Twangbanger
Grandmaster
- Oct 9, 2010
- 7,136
- 113
Most people don't love Trump's abrasiveness. The abrasiveness is something they tolerate, as long as he's giving them something in return that's worth it. And that's what members of the Trump Personality Cult don't understand. In 2016 voters liked that he was willing to bring up important issues that Lobbyist-funded Republicans won't talk about. When Trump stops giving that, the support goes away.
For example, Trump didn't win 2016 by being abrasive. He won by publicly shaming companies like Carrier Corporation for planning to shut down their Indy plant and send the jobs to Mexico. Many people have forgotten that was his signature issue in 2016. He was more identified with that than any other single issue. He was the ONLY Republican candidate saying that, and people loved it. They were not used to hearing a Republican stand up to the Free Trade Mafia. That was an example of Trump being the leader we all loved him to be. It was not abrasiveness. It was willingness to raise an issue nobody else would raise.
But remember - that victory was by ~80,000 votes spread over 3 states. It was paper-thin.
Since then, Trump has largely abandoned the Trade issue, and obsessed over attacking his enemies and disputing the 2020 election. That 80,000 vote margin disappeared and turned into a deficit, because Trump changed what he was talking about.
He's a pain in the @$$, but people tolerated him because he provided value. When he stops providing that value (stumping about Free Trade, etc.) his support ebbs back down to his 30% personality cult. Which simply isn't enough to win elections.
