Chris Stigall Column: Trump's Not Going Away
By Chris Stigall
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Everywhere you turn this week you're reading and hearing about a Donald Trump candidacy in a free fall, in tumult, in disarray. It's as though the media which can't get enough of this guy also can't get enough of piling on him at the same time.
First let me state - no Donald Tump apologist am I. I'm often quick to point out, in fact he wasn't even in my top five as a primary candidate choice. But, here's something I learned since his primary victory - and all the Donald Trump haters need to grasp this, too.
The folks who have been with Trump from the beginning don't give a damn what you or I think about him or them. In fact, you probably never understood or cared to know who they were from the start.
You didn't create Donald Trump. You didn't understand, legitimize, or entertain the man as standing a chance. You still don't grasp that his breaking with tradition, convention, and even social and political etiquette doesn't matter to millions of Americans. In fact, you don't - maybe can't - understand that it's why they love him.
Finally, you don't understand that all the snarky, dismissive, "isn't he embarrassing" eye rolling you're doing in your daily conversation only galvanizes his support.
The incalculable variables of this fall make my head spin, and genuinely frighten those in media and traditional politics, horrified by the prospects of a Trump presidency. We will simply never know how many millions will sit out this election to protest Trump. We'll never know how many vote third party, or even vote for the most corrupt Democrat in history. Maybe millions.
But here's what else we don't know.
How many will vote Trump and never admit it aloud? How many will finally take the time to vote for Trump after having sat it out for multiple election cycles? How many people connect with Donald Trump even though you may find him objectionable in every way?
I have a feeling there are millions of them, too. Perhaps millions more than can be estimated.
The passion for Trump is as intense for many as the blind faith and trust millions had for Obama when guys like me shook their heads in disbelief in 2008 and 2012.
To me, it comes down to an understanding of the genuine working class of this country. Not pencil pushers, or bean counters, or middle managers, or talk show hosts.
There is a demographic, or class, or group of Americans who relate to Donald Trump on a deeply personal level. And there's more of them than I, and people like me really take the time to consider.
There are certain jobs where every single day involves physically challenging work with other tough-minded people. Steeled by their jobs, they wake up knowing they will earn every penny of their money. They aren't working to "fulfill themselves" or "find their passion" in life. They're working to live.
Just going to work requires a certain mindset. It starts with their head pounding or body aching when their alarm goes of to which they exclaim, "F**k it, here we go." If you work in one of these fields (construction, for example) long enough, it changes you. You feel confident in yourself for good reason. Nothing comes easy. You show up to work every day and do your job.
Many of these people talk like Donald Trump talks. They might seem overly enthusiastic, angry, or yes, even "vulgar."
It's a by-product of their job and you have to have worked in it to truly understand it. Pajama boys, media types, and academics won't ever really understand this.
These people are often incredibly loyal, too. Maybe a bit like sharing a foxhole. There's a deep bond among them. They have shared experiences. They "strap it on" every day and fight until the whistle blows. They don't let anyone bully, take advantage or in any way emasculate them.
Donald Trump is a billionaire who talks and acts like these people I'm describing. He can be funny, crass, occasionally get his ass kicked, maybe even embarrass himself by saying "the wrong thing." But then, he gets back up and brings it the next day. Wholly unapologetic and never internalizing what anyone else might think.
Trump has created a bond with the millions of people in this country I'm describing. And there are millions. In fact, I dare say it's most working Americans. This bond or connection with Trump can't be broken because Trump is attitudinally one of them and they are Trump. They won't give up on him. That would be the equivalent of giving up on themselves.
I know plenty of people who find Trump embarrassing, dangerous, ill-suited for the job, ideologically directionless, a Democrat in disguise, and on and on and on. I've been guilty of tossing some of that his way myself.
But I've given up trying to explain him or defend him. Those who support him don't really care what you and I think. Trump is a champion of millions of everyday Americans and he seems to connect with who they are.
That may make you exclaim, "How is that possible? How could anyone support this guy?"
Maybe it's time you tried to understand who these millions of Americans are and less time looking down your nose at their candidate of choice.
I have no idea if there are enough of them to give Trump a victory. But I do know there are many millions of them the political parties, I, and perhaps you care to acknowledge.
That might say a whole lot more about you and me than about Trump and those who support him.
