Women Trump voters — will we ever understand each other?
Thanksgiving will be much different next week for most people. No large family gatherings, if any at all. No getting into political fights over the pumpkin pie.
Miss the heated discussions? No problem. We’ll start early — right here in this column. Because we’re just not done yet talking about why many women voted to reelect Donald Trump.
Two weeks ago I posed that question, surmising that since he gained more than 70 million votes nationwide, a substantial number had to be from women. And how could that have happened when just four years ago, hundreds of thousands marched in protest the day after his inauguration?
Quite a number from various parts of the state were proud to share why they wanted Trump in office four more years, and I wrote about their perspectives in last week’s column.
“He is not a ‘woos’ he is a MAN and gets the job done and REAL women like a man like this,” wrote Rose Marie Marmolejo, who read my column in the Connecticut Post.
That generated more responses, both from women who wanted to be heard and others, including men, who questioned how they could think that way.
And a few criticized me for asking the question.
“You liberals just want a smooth talker that makes you feel good when snuggled in your blanky in front of the boob tube,” wrote Joe Mencel of Easton. “Yes Trump is disgraceful but he got my vote cause he’s the only one that gets it.”
Joe took issue with me mentioning women who had advanced degrees, saying it is “disrespectful to people that didn’t attend college, you liberals think they’re not smart.” (He’s an engineer with a four-year degree.)
For the record, this liberal does not consider anyone without a college degree “not smart.” I was well into my adulthood — and working on my career — before I was lucky enough to graduate college.
Let’s set a few ground rules for this discussion: No name-calling. Mutual respect. Make the effort to explain and listen.
Gwen Dobas of Strat
ford was anxious to tell why she voted for Trump.
“I am a practicing Roman Catholic and I pray every day. I love God, my family and my country. I am a deplorable!!!! I am fiercely pro life. I believe in law and order and the rule of law. I believe in accountability for one’s actions. I am in favor of small government, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I believe in America’s greatness,” she wrote. “If you cannot understand this, then you are too biased to be fair.”
I admit to being puzzled. “Accountability for one’s actions” doesn’t square with much of what Trump has said or not done about the pandemic. Remember how he said: “I take no responsi
bility?”
I don’t want to argue, but do want a back-and-forth discussion.
“I voted for Trump in 2016 because I knew he would not be concerned about being nice, especially when dealing with foreign countries that were trying to take advantage of us. He has succeeded in putting them in their place with sanctions and fines,” wrote Shirley B. Backus of Stratford. She had written earlier, but had more to say. “I still believe Trump understands what this country needs, and knows how to get it. Sometimes being too nice can work against us.”
Kathleen M. Carroll of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, also mentioned the “nice” factor. “I voted for him not because he is a nice person — I bet there isn’t one ‘nice person’ who was a great leader in history.” (Me: um, Obama?)
She heard about the column from a friend, Mary Ellen Burns of Stamford, who was quoted last week.
“Like Mary Ellen, I am an educated women. I am a lawyer and for several years served as general counsel of a publicly traded company located in Connecticut. ... I am also a veteran having served as an Army officer for 13 years. ... I voted for someone who would provide a strong steady hand in a crisis; who wouldn’t change his opinion every time the wind changed (unlike, for example, Joe Biden), a person who understood business and what made America run, a person who loved his country. Donald Trump, with all his flaws, was that person.”
Jo-Anne Consiglio of North Branford also sees that side of Trump. “My dad always said ‘Don’t tell me words show me actions,’ and President Trump has done that consistently! He does not have all the political smoke and mirrors and yes sometimes I cringe at the things he says, BUT he always follows through on his promises, he puts all his effort and resources into accomplishing his goals for us and our country! He is truly a man of his word!!!”
Sue Gallagher of Branford wrote that “We are sick and tired of Democrats and the media’s attitude towards us. Such hate. We are not an anomaly. We have been peaceful, yet the left continues to attack us.
“I don’t see unity any time soon,” she wrote. “The call to unity is more a ‘lay down and take it’ call.”
Iwould like to believe there is room for closing the divisiveness, if not unity, at this point. The country needs it.
Jane Ellen ( JE) Martin of Stratford agrees about trying to bridge the “wide ideological divide by actually talking to people.”
“It makes me sad, mad and scared that we believe we are more different than similar. When Trump was first elected, I didn’t sleep much for a week, and now there are people who feel the same way about Biden and are not sleeping well. I’d like to understand why.”
Paula Notarino of West Haven sent me links to several articles in trying to explain why she didn’t vote for Trump. She’s not buying that Trump is good for the economy.
“Wait till the Trump tax increases kick in for moderate and low income folks,” she wrote. “Trump-voting people will blame Biden.”
Jack DeVito of Danbury also questioned Trump’s role in the economy. “Even the conservative Wall Street Journal has said that Trump inherited a robust economy from the previous administration and that the previous administration actually had a larger job growth than any of the Trump years,” he wrote. Ask if anyone “would pick a financial adviser who had gone bankrupt six times in 11 years ( and have same person brag about it).”
Lauren Eisen of Stamford, like me, did not vote for Trump.
“When applying for a job, most people would be on their best behavior. In the 2016 campaign he showed his worst (actually the worst was yet to come) and after he exhibited signs of racial bias, crude social behavior, cruelty and lies lies lies, people still voted him in,” she wrote. “I will never understand why ANYone would vote for this selfabsorbed conman. Never.”
I hope this Thanksgiving political discussion here is one positive step.
Carolyn Hunihan of Woodbridge said a former friend from the “other side” showed real class last week.
“We’ve not spoken for months now. I just couldn’t understand how and why he became a Trump supporter. I told him I couldn’t even have lunch with him when he visited next time in Connecticut. The divide, as far as Iwas concerned, was just too great,” she wrote.
“This week he sent me the most lovely white-flowers bouquet with a balloon saying ‘Congratulations’ and a nice note. It’s people like my friend (no longer ‘former’) who will heal us.”