The New Yorker: How Trump Is Transforming Rural America

[babylonsister]

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/07/24/how-trump-is-transforming-rural-america

The New Yorker


Letter from Colorado
July 24, 2017 Issue
How Trump Is Transforming Rural America
In Colorado, the President’s tone has started rubbing off on residents.

By Peter Hessler



snip//

On January 20th, nearly two hundred people attended the Mesa County Republican Women’s DeploraBall. They watched a live feed of the Presidential Inaugural Ball, and they took photographs of one another next to cardboard cutouts of Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan, which had been arranged on the mezzanine of the Avalon Theatre. The theatre has an elegant Romanesque Revival façade, and it was built in the twenties, during one of the periodic resource-extraction booms that have shaped the city and its psyche. Grand Junction, with its surrounding area, has a population of some hundred and fifty thousand, and it sits in a wide, windswept valley. There are dry mountains and mesas on all sides, and the landscape gives the town a self-contained feel. Even its history revolves around events that were suffered alone. Residents often refer to their own “Black Sunday,” a date that’s meaningless anywhere else: May 2, 1982, when Exxon decided to abandon an enormous oil-shale project, with devastating effects on Grand Junction’s economy.

The region is a Republican stronghold in a state that is starkly divided. Clinton won the Colorado popular vote by a modest margin, but Trump took nearly twice as many counties. The difference came from Denver and Boulder, two populous and liberal enclaves on the Front Range, the eastern side of the Rockies—the Colorado equivalents of New York and California. “Donald Trump lost those two counties by two hundred and seventy-three thousand votes, and he won the rest of the state by a hundred and forty thousand votes,” Steve House, the former chair of the state Republican Party, told me. “That means that most of Colorado, in my mind, is a conservative state.”

snip//

Before Trump took office, people I met in Grand Junction emphasized pragmatic reasons for supporting him. The economy was in trouble, and Trump was a businessman who knew how to make rational, profit-oriented decisions. Supporters almost always complained about some aspect of his character, but they also believed that these flaws were likely to help him succeed in Washington. “I’m not voting for him to be my pastor,” Kathy Rehberg, a local real-estate agent, said. “I’m voting for him to be President. If I have rats in my basement, I’m going to try to find the best rat killer out there. I don’t care if he’s ugly or if he’s sociable. All I care about is if he kills rats.”

After the turbulent first two months of the Administration, I met again with Kathy Rehberg and her husband, Ron. They were satisfied with Trump’s performance, and their complaints about his behavior were mild. “I think some of it is funny, how he doesn’t let people push him around,” Ron Rehberg said. Over time, such remarks became more common. “I hate to say it, but I wake up in the morning looking forward to what else is coming,” Ray Scott, a Republican state senator who had campaigned for Trump, told me in June. One lawyer said bluntly, “I get a kick in the ass out of him.” The calculus seemed to have shifted: Trump’s negative qualities, which once had been described as a means to an end, now had value of their own. The point wasn’t necessarily to get things done; it was to retaliate against the media and other enemies. This had always seemed fundamental to Trump’s appeal, but people had been less likely to express it so starkly before he entered office. “For those of us who believe that the media has been corrupt for a lot of years, it’s a way of poking at the jellyfish,” Karen Kulp told me in late April. “Just to make them mad.”

In Grand Junction, people wanted Trump to accomplish certain things with the pragmatism of a businessman, but they also wanted him to make them feel a certain way. The assumption has always been that, while emotional appeal might have mattered during the campaign, the practical impact of a Trump Presidency would prove more important. Liberals claimed that Trump would fail because his policies would hurt the people who had voted for him.

But the lack of legislative accomplishment seems only to make supporters take more satisfaction in Trump’s behavior. And thus far the President’s tone, rather than his policies, has had the greatest impact on Grand Junction. This was evident even before the election, with the behavior of supporters at the candidate’s rally, the conflicts within the local Republican Party, and an increased distrust of anything having to do with government. Sheila Reiner, a Republican who serves as the county clerk, said that during the campaign she had dealt with many allegations of fraud following Trump’s claims that the election could be rigged. “People came in and said, ‘I want to see where you’re tearing up the ballots!’ ” Reiner told me. Reiner and her staff gave at least twenty impromptu tours of their office, in an attempt to convince voters that the Republican county clerk wasn’t trying to throw the election to Clinton.

more...

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/07/24/how-trump-is-transforming-rural-america

This article appears in other versions of the July 24, 2017, issue, with the headline “Follow the Leader.”

Peter Hessler joined The New Yorker as a staff writer in 2000

[dalton99a]

1. "If anything, investigations have made supporters only more faithful"

Fuck them. Let them die off in their bigotry and hatred.

[babylonsister]

2. Yes. This article is pretty dismal.

Seems as if nothing will deter them from their delusions.

[brush]

7. The article needs to be updated. Wonder how those trump backers feel now

There were passages in there from January.

Things have changed quite a lot since then.

[Cicada]

17. Poll out today: only 45% Trump voters think Jr met with Russians

Even tho he said he met with them. See PPP poll question 32.

I think a lot like Trump because he shares their hatred of blacks, browns, asians, queers, pointy-headed intellectuals. Since Trump's hatreds are in the right place they give him a pass.

A century ago when inequality was high liberals joined with farmers in opposition to the Trusts, the monopolies, and hatred of that common enemy led to progressive advances. Maybe we need to join with the rural folks in going after Wall Street, the Bankers, etc. Maybe Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders need to Be on tv nonstop.

[brush]

23. Share some of their hatred of blacks, browns, Asians, queers, pointy-headed intellectuals too?

I'll add progressive whites to your laundry list, and no thank you.

We've already had raging arguments here about Sanders' call for Dems to stop playing "identity politics" and go after WWC trump voters.

To appeal to them then of course you're going to go against the Dem party base of "blacks, browns, Asians, queers, progressive whites and pointy-headed intellectuals" as you put it.

Again, no thank you.

And btw, Sanders-backed candidates have had scant success in elections to date.

That anti-identity politics schtick doesn't seem to work, except for repugs. They practice it all the time — white identity politics that is, which of course is hatred of blacks, browns, Asians, queers, progressive whites and pointy-headed intellectuals.

Good try though.

[Eliot Rosewater]

27. It is worse than that, WHEN, not if, the GOP and Putin agenda kills them, makes them

homeless, they not only will blame you and me, but they will act out against us.

It is too late, we cant fix this, well, we have ONE shot, and ONLY One shot.

It has a .001% chance of working, but it is our ONLY shot.

EVERY non fascist American over the age of 18, shows up to vote, votes for ANY democratic candidate on the ballot.

That is our one and only shot.

[Cicada]

18. We're stuck with them and need to pick some off to join us

The progressives a century ago forged an effective alliance of farmers and liberals by attacking the "Trusts", the big monopoly interests. What Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders say should appeal to Trump supporters. As long as the Trump supporters don't catch on that Bernie and Elizabeth oppose the Nazis etc we might win over a few.

[loyalsister]

25. Yet another example of how Trump is transforming America

People of all political stripes are getting meaner and more hateful.

[hatrack]

3. How about some airdrops of Oxy, you ignorant fucking crackers?

Better now?

[BeyondGeography]

4. Sounds like, "He sucks, and so do we."

Dreary.

[maxrandb]

5. Please send this Steve House fucker back to school

“Donald Trump lost those two counties by two hundred and seventy-three thousand votes, and he won the rest of the state by a hundred and forty thousand votes,” Steve House, the former chair of the state Republican Party, told me. “That means that most of Colorado, in my mind, is a conservative state.”

Really? 140,000 is now great than 273,000??? Yes, and if we give "tax-cuts" to the wealthy, they'll piss money on the rest of us.

How do you fucking fix people like this fucker? Your fucking trees and pigs count more than people?

This is why I think it's time we start being just as fucking vindictive as these ReTrumplicans. Cities should make an effort to fuck over these country bumpkin folks every fucking chance they get.

Let's see how these hayseeds survive without the fucking economic power of cities.

I guess it could be that Mr. House believes our cities are filled with African Americans, who, you know if the ReTrumplicans had their way, only count as 3/5th a person. Maybe then his math would work out.

And they wonder why I hate them

[DetlefK]

8. Everbody knows elections are decided by how many square-miles a candidate wins.

[DBoon]

29. Because rural whites are "real americans"

And their votes are more important than the rest of us

[brutus smith]

6. Another story that talks about trump supporters

That's why I say you will never change their mind.

http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2017/07/19/Local-Trump-backers-on-Medicaid-unshaken.html

[bearsfootball516]

9. I just read it, and

My God, how dumb can someone be? The whole 5th avenue thing really was true.

[irisblue]

20. Misogyny&Racism&Stupidity run deep.

[loyalsister]

26. Trump supporters demonize us

Our side demonizes Trump supporters. The only thing that comes of it is more conflict, racism, classism, anti LGBT bigotry, etc. Classism and educational superiority are the DU favorites.

[Nevernose]

32. We're not pushing any of that shit

We're not the ones engaged in class warfare, making people believe they deserve their lot in life because they're poor. We're the ones who want everyone to have a good education, not just the scions of other rich assholes.

We're not the ones pushing racism or bigotry or any of that shit.

I'm tired of running our country based entirely off the feelings of one subset's inferiority complex.

Does the Democratic Party need to do better at outreach? Absolutely. Do I give a fuck if racists act like racists? Hell no.

[loyalsister]

33. I'm hearing a lot of bigotry towards Trump voters

Especially those who are just now discovering that they're going to lose healthcare. It's classist and the most common insults are of people's intelligence. It's the same difference as stoking hatred toward any other targeted group.

[DetlefK]

10. "the lack of legislative accomplishment ... more satisfaction in Trump"

The explanation is easy:
Trump is not one of those "politicians". One of those people who talk and compromise all day. Trump tells it like it is! Not having legislative accomplishments means he's not one of those people.

[Achilleaze]

11. "what they hate about him is what they hate about me..."

What, that he* lies all the time?

If you lie all the time, it's just not reasonable to expect anyone to respect you.

* republican Draft-Dodger-in-Chief

[octoberlib]

12. Their attachment to Trump is emotional, not logical.

[Squinch]

13. These kinds of idiots get so much press it's easy to think they are a growing contingent

and the danger from them is growing. I think it's important to remember that, yes, Trump(R)'s base is a hateful and stupid and loyal bunch. They will never change. But there is erosion even among them, and the "strongly disapprove" numbers for Trump(R) even within the Republican party are growing.

But there will always be people like this. They are stupid and they want revenge for the fact that their lives suck. An economic event in 1982 determined the trajectory of their lives. They're still pissed about it. Think about that. Did something terrible happen to you in the 80s? Have you overcome it, whatever it was? Yeah. Me too.

There are more of us. This will not last forever. They tried to take over, and they might have if the elected officials they love were not so incompetent. But they are incompetent. And the rest of the country is seeing that more clearly than ever.

[alcibiades_mystery]

14. Good God: More "Dispatches from Trump Country," the dumbest genre in America

I don't remember ream after ream of paper being expended on Obama voters.

Can we reduce the number of "What Trump Voters Think" anthropological studies to five or six a week. It's become a silly little ritual among New York journalists and liberal masochists. I'd rather read about the Yanomamo.

[no_hypocrisy]

15. To them, Trump is all marketing, no results.

His appeal is how he makes them feel collectively. A bully "protecting" a group of overlooked, nondescript, generic, uncultured, never-read-the-Bible, Fox-News-loving folks. With Trump in the WH, they're important. They're "in charge".

No way they're going to give up that delusion.

[HughBeaumont]

16. Too bad they don't listen to themselves . . .

"A good friend once told me that the only difference between a salesman and a con-man is that a salesman has confidence in his product.”

WHAT ARE WE SEEING NOW, IDIOTS? The "salesman" you voted for . . . or the con-man you OWN?

[sinkingfeeling]

19. Sad.

[bronxiteforever]

21. These folks can't adapt to their changing world

and the competition that exists between countries and societies. If you fail to adapt ,and humans use reason and logic to adapt, you lose the evolutionary race. Logic and reason are not nurtured in this rural American culture. Americans now use posture and attitude as its fundamental credo and life source. Yet these attributes are as hollow as anything imaginable.
The "American century" is long over because many Americans bought into the myth that America and its system are designated to be "number 1" by a deity. They believe that all you have to be is "American" and of course we will win the wars or the economy or whatever. Any "losing" is attributable to a lack of Americanism. Trump is the end stage of this disease. A disease that supports highly concentrated wealth in a few ruling families. We are becoming a feudal society with a nobility of inherited wealth that rules with an iron fist.

[DBoon]

30. Any losing is attributable to lack of "Americanism"

I prefer the post WWI German term, "Dochstosslegende.

[lunasun]

22. Ok starts right off saying the women embrace being deplorables. Nuff said

[Aristus]

24. I take my hat off to these journalists.

I could never listen to Trumpanzees for any length of time without wanting to find a window to throw them out of...

[DBoon]

28. I will think twice before visiting these areas

Their animosity is going to cost them tourist dollars

[peggysue2]

31. The Unreachables

As I've said elsewhere, these are the unreachables because they've become stubborn non-thinkers, driven only by resentment of one kind or another. The true believers will not be turned until or unless the Trumpster's incompetence and non-leadership begins to hurt them as individuals.

Read something recently that sounded right:

It's far easier to fool people than to get those same people to admit they were fooled and/or conned.

When the Trumpster's grand promises begin to wither on the vine, some support may peel away. But for the rest? They've been permanently blinded by the Grift of the Century.

Unreachable.