...and if so, why?
I will admit, I'm not a particularly smart or well-informed person. In fact, much of my "news" and knowledge of the world tends to come from browsing around here and elsewhere on the internet, rather than reading actual news articles. With that being said, even with what little I know, have seen, or have heard, I have never, ever understood the appeal of Donald Trump. To the point where I do not get how anyone could watch a live video of the man, and actually believe that he is, in any way, a decent and intelligent man, deserving of any sort of leadership position.
I mean, do all of you just willfully turn a blind eye to the man's faults? Are you so convinced that any form of negative press about the man is ALL, 100% "fake news"?
I do not get that. I voted for Barack Obama, twice. I voted for Hillary Clinton. I plan on voting for Joe Biden. I have not put any of these people on a pedestal. I am well aware they have faults, and there is much I disagree with them about. I feel that Obama's heavy use of drone strike set a potentially disastrous precedent, Hillary is even more right-leaning than Obama is in my eyes, and there's no getting around the fact that Biden's mental state has seen better days, and he can be more than a little creepy around women. And all that's just off the top of my head; the biggest issues I have with them or their political leanings. Hell, I voted for Bernie Sanders in the primaries, as he probably comes the closest to my own personal political leanings among the aforementioned, and even he managed to disappoint me when he didn't immediately suspend his campaign in the face of the growing Covid-19 pandemic.
Maybe it's just because I'm that much of a cynic, but there isn't a single person on this Earth who is in any kind of position of authority that I trust or agree with completely. But you're so certain that Trump, of all people, is somehow the real deal?
And even if you're honest enough to admit that the man has his faults, and you only care about him in so far as he helps enact the policies you actually care about, hasn't he mostly failed in that regard as well? He didn't manage to get the Wall built, and Mexico was never going to pay for it. Instead of "draining the swamp" he just filled it with lobbyists loyal to him. Even when it comes to the dreaded "SJWS" allegedly ruining media, his election only seems to have further emboldened the more progressive folk currently working in Hollywood and elsewhere, so even his mere election triggering us "libtards" doesn't really seem like much of a victory, in hindsight.
One can, of course, make the argument that any of his efforts to fulfill his campaign promises were stifled by the Democrats, but why do you believe a second term would prove to be any more fruitful in that regard? Even if Trump manages a narrow win in November, that narrowness will likely be reflected in Congress as well, so Trump and the Republicans still won't have the mandate they would need to pass some of the more controversial legislation they might desire.
So again, why are you still supporting a man who has failed so much both personally and politically? It feels a lot like clinging to a sinking ship, to me.
I know I'm probably not going to get much of a response to this. There are very few conservative-leaning posters left, as most either left of their own accord or were finally perma-banned. The few that remain very rarely pop up, and mostly just to engage in "whataboutism", which is probably all I can expect here. Otherwise, most are probably just reading my post, shaking their head, smiling smugly, and going "You just don't get it."
You're absolutely right. I do not. So explain it me. As you would to a child, if necessary. And if you can't at least attempt to put an explanation into words, can you even really say you understand your own reasoning yourself?
Since I'm not likely to get a satisfactory answer, and most of the people who will be posting are going to be other members of the choir, I guess I'll ask you then: Have you ever spoken with a Trump supporter? Family members, former friends, or co-workers? If you point out of any this to them, is literally all they do is put their fingers in their ears and chant "Fake news!"? Have any of them ever actually conceded a point, or even changed their mind?
I'm not a particularly social person, so I've never actually had a conversation with one. My mom did vote for him, and my younger brother was briefly a fan, but both very quickly came around as his term went on, and that was before this year rolled around, and his incompetence and cowardice should have become apparent to all.
I feel like this thread has a good chance of getting locked, and a mod popping in to direct people to the main Trump discussion thread, but I was worried all this would get lost the in ever increasing posts detailing Trumps failings, and while it does happen from time to time, the more conservative-leaning posters probably don't pop in there all that often for that exact reason.
More than anything, I'm just trying to understand. Understand how a man who, in my eyes, is so unfit to be in any position of authority, could possibly be elected to one of the highest positions of authority in the land. Understand how people could still support that man after seeing everything he has said or done, particularly this year, with unbiased eyes. And how we could possibly prevent a man like that from ever gaining that kind of power in the future.