It is imperative to understand the Trump supporter

Days after this tumultuous election, it is worth thinking of those on the opposite end of the political spectrum. It is worth asking oneself if they are coping well, if they are eating enough and if they are struggling to focus on their work in the same way much of the left is. Even if it seems hard, humanizing and empathizing with the millions of people who voted for President Donald Trump this year is paramount to better shaping American policy for the future. (However, it is important to note that Trump has not yet conceded the election and many Republican leaders have supported his legal challenges to its credibility — technically, there has been no transition period yet.)

Regardless, the divisiveness that has characterized this election is not an invocation against partisanship, which plays a crucial role in sustaining democracy. Instead, the closeness of this race is a sign that the current Democratic political agenda has failed to support Americans as a whole.

This is not to say that it is time to forgive and forget, but instead, the opposite. People are rightfully angry about the delegitimization of marginalized communities exercised by the Trump administration, along with the xenophobia and misogyny endured by the American people in the last four years. There is nothing to humanize about hate, but in order to examine and resolve the cause of the divide, it is crucial to realize that people are not inherently hateful. Voter demographics demonstrate that the rise of the “Trump movement” is an immediate effect of issues that the U.S. has failed to address, like the decline in the quality of education and big business stiflement of U.S. entrepreneurship. 

In many instances, the modern Democrat is loud but seldom profound. Sheltered liberals post pictures with blue cupcakes and I have personally seen them exclaiming how they “cannot believe” and “forgot” that people would vote for Trump. They express their disappointment in the nation and tweet silly, egregious things like “if you voted for Trump, you’re dead to me,” or “if you’re a Trump supporter, I hate you.” 

Many blue voters seem to know exactly what the other side has gotten wrong but have never taken the time to examine what the other side has to say, which covers a vast range. Some Republicans describe Democrats as “elitist and out of touch;” others cannot comprehend how “lazy and unpatriotic” they are. These complaints are not necessarily unmerited.

In recent years, the Democratic image has become increasingly cosmopolitan. The party is no longer relatable to Americans who rely less on the government, cities or suburbs to provide a living. Blue politicians engage with the social issues that run rampant among skyscrapers and bustling streets but rarely pay any mind to rural industries, resource extraction, property ownership or other issues that dominate Republican political discourse. To many scattered across the country, the Democratic Party is no longer representative or relevant to the lives of the “working American,” and this is important. 

People care about politics because they want jobs, education and health care; they want to live in societies where they feel safe and happy to be themselves. Voter disparity is really quite simple — people are hard-wired to vote for the people who see them, hear them and understand them. In the modern political climate, understanding that seems to be the last thing either side wants to do. The ability to exercise compassion has become a privilege exclusive to shared party affiliation. 

The truth is that most politicians boast expensive degrees, write books and run campaigns worth small countries but have a hard time understanding the average citizen. This reason is precisely why the Trump movement has become so hard to control. To many who feel as if they have been neglected by the traditional politician, Trump is a megaphone through which they can finally communicate their cacophonous anger.

For the millions of families who find their jobs replaced by automation and artificial intelligence, believing in Trump and his hollow promises is an act of desperation. To the ones who are frustrated because they lost businesses that have been passed down from their fathers and grandfathers, whose children are attending underfunded schools and who are angry that the American Dream is dissolving but don’t have anyone to blame, shooting in the dark is still better than not shooting at all. This is not to lump all Trump supporters into one category or to draw attention away from the uber-wealthy who were selfishly hoping for his tax breaks or his evangelical, anti-abortion fanbase — rather, the goal is to elucidate some of the tamer, relatable Trump voter rationales and begin to unravel the reasons why this election was so close. 

Democrats pride themselves on being the people’s party, but they have left a large chunk of America behind. In order to flip more voters, they have to break out of the “They’re crazy!” mindset and extend their policies to be more all-encompassing. The United States isn’t dealing with surface-level issues that will vanish with a new president and a new administration. Instead, what plagues Americans are deeply-rooted ideological fallacies and systemic injustices that will require large-scale societal upheaval and redistribution to resolve — that necessitates cooperation. 

In the present, Americans may not be willing to compromise on issues such as gun control; these are important battles both sides will fight for passionately. However, there are also issues that voters, regardless of partisanship, can agree on. Reshaping a better United States begins with rewiring the college industrial complex to become far more extensive and accessible. Policies that restrict and dismantle large corporations must be enacted with the goal of redistributing wealth to those who need it.

While screaming at a television screen can feel validating, the hard work behind the scenes is what determines progress. The months in the immediate future are not going to be easy, with a pandemic to conquer and wounds to heal, but along the way both sides must take a long, hard look at what America has come to. In order to solve a problem, one has to acknowledge it exists and right now, the great political divide in the United States is problematic. Americans may not agree with one another and probably never fully will, but attempting to understand one another is a step in the right direction.