I recently published an op-ed in the Berkshire Eagle about why it’s absolutely vital that people—particularly young people—start to care about politics and voting.
Here’s the opposite point of view.
We used to have another name for the kind of people who believed in conspiracy theories over facts, distrusted or even hated all politicians and paid little to no attention to news about politics.
We called them non-voters.
We need them back.
I’m wondering--will Trump voters go back to not caring about politics when Donald Trump isn’t on the ballot (which I happen to believe will be 2024)?
And is there anything we can do to help them get there?
In 2016, Reuters reported that some 15 percent of voters said it was their first time voting in a presidential election. They may not be as excited about politics if they can’t vote for Trump.
If Donald Trump is thwarted by criminal indictment, new scandals and revelations, or simple stupidity in his ambition to return to power, he is not likely to go quietly.
(Much like the sun is not likely to rise at dusk and set at dawn).
He will whine and complain about Ron DeSantis or whoever the GOP nominee is and talk even more about rigged elections and stolen votes.
Voting is for suckers, Trump will say. Voting is for losers.
Take that Robert Kennedy quote I included in my op-ed, from his 1966 speech before an integrated student audience in South Africa.
“It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”
If you believe that, and that voting can make a difference…well, you’re right.
But it’s a hard road, and it requires a level of commitment that doesn’t reduce to a slogan on a red cap.
Among the MAGA, the main current has been based on grievance, aimed at crushing opponents, not building hope. We’ll see if they stick around as voters once Trump is no longer on the ballot.