Too many of my friends have told me not to watch Trump’s town hall on NBC. Watching it would give Trump a win by giving him ratings. Let me be the first to say… Shut the fuck up.
I love my friends. However, most of them don’t pay attention to politics outside of Presidential elections. Some of them pay attention every two years for Congressional elections. However, only one of my friends comes anywhere near as close as I do to paying regular attention to the politics of the United States.
I pay attention to what happens in Washington DC EVERY SINGLE DAY. It might be why I am always so morose. The majority of our nation either finds politics too hard or too boring.
That is the problem. That is why our politics are so corrupt. That is why a Donald Trump can find his way into the White House. We are asleep when it comes to our national, and local, politics.
It is also why we are so divided. We live in political bubbles. What we understand about “the other side” we get from commentary made by talking heads within our respective bubbles. To some extent, I fall into the talking head category. My audience is liberal Democrat and progressive. I do not pretend that I am trying to talk to conservatives. But, I listen to them.
To defeat an enemy, you must understand an enemy. So, yes, as hard as it is, I will listen to Donald Trump when he holds a town hall. He is not a smart man. He is, however, a cunning man. He knows that people underestimate him. He hates it, but he knows how to use it. This is the secret to his success over the entirety of his career, in business and in politics.
Oh, and for the record, it was the more entertaining of the two town halls. My only complaint with it is NBC deciding to go head-to-head with Biden. But, if you want to feel better tonight, the Trump town hall is the way to go.
Savannah Guthrie was an amazing moderator. I have a real political news crush on her right now. From minute one, she put Trump on his heels, and she kept him on the defensive for the entire town hall. She gave him no quarter to freely spew the bullshit we have grown so tired of. She has done, in one night, what the news should have been doing since he came down the escalator: making him justify himself. It was beautiful.
If you think you are not in a bubble because you have conservative friends and family on your Facebook friends list, you are living a delusion. Please stop. Most of all, please stop telling people, especially me, that I have to follow political rules designed to put me into your bubble.
I am a progressive. I see Trump as the second most dangerous man in the USA. (McConnell will always be #1) As far as I am concerned, voting for Biden is a moral imperative. But understand, Biden is a means to an end. If you think I am hard on Trump, wait until Biden gets into office and I begin to push a progressive agenda designed to help ALL Americans.
In the meantime, vote for Biden and shut the fuck up about ignoring “them.” That is why we are where we are in the first place.