Trump kicked off his reelection campaign with an oversized rally in Orlando, Florida, this past Tuesday. The Amway Center Arena, with a capacity of around 20,000, was filled to the rafters.
As various news agencies reported, people started lining up outside the facility up to 40 hours in advance. This type of loyalty is only reserved for major rock stars and once in a lifetime movie events. Certainly not for politicians, and most definitely not for second-termers.
But President Trump has been attracting these kinds of crowds for years now, and it appears his popularity has not waned.
Contrast this with the current crop of leftist presidential candidates who can’t seem to draw flies.
Historically, the only way leftists can even hope to fill a venue of any size, or draw any crowds at all, is to pay them. Soros, Media Matters, public/private sector unions, etc., have all paid for crowds to gather. We’ve also seen where, if they’re not paid, sycophantic leftist virtue signalers are told via Twitter or Facebook to just show up at an event, where they are then given instructions as to what to do and say.
It is far from a grass-roots movement. Trump events are just the opposite. They are quintessentially grass-roots.
Those thousands who line up for Trump rallies know exactly why they are there – camping out sometimes in the cold, snow or rain. It doesn’t seem to matter and never seems to dampen their spirits. And most times, double or triple the number of people show up than can be accommodated by the arena or other venue.
In response to this, leftists love to point to President Obama as a comparison who, back in 2008, packed every arena he booked. But that’s where the similarity between Trump and him ended. As Rush Limbaugh recently pointed out, in 2012 the leftist media had to go out of their way to prevent the television viewer from seeing what pathetic turnout there was during Obama’s reelection bid.
This Trump popularity is driving the media nuts. They just can’t fathom how or why the president can still attract such crowds. I don’t think they ever will. Leftists don’t understand that the man just seems genuine. He has developed a personal bond with his supporters, because he appreciates them. He doesn’t speak down to them or take them for granted. And it shows.
It’s why programs like “Fox & Friends” in the morning are so popular. They too have a kinship with their viewers – and it appears they have fun doing it.
Juxtapose a network like CNN, which is incapable of building a bond with its audience. They have no mass appeal because they present themselves as superior to their audience and everyone else. And they’re no different from the political class with which they align themselves. Leftist politicians, media and academic elites truly believe they are superior to everyone. Unlike Trump, they crave that superior air.
Viewers should feel blessed to just accept the sage advice they preach from on high. And when viewers tune out, as has been happening en masse because they are tired of the 24/7 Trump bashing and general negativity, the elites blame the viewers for not being capable of nuanced comprehension.
But it’s all the left’s own doing, or undoing. They are the ones who have divided Americans into dozens of disparate groups. And when it’s time to attempt to bring them together under one umbrella, they find it nearly impossible. It’s caused their political class to bend themselves into pretzels to gain favor with their constituencies. The only thing they all have in common is hate – and hate rarely carries the day.
Trump, on the hand, has hit upon the common denominator that most all on the right can get behind. We are Americans and should proud of that, and we should come first. His love for this country is as obvious as is the left’s hate.
That’s Trump’s overarching theme at every rally and event, and it’s just simple enough that the elites will never figure it out. And if they do, they won’t and can’t accept it.
