Allegiance to a Con Man

Since I wrote “The Trump Syndrome,” which dealt primarily with the reason Donald Trump was elected president, I’ve been thinking about why he is still attractive to so many Americans after nearly four years of utter incompetence and cruelty. Though I believe he will be defeated in his bid for a second term, he will still receive millions of votes. Only a small portion of those votes will be cast by unregenerate white nationalists and neo-Nazis. What motivates the millions of other decent, hard-working Americans who are willing to overlook Trump’s outrages and want him to serve another four years in office?

Political life is complex. Throughout history it has taken many forms, from communal societies to slave states to royal rule to autocracies and, thankfully, to democracies. But while this progression has been bloody, it has also become less barbaric and has moved toward greater equality. Unfortunately, there’s still a long way to go before “the pursuit of happiness” reaches its ideal in a world of peace, justice and brotherhood.

But the complexity in politics is an outgrowth of the complexities in the lives of the people within and between the nations of the world. Human and societal imperfections have resulted in different viewpoints of the same phenomena. Thus the development of various political structures in each country. In the U.S. we have a Constitution, which lays out basic principles for the establishment of what Benjamin Franklin rightly called a republic. Although that document did not mandate a two-party system entrusted to function on the basis of those principles, different views by our legislators resulted in the establishment of the Republican and Democratic parties. While the political winds have resulted in the birth of other parties, these two are still dominant in our political landscape. And those winds have reversed their characters 180 degrees: the Republicans, once the party of Abraham Lincoln, has become conservative, while the Democrats, once the party of slave-owners, has become, as its name applies, democratic (small d).

As to the views of “We the People,” our attitudes are influenced by various factors: upbringing, conditions, occupations, relationships — and, not least, the media and the politicians. To complicate the picture, there are also psychological aspects as to why we think the way we do. Not being a psychologist myself, I can’t analyze it. But when a woman attending a Trump rally is told by an interviewer that most of what he said was untrue, and her response is, “I know, but he’ll get things done,” I’m sure that something beyond objective reasoning is at work in her mind. Perhaps it is a need that compels her to ignore reality in the hope that this blusterer will somehow fulfill that need.

In his book “What’s the Matter With Kansas?”, Thomas Frank delves into the contradiction of voters who consistently vote against their self-interest. He details the factors involved, and it’s not a pretty picture. The Kansans, he says, have repeatedly been hoodwinked by populist rhetoric, much like the feel-good lies we’ve been deluged with from Donald Trump.

 I also believe that the explosion of imagery into our lives with the advent of television is a factor in coloring our political perspective. Most notably we remember the very first presidential debate between Sen. John F. Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon. Much emphasis in the analysis afterward focused on Kennedy’s good looks and his calm demeanor, while Nixon was sweating and had a five o’clock shadow. These should not have made a difference in our estimates of the political capabilities of the two men, but they did. Ask anyone who works in advertising about the importance of imagery in the art of persuasion.

As I said, I can’t explain why some people view an established liar and fraud as their savior, while vilifying a candidate who makes sense and is obviously a decent person. My only hope is that — as the polls now indicate — Joe Biden, the decent if not perfect candidate, who has presented plans to improve conditions for the mass of Americans in this pandemic-ridden society, is elected on Nov. 3.