Is the Trump thrill gone in Potter County?

[modrepub]

Eight out of 10 voters here chose Trump, the blustery Republican with a promise of a better deal for America, over Democrat Hillary Clinton, whom they viewed as a calculating politician with banker buddies and a private email server.

Trump, they said, would shake up the system and finally give a voice to working-class America. He’d repeal Obamacare, build a wall on the Mexican border with Mexican money, cut bureaucracies down to size, and “drain the swamp” of corruption in Washington.

"He said everything that the majority of Americans want," Helen Rounds, who runs a motorcycle shop on Route 6, told the Inquirer and Daily News three days after Trump was elected. She said he appealed to residents in this rural, north-central county of Pennsylvania because he "didn't give a s- about political correctness, and 99 percent of the people around here don't give a s- about it, either."

That was early November. Spirits were high. Then came Inauguration Day in January. The last 70 days have been … different.

To be sure, Potter County is still Trump Country as much as it is “God’s Country,” the county slogan painted on the doors of sheriff’s cruisers. And the giant “Make America Great Again” sign on Main Street in downtown Coudersport isn't going anywhere soon.


Few Republicans here have buyer's remorse, but the pro-Trump fervor seems to have given way to a wait-and-see attitude as the administration scrambles to put out political fires. With Trump's national approval rating falling to 36 percent in one poll, everyone from staffers in the White House to die-hard Trumpsters here now realize that enacting his agenda will take more than campaign-rally zingers and breakfast tweets.


Link: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/presidential/potter-county-trump-clinton-election-.html

[Phoenix61]

2. I swear, they are like addicts

No matter how much proof you give them that what they are doing is harmful to themselves, not to mention others, they insist you are wrong. You just don't understand. Everything is ok, really, it'll be just fine.

[Beartracks]

3. Makes no diff if "thrill" is gone if they still want his agenda. n/t

[caroldansen]

4. What took them so long to catch on. He knows nothing of politics or military and he didnt

become rich by giving it away so why would they think he'd help them. Are they kidding.

[Girard442]

5. Guys, either all of it is "God's Country" or none of it is.

What are you implying here? That the rest of us live in Devil's Asshole?

[SledDriver]

6. "he didn't give a s- about political correctness"

HA! I've said repeatedly... He wasn't talking about YOU, stupid...

[wcast]

7. These people will say anything to keep their belief system intact.

"She said he appealed to residents in this rural, north-central county of Pennsylvania because he "didn't give a s- about political correctness, and 99 percent of the people around here don't give a s- about it, either."

Above quote is what many in this area believe. What is boils down to is they can't say the words they are used to, and want to, say. These people truly believe that their discriminatory statements and beliefs are just facts, and they can't speak the "honest" truth anymore. You will hear the argument, why can they say "fill in the blank" and I can't.

'Herzig, a former police officer in California, said Democrats need to stop behaving “like little children” by stonewalling Trump’s initiatives, and rather find ways to work with him for the next four years.

“Can’t these idiots work together?” Domaleski, 72, an Army veteran and former Adelphia Cable employee, asked last week from behind his dark aviator sunglasses. He said he still supports Trump – still has the sign on his Coudersport lawn – but is also “totally disgusted with both parties because I happen to be an American.”

If their belief system is challenged, they fall back on the "it's all the democrats fault" meme. Adelphia revitalized the Coudersport Area until the company went belly up due to malfeasance by the owners. But many of the people living there still support repub talking points about government interference and taxes.

'John Domaleski, a Glock-carrying lifelong Republican with a handshake you better be ready for, said he voted for Trump because “I’m not a socialist.”

This is what they say, but they convince themselves the Russian interference and collusion is just hype. I know many in this area that carry guns because they honestly believe that they may have to defend themselves someday, most likely against an undocumented worker, muslim, or other person of color.

It's hard living in an area like this as, just like poor whites during the civil war, these people believe they are fighting for their way of life, which is fast being left behind by most of America. I've stated before that there is little that will change these people's minds, and it is because the way the feel is almost like a religion. They have a belief system, and faith in that system, and changing their minds would be going against their world view.

[DeminPennswoods]

8. Coudersport

Had smart, educated relatives, one of whom's job took them there. They could not wait to get out of town and away from the dumb rednecks up there.