Trump has captured everyone’s attention
SUBURBAN CHRONICLES
My 15-year-old daughter watched the U.S. presidential debate this week between Republican nominee Donald Trump and his Democratic counterpart Hillary Clinton. When it was over, she looked at me: “That Trump guy ...”
Then she said a bunch of words I’ve accidentally taught her and can’t be republished in a family newspaper or even in semirespectable corners of the Internet.
Both my eldest and her eightyear-old sister have enjoyed something of a political awakening during the American run for the White House. For the older one, it’s part of a burgeoning interest in social justice that’s likely to make our dinner table an interesting place to be over the next few years. She cannot understand how a person like Trump can enjoy his current level of support — well, any support, really — while the U.S. is currently going through such turmoil over issues of race, queer equality and poverty.
The younger one, meanwhile, is fascinated by the process — “you mean the election isn’t until November? It’s been going on all summer!” – and the idea that Clinton could be the first woman president. I pointed out that we’ve had a female Canadian prime minister and that our current premier is also a woman.
“Yeah sure, Dad,” she said, rolling her eyes. “But president is cool.”
I can’t say I blame them for their fascination of a race that isn’t quite theirs. They are both smart enough to realize that what happens south of the border profoundly impacts life in Canada, that the U.S. has a uniquely global influence. If there’s one thing that social media does, it’s heighten awareness of the unusually large nature of the world and its inherent connectedness.
I can’t stop watching, either. I’m flabbergasted by Trump’s repeated ability to tell shameless lies — not just the weaselly untruths we’ve come to expect of politicians of every stripe — but giant, nose-stretching whoppers and suffer no apparent consequences in the polls.
It’s like the rules of the game as I’ve always understood them don’t apply.
My 15-year-old is incredulous the United States might actually elect such a person president but I have no such illusions. The election of Rob Ford as mayor of Toronto in 2010 was a turning point for me, a realization populism had the ability to overtake — I almost said trump — logic and common sense. Hit the right emotional notes and you can do and say just about anything.
And yet, at least Ford seemed genuinely interested in helping people. His commitment to his constituency was legendary and I’ve met and interviewed people whose lives were changed by his involvement. He may have been a flawed human — just like the rest of us — and I question why anyone would have deemed him fit for public office but I can, in a certain light, see the appeal.
The Trump thing, however, is mystifying.
If there’s a plus side to his campaign, it’s that he’s managed to get the Edwards girls politically energized to some degree: sometimes it takes watching a car crash to generate an interest in automotive safety. They may not be able to impact the outcome of the U.S. election, they’re learning the importance of having a say.
Even if it’s just a string of naughty words for now.