SANDUSKY, Ohio - The parade of boats was decked out in flags and banners screaming support for President Donald Trump, led by a barge that had been used in previous summers for bikini-tops-optional parties on Sandusky Bay but was now laden with 10 cannons and a crane holding up a 22-by-15-foot American flag. It flapped in the wind as the cannons fired
There were motorcycles and pickup trucks on the shore, and an antique military plane in the sky. Trump flags seemed to far outnumber American ones; at least one Confederate flag flew among them. The dozen or so men firing the cannons wore red hats embroidered with Trump's name and praise for the president. They shouted strings of excited obscenities as they marveled at the hundreds of boats behind them.
"There are still people coming to get into the parade!" exclaimed Shaun Bickley, 54, the barge owner who organized the parade and would later change into a black tank top with "Trump 2020" and an expletive written around an American-flag skull. "Man, do you see all of these people?"
A majority of White men have long sided with Republican presidential nominees, and they voted for Trump at about the same rates as in previous years, according to exit polls - but Trump won the votes of White men without college degrees by the highest rate in at least 36 years, or as long as comparable exit polling has existed. Four years into a tumultuous presidency, these men consistently give the president his highest approval ratings, and polls show they're happier with the economy and the direction of the country than White women or voters of color.
Their connection with Trump is cultural and emotional as much as political, closely intertwined with their lives and identities. His enemies are their enemies, his grievances are their grievances. They live by the rules he lives by: that concepts like White male privilege or structural racism and sexism are to be scoffed at, that the working-class, Christians and Trump supporters have been victimized, that it's OK to be moved to tears by a love for the country and its president but that liberals are crybabies and snowflakes. They pride themselves on being self-made, and see Trump, whose life has been nothing like their own, as a once-in-a-lifetime leader.
"People tend to go down with the ship. ... That hardcore group, they're going to be flying Trump flags at their funerals 30 years from now," said Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, whose eastern Ohio district is heavily blue collar. While Ryan said he is confident Biden will win Ohio, he has little hope of converting Trump's strongest supporters. "They're all in with him, and there's no way to change their minds."
The issues Trump has chosen to highlight are, like his cultural positions, attractive to his White male supporters. His focus on law and order, seen by many as a way to scare some suburban women and seniors into voting for him, has also excited and rallied the men who already love him and are willing to follow him anywhere, including into an actual battle.
"We'll grab my AR and head for Washington and join the police force if they think they're going to riot and destroy Washington - not under my watch. I will die shoulder-to-shoulder with the cops," said Karr, the veteran who has three grown sons. "There ain't no way I am going to accept lawlessness in this country."
(if Washington Post link doesn't work, try this one below)
White men backing Trump say they can't be swayed
SANDUSKY, Ohio - The parade of boats was decked out in flags and banners screaming...
www.thehour.com
Long article, but worth reading if you want to understand Trump's cult better. And you may be thinking, "Biden is likely to win, who cares about these guys?" But remember, they don't go away if Trump loses...they just look for a new cult leader. Tucker Carlson and Tom Cotton are two possibilities.