If Donald Trump is found guilty and maybe even in custody on election day, will you still vote for him?
If convicted of, say, holding onto presidential records like Joe Biden, urging a crowd to “go peacefully” and protest an election like Democrats did in 2017, or claiming Mar-A-Lago is worth more than $18 million, will almost 70 percent of Wyoming voters still vote for him?
I'm thinking yes.
As we kick off what looks like the most explosive election year of our lives, never has the term “trump” been more appropriate. As in trumped-up charges brought by Never Trumper prosecutors, some in deeply Democratic strongholds, before jury pools that voted against the guy by around 90 percent.
Is that a jury of his peers?
For the last six years, Democrats have used every crazy accusation, every wild conspiracy theory, and every lever at the disposal of the entrenched bureaucracy to stop this guy. He survived two impeachments, but now the strategy is bringing 91 felony counts, and nut-ball efforts by states (maybe even Wyoming) to bar him from ballots.
I remember three horrible days in the 1960s – a time when this country was less divided than today - and I wonder how far this anti-Trump hysteria will go. What comes after barring him from ballots?
My guess is Wyoming, and Republicans across the country, will still vote for Trump for many reasons. For those reasons, I will vote for him again. And if for some reason he's not the nominee, I'll probably write him in, given the Pavlovian hatred he has been subjected to ever since coming down the escalator.
That came as a surprise to a reader who emailed me recently, saying, “Was hoping you weren't of the Trump persuasion. Now not so sure.” When I replied that I voted for Trump, she thanked me for my honesty (admitting such a ghastly thing), and ended her email with a single word:
“Gulp.”
President Joe Biden says the country was “on its back” when he took office, but I don't remember it that way at all. The predicted stock market crash (thank you Paul Krugman) didn't occur, regulations were cut, a tax cut was bringing manufacturing back from overseas, unemployment was low (including minority unemployment), and take-home pay for the lower income folks was on the rise. Inflation was low. Our southern border was remarkably secure. War wasn't breaking out around the world. And progress was even being made in the Mideast with the Abraham Accords.
If vaccines are your cup of tea (not mine), he cleared the way for Covid vaccines in record time. But the pharmaceutical companies delayed announcing them until days after the 2020 election.
To screw Trump.
Sure, Trump said a lot of things I wish he hadn't. And he once lived the life of a billionaire playboy. But he was getting results in ways we hadn't seen in decades. He spent too much money, but all these birds do. And that won't change until some real result of our profligacy inevitably stops them.
In balance, factoring out the brash talk, he was more successful at getting good things done than any president since Reagan. So I supported the guy. And I will again.
The most important reason to vote for Trump, however, is to deny victory to the self-serving people who have done everything possible to stop him. They pulled every trick in the book to stop him from draining their comfy swamp. Even before he was inaugurated they considered putting a wire on a Justice Department official to entrap him. They sent lawyers to interview Michael Flynn in hopes he would incriminate himself. They bugged phones.
Movie stars and entertainers talked about “blowing up the White House” and unleashing another John Wilkes Booth. They spent $32 million investigating Russian collusion and came up with nothing. They impeached. They brought 91 charges. And now they're trying to keep Trump off ballots in the name of saving democracy. What kind of democracy is that?
Put simply, in a hysterical effort to re-elect the most inept president in modern history (Biden), they will do anything to defeat Trump and protect their sweet deal in Washington.
So, we can't let them get away with it.
And that's why I'll be voting for Trump.
With bells on.
Dave Simpson can be reached at: davesimpson145@hotmail.com
