Perhaps one of the most polarizing candidates in the Presidential race belongs to none other than Donald Trump. The real-estate mogul has dominated in nearly every state poll and national poll since July. After announcing his Presidential bid in mid June, Trump has gathered support from all facets of the political spectrum. Social-Conservatives, defense hawks, establishment GOP and independents who have previously been disenfranchised by the political insiders and career politicians. Despite personal feelings on Trump, a visit to one of his town-halls was warranted for me, who is ultra curious to see what the buzz is all about.
A rainy, dark and slippery night brought me to Waterville Valley Athletic Club just north of here. Upon entering, a room of roughly 900 chairs was set up, a stage and the "Make America Great Again" banner perfectly positioned next to the American flag. What was most telling about this room was the amount of people there nearly an hour and a half before the start time. The press were relentlessly asking patrons of the crowd their thoughts on Trump and why they are supporting him as a candidate. The most popular answers that I overheard were that he is "Honest" has "Integrity" and that most thought he had an overwhelming sense of honor and patriotism to this country. A conversation with a man revealed to me that a lot of people in the crowd do not consider themselves Democrats or Republicans, but more Americans above all else.
Trump spoke for roughly 55 minutes on his main platform of strong immigration reform, building a wall at the border and enhancing security. Trump also went on to say that his speeches have changed significantly since Paris, noting that people all across the country have flocked to his campaign because of the necessity of someone who will stand up for "American ideals" and protect us from threats foreign and domestic. Trump also spoke at length about the importance of building the American economy again and unleashing the entrepreneurial spirit that made this nation great and that he can make the country great again. Trump opened to questions and took many questions from the crowd including about 5 of them from people under the age of 25. The questions were of all types including ones on energy, military and domestic policy, even including a question on Roe v. Wade.
From an objective standpoint, Trump could not have handled the room more appropriately. His orating skills and the ability to interact with people in the crowd came off as not only sincere but he managed to keep the room light despite a shout "Bernie 2016" coming from the back of the crowd. Trump dismissed Bernie by noting "Bernie lost it when he gave up the emails" With a loud applause, Trump rallied around getting another jab at Clinton. This event was nothing to what I was expecting, between the TSA security at the door, a mild Trump and a crowd of about 1000 people, Trump has exemplified that he is here to compete and has taken a shift to become more serious with his policy positions.
Time will tell how this transitions into further big-scale events heading into the Holiday season. Despite my disapproval of many things he has said, done and exclaimed, Trump showed that he can compete with any of the GOP heavyweights.
-Connor Brown
2 comments:
I think it's very interesting to hear this viewpoint regarding the Trump campaign. Most people have written him off as a lunatic and almost all of the publicity that surrounds him is often regarding something controversial that he has said, rather than focusing on his actual plans for potential presidency. Many of his visits to towns across the country have been reported as him being aggressive and such, so it is very informational to hear a firsthand account regarding one of his visits. In the midst of the negative publicity surrounding him, people have taken an interest in hearing what he has to say, showing up to these visits, and seeing the Trump that is able to convince people that he is the right choice. Every time there is a report about his obscenities or controversial comments, it simply creates more interest with the general public. The media trying to devalue him seems to have actually brought most of his supporters right to his feet.
Cassidy Spencer
Trump scares me. He has good economic value and would like to see something like that in 2016. But I think he is to extreme and doesn't have the right credentials and experience to run the country . I don't think it is fair that he gets bashed by the media at all but thats how they get viewers because he is unorthodox to any other candidate. Although it is fun to watch.
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