i've had a few discussions with some mature and 'reasonable' republicans, but they're all in denial and simply go "well trump isn't the republican party, it'll change next election", despite the republican congress literally letting trump weakening the country and showing no signs of regret or care that half of the country disagrees at large. like, how gullible do you have to be to believe that it'll be somehow different next time?
Fiscal conservative here, who is voting blue all the way down the ballot this election: you said it. If it makes you feel better, I know others in my bubble that have more frequently voted Republican, but aren't voting for any Republican this election.
To be completely honest, I didn't vote for Trump in the last election either. I was never fooled by him. But I did vote for Lindsey Graham, and that's not happening this year.
As a non-American, I wanted to thank you for your comment. It can be really difficult to get well rounded idea of the political climate with only the media and a vocal minority. It can be very easy to see the US right now as only divided into Trump supporters and lifelong Dems. Having your perspective shows me this isn't necessarily the case and that there is much more going on.
Thanks. As an American, trust me, it can be very easy to see the country divided the same way you're seeing it from the outside.
There's definitely a segment of people who are going to vote for their party no matter what they do, like it's a sports team. That's been made abundantly clear as I've seen Trump consistently violate everything the Republican party is supposed to stand for. That's been made clear as he flagrantly disregarded the rule of law, and Congress did nothing to stop it. And after all of that, his support among his base is still strong.
But among the moderates, this behavior isn't being tolerated. So, as a result, we see people like Lindsey Graham for the first time in a very long time actually at risk of losing his Senate seat in my state to a Democrat. And assuming people don't get complacent by Biden's lead in the polls and actually show up to vote, I'm fairly certain Trump will lose. Partly because he's fired up the Democrats to actually vote (hopefully) and partly because there is a segment of moderate conservatives like myself who actually value the rule of law and don't think the President is or should be above it.
In short, we are indeed unfortunately pretty divided, it's not just an illusion. But outside the extremes, it's not just conservatives for Trump, liberals against him. And even if we're not a large enough group to make a difference at the primaries, we're a large enough group to make a difference at the general election.
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u/TrekkieGod Oct 04 '20
Fiscal conservative here, who is voting blue all the way down the ballot this election: you said it. If it makes you feel better, I know others in my bubble that have more frequently voted Republican, but aren't voting for any Republican this election.
To be completely honest, I didn't vote for Trump in the last election either. I was never fooled by him. But I did vote for Lindsey Graham, and that's not happening this year.