and "Women Against Trump" on the front. I'll wear it under my regular shirt until Trump speaks.

I am on the fence about this. Is it really going to make any difference? or just needlessly make myself a target for nonsense.

Trump has the right to speak. I also have a right to free speech and to not support his nonsense. In order to sit and hear him talk, I feel like I have to somehow also use my power to silently let it be known, I'm not supporting this. My other option is to walk out once he gets started - but the security is supposedly going to be insane, and this will not be so easy as to just walk out and walk back in.

I spoke to county party officials about my service dog today. They have been telling me all week, I dunno who you need to talk to in order to get official permission... I have already faxed letters to the state party chair and the convention center with all my documents for my dog, and requested official approval to give to any security staff to avoid any issues. I've found that this is the best way to avoid issues at big events like this and it usually goes over super smoothly. The law doesn't require me to do any of this, I just rather head off any issues at the forefront. Security at big events like this tends to include a handful of one time or seasonal workers who are not trained on the ADA and service dogs access issues, but they will listen to a letter from their bosses. Usually event centers are grateful for my efforts to do this. Usually it is easy and just takes a few minutes.... I even faxed an example letter and a unsigned one so all they have to do is sign it. That's it. I have yet to deal with anyone being rude about handling stuff this way in advance...

Until now.

One party official said. "Maybe if you donated more this wouldn't be such as waste of our time." He then asked if he could give me his address to mail him "payment for the time to look into it."

It was gross what he did. And rather illegal. Like completely illegal.

I told him that next time we talk, he should remember I'm a former reporter and I won't hesitate going to the media with any further law breaking ways of handling of this matter. "So go ahead and keep suggesting my civil right to equal access to perform my elected duties is contingent on the amount of money I give you. Go ahead. I dare you. We will see them how much respect for my civil rights is a waste of your time."

Yeah, I just said that on the phone to a party official today. Ugh.

The county chair called quickly and responded by asking me to "use my tenacity to help grow the party."

Tenacity. I asked her for a moment to think about her request. Because my "tenacious" self wanted to scream. It's like they are repeatedly insulting me and then asking me to help them at the same time. It's like the party is a bit borderline. Sigh.

I didn't scream. Instead I took a deep breath and said, "how about we work together so we make sure that myself and others with disabilities can get in the front door of the party, then we can talk about growing the party or not." It was the most diplomatic thing I could say. She did apologize for the person below her and what he said to me. She also tried to excuse his behavior away, as just a volunteer. Ok, sure, he is unpaid, but he is still breaking the law on behalf of the party....

The party. I COULD CARE LESS ABOUT ANY FREAKING PARTY.

Grr. I'm still furious. I am so furious.

I can see why Trump supporters feel so betrayed by the party... I mean I'm just a girl trying to go fulfill my duties that I was elected to do. Elected. For a stupid state delegate position. I have had to throw around the words "fulfill my elected duties" around so much to be heard, it makes me sick. For someone who is a die hard Republican, I can see why they are so pissed with the the GOP. I can see the pull to a strongman who will come in and fix it all...

I have heard it said that all politics are local. Well, this local girl is about to get really tenacious.

I am daunted. In one of the elections for these state delegate seats, 100 people ran for the seat. I freaking 100 people on that ballot. I only had 6 people I was running against to win my state seat. This whole thing is so weird and strange and messy...

I feel a little like a spy. I am so open about my positions and beliefs, and yet I feel like I'm infiltrating a corrupt group just to try and say "NO, you all need to stop!"

Which was my role as a kid too.

I have spoken to my mother, who is very anti Trump. I asked how she would respond to this. She said she would respond with silence, "and they would know why." This is how she responded to abuse as a kid too.

I have never been silent, and I'm not going to start now.

 

[EveHarrington]

If you feeling that this could be a setback for your PTSD in any way, there is no harm in backing out.

Maybe you should contact local media outlets now to tell them that you are a disabled person with PTSD who has a service dog and someone attempted to extort money out of you so that you can fulfill your duties as a delegate while having your service dog at your side.

Do you realize that you could be doing more good than you ever possibly imagined?

 

[Deleted member 33052]

JMH, I have always believed that the person who does nothing when seeing an injustice, is as guilty as the person committing the injustice.

 

[Justmehere]

If you feeling that this could be a setback for your PTSD in any way, there is no harm in backing out.

I have thought about this - and there was an alternate elected who could fulfill my role. However, they would vote for Trump!

But, yeah, would walk away if this threatened to seriously worsen my PTSD. Right now, there is actually something that is helping my recovery, something I am learning to do differently that I think is really helpful for my life in other ways, Trump or not - which is why my therapist has been on board. She also thinks that right now where I am at in my recovery, I would have "found a battle somewhere to engage" and "you don't have much to lose here." She is right. I'm not going to lose my job or seriously alienate friends here. :/

Maybe you should contact local media outlets now to tell them that you are a disabled person with PTSD who has a service dog and someone attempted to extort money out of you so that you can fulfill your duties as a delegate while having your service dog at your side.

I have seriously considered this. It would be a more viable option if I would have taped the call, but I didn't. So, from now on, my voice record setting is going to be set to "on." It's fully legal in my state to do so.

They are holding the state convention in a big military town, with a huge base. It's the wrong town to start screwing around with anyone with a service dog for PTSD. I am going right to the event center to get this cleared up, and I think I will have more luck this way. I haven't yet mentioned the dog is for PTSD, but this time, I am.

And if the party screws around any further... my next call will be to channel so-and-so to make a stink.

I think they are wising up pretty quick though. Just mention "reporter" to any political, and they tend to change how they act. Sigh. Freedom of the press really matters. Trump wants to destroy it for a reason.

Do you realize that you could be doing more good than you ever possibly imagined?

I don't think I am doing any good for anyone :( just being my feisty self. But thanks, I hope maybe this guy thinks twice before he ever pulls that crap again. :)

JMH, I have always believed that the person who does nothing when seeing an injustice, is as guilty as the person committing the injustice.

In many/most situations, I would agree!

This is a fascinating video of Penn Jillete explaining Trump...

 

[Deleted member 33052]

I have thought about this - and there was an alternate elected who could fulfill my role. However, th...

I don't see the link. And you're right - this might not be a good time to wage a battle...

 

[ladee]

All I know , is, for the first time in my life, I am scared about this election. I have been happy, dissapointed, angry, ect... but never scared.... doesn't matter who get it.... I'm scared for our country.

 

[EveHarrington]

I don't see the link.

I can see the link just fine on my device. (iPhone). Maybe it's your device/OS?

 

[Deleted member 33052]

I can see the link just fine on my device. (iPhone). Maybe it's your device/OS?

Must be. I've got nothing.