Outside his immediate family – and I’d bet that’s even a
stretch at times – I suspect most people wouldn’t want to spend a lot of
one-on-one time with Trump if he weren’t President.
Ed Rendell, former mayor of Philly, once said that the test
of a politician’s likeability is whether you’d like to go to a ball game with
him or her. I don’t think Trump would
pass that test.
Democrats obviously hate him. The media largely abhor
him. Republicans don’t like him. Nor do
independents. He may be the least likeable President in our modern history.
I don’t like him personally, either. But I voted for him in
2016. And unless something truly bizarre
happens or he quits or dies before the next election, I’ll probably vote for
him again in 2020. Not because I’ll suddenly like him, but because he’s getting
stuff done.
That’s the key. That I, and many other Americans, don’t like
Trump the man, but will likely vote for him again baffles Democrats and the
media. They can’t understand it. How can
someone so demonstrably unlikeable become – and perhaps be reelected –
President?
They don’t get that there’s been a big change in the
electorate when it comes to how important personal likeability is. Obama talked
a good game and enjoyed high personal approval ratings yet accomplished little
of substance in eight years aside from doubling the national debt, saddling us
with Obamacare, and making us appear weak to the world. To me he was an empty
suit.
Many of us are now more focused on what a candidate says they’ll
do, and how confident we are they’ll fulfill their promises. We want a
President that’s not desperate to be our friend at the expense of doing what’s
necessary for the safety and security of the country.
We don’t think a President should be just like us – they’re
going to be President of the United States, for God’s sake, not our pal or drinking
buddy.
We want our President to protect us, protect our rights, protect our judiciary system, protect and uphold the Constitution, leave us alone, and stop spending our tax dollars on stupid stuff like
unnecessary foreign wars and feel-good social programs that don’t work. That’s
going to take someone willing to fight for us; someone who isn’t afraid of
public opinion or what the media think.
Someone who isn’t always worried about being likeable or popular.
We’re perfectly willing to put up with a jerk if they can do
that. Trump’s proof.
Make no mistake, Trump’s a jerk at times. But he’s an authentic jerk and authenticity
is more important than likeability in politics today. He never pretends to be anyone other than who
he is – warts and all. He’s openly politically incorrect and says whatever he really
thinks regardless of who he’s talking to. That makes him refreshingly honest,
if often also just misguided.
If he doesn’t like you, you’ll know it. He’ll never stab you
in the back. Or in secret. He’ll stab
you in the front while the cameras are rolling.
He’s a billionaire, his wife is a knock-out model who speaks
multiple languages, he’s a Wharton Business School grad, and he owns properties
all over the world. He never pretends he’s just like you and me. Nor does he
ever try to prove he is. He knows that
would be silly.
That’s a point apparently lost on a lot of people now running
for President. Most of them are busy promising things they can’t possibly
deliver and engaging in stunts to make them seem more “authentic” and in touch
with the “common people” of this country.
Yet the more they push these stunts the more they come off
as phony, and often ridiculous.
Like Liz Warren “having a beer.” Beto getting a haircut, changing a tire, or
worse yet, getting his teeth cleaned – thank God he wasn’t up for a colonoscopy.
Kamala claiming she smoked pot and listened to Tupac when she was in
college. Remember Hillary claiming she
always carried hot sauce in her purse?
They all came off as shameless and disingenuous.
Can you imagine Trump doing any of that? Nope.
Say what you will about Bernie and his looney-tune policies,
but at least he is who he appears to be. He’s the genuine article: a crazy old
socialist and unrepentant class warrior, who with all his arm waving and
yelling clearly doesn’t give a rat’s ass whether you like him personally. He’s
not pretending to be anything else to be more likeable. He doesn’t care.
I think he’s nuts, but I give him credit for not hiding
it.
Trump doesn’t care whether you like him personally, either. Nor
does he waste time trying to fool anyone he’s like the rest of us. He’s not and that’s obvious.
It doesn’t seem to bother him. Or me.
Now, I’m often appalled by what he says. I cringe whenever I
hear “President Trump tweeted …” because I just know it’s going to be off the
wall, and most likely offensive. Some of his ideas are crazy. He has a loose relation, at best, with facts.
I don’t always agree with how he’s chosen and treated the people supposed to
advise him, or even the people supposed to be his political allies.
He’s a bully. He’s rude. He’s arrogant. He’s egotistical and
lacks social graces.
If someone made a comedy about Trump’s Presidency, the late
Rodney Dangerfield would have been a shoo-in for the Trump part, if only to
reprise his Al Czervik character in Caddyshack.
Trump’s a developer from Queens, as Greg Gutfeld says: What
did we expect?
Yet I do appreciate that he’s willing to step up and address
problems other Presidents have kicked down the road for decades.
Like the trade imbalance with China and the EU. Like pulling
out of bad trade agreements. Like withdrawing from feel-good yet one-sided
agreements like the Paris Climate Accord and the Iran Nuclear Deal. Like dealing with North Korea and Iran from a
position of strength. Like making NATO
members pay their fair share. Like
rebuilding our military.
And of course, confronting illegal immigration.
I may not always agree with some of his solutions, but at
least he’s doing something.
Which is more than I can say about many of our most
recent and more popular Presidents from both parties.
Another good one. I'll take a President who looks out for our best interests regardless of how non PC he or she is. I don't hire friends and I don't vote for friends. Both of these actions require me to make a decision around who can do the job. If I happen to like them, well that is a bonus but it isn't in the job description. I do find POTUS to be entertaining at times, does that count?
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