sure, there’s been plenty of crazy at the Republican convention. But there’s been plenty of compelling, effective and, for lack of a better word, “normal” too.
Will we ever learn? In the wake of 2016, many on the left, in the media and certainly on blue-check Twitter were caught off-guard by Donald Trump’s unfathomable win. I count myself among the surprised. Over the past four years, however, we’ve seen over and over again that Trump’s appeal wasn’t merely the result of a fluke or an irrelevant procedural mishap. It was real. Supported by real people. For real reasons. These people support Trump despite what I may think are unforgivable and disqualifying transgressions. As he grew more emboldened, so too did his corruption and abuses of power. His stoking of racial tensions pitted Americans against each other. His war on the press and free speech made us less free. His affection for dictators made us less safe. And his incompetence and denials about COVID-19 has cost lives. It’s easy to assume these are clear and undeniable failures, that anyone who disagrees is a quack, a racist or living in an alternate reality. Anyone who made that assumption may have been surprised, therefore, to see so many people of varying backgrounds tell compelling stories of why they still support the president at the first two nights of the Republican National Convention. I was not. Among them, everyday workers like Maine lobsterman Jason Joyce; Minnesota dairy farmer Cris Peterson; and Wisconsin’s John Peterson, owner of Schuette Metals.
