My dad went to last night's Trump rally. Here's his take.

Donald Trump was in Allentown, Pennsylvania last night, where, some of you may know, I was born and partly raised. (My parents were divorced and I split my time between there and the Eastern Shore of Maryland.) My dad, George, is now retired, after spending three-plus decades in the Allentown School District as a psychologist. He’s no fan of Trump, but decided to check out the rally, and he emailed a dispatch to our family this morning. I thought it was a perspective you’d find interesting and asked if I could send it out to my newsletter readers, and he agreed. I think even the Trump supporters on this list will find it worth the read. Stick around for the last paragraph, which starts, “As a final note, I must give the old guy props…”

A View from Inside the Belly of the Beast, Observations from a Psychologist with Trump Derangement Syndrome at a Trump Rally

by George Grim

A few pictures are worth a thousand words. The attached video [below] from the Trump rally in Allentown yesterday shows the love and energy that these people have for their hero/savior/god. As I scanned the crowd, I had an instant reaction that their outstretched arms were a Nazi salute, but that has been replaced by the ubiquitous cell phone. The Lee Greenwood anthem is spiritually adored by his inspired legions of "real" Americans. Prior to his arrival, the arena was filled with ear splitting sounds from other artists, which made me wonder why there were still some artists allowing him to use their songs. I had to roll up wads of napkin to protect my ears and it made conversation with others very difficult.

As we waited to get into the event, I was able to pursue one of my main goals...asking Trumpers why they support him. I started my first conversation with a flag-waver by saying, "I'm on the fence about this guy, can you tell me why you support him?" Subsequently I dropped the pretense of neutrality and just approached by saying "What are your top reasons for supporting Trump?" It may sound unfair to characterize my new friends as low information voters but if you add highly misinformed voters, you get a fuller picture. Particularly interesting to me was my discussion with 3 college age guys. They were very willing to indulge this elderly white guy. One of them started by noting he lives in Easton and the immigrants are a huge problem. I wished I had more time for that issue and to examine my own bias in assuming he is prejudiced.

As the topics of the economy and Trump's leadership arose, I found myself reverting to my teaching days. For the leadership issue I asked for a reaction to the grab-them-by-the-XXXXX comment. His response was that all guys say things they regret at some point but I'm more concerned with someone being a good leader. It was tough to move past that one. Their way of ending my lecture was to stick out a hand and thank me for a conversation among reasonable people. I accepted that with my unbridled optimism that maybe I got them to pause and think. 

Being in the crowd and observing reactions only gives me pessimism that there was anyone who would be changing their mind. This crowd was not there for any policy view. No matter what Trump said, it was either a loud cheer or loud boo. At one point Trump was talking about the estate tax and when he concluded with the wrong statement that Kamala wanted to get rid of it, they still cheered.

If you'll note the picture of the woman 2 seats from me, she was especially welcoming and friendly. She found the woman seated next to me in the parking lot and because that woman was alone, she took her under her wing or whatever, and ushered her to join her.

As probably a fair generalization, the people were very nice to everyone. (I wore a red Phillies hat and tried not to stand out.) But I was taken aback when Trump mentioned Kamala, this friendly woman yelled, "Whore!" So on the surface it was a lovefest with a sense that you were among friends and could enjoy a concert-like atmosphere with people you have bonded with. But there was also an ugliness to the opposition as Trump portrayed his usual suspects in quite hateful language. They were quick to get into their chants of "Fight Fight Fight." "Lock Her Up." and "USA USA USA"  When Trump described the crowd as feisty, they got quite fired up!

If you read about the event, it was obvious to me that the campaign was playing damage control. Allentown has a large Puerto Rican community and 3 or 4 speakers were Republicans who tried to portray Trump as a great friend to PR. I could only laugh to myself as Marco Rubio praised Trump and emphasized his interest in diversity and joy and how hateful Harris's campaign is. Curiously, I would not call it a diverse crowd, especially in a majority Hispanic city.

I don't want to get too far into the weeds of my disagreements with Trump, but I'll highlight one issue that burns my britches. He bragged about his effect on the media. He made some claim that when he started the media had something like a 92% approval rating and now it's down to 12%. The actual numbers are certainly in that direction, his exaggerations notwithstanding. My question is, "Where do we go from here?” These people are convinced that anything he says is true and anything the opposition (Mainstream media, etc.) says is false. My best hope is that Trump is soundly defeated, guardrails hold and there is not another Trump-in-waiting demigod with his charisma. 

As a final note, I must give the old guy props. We have seen many recent examples of his declining mental faculties. For this event he showed few major issues, probably related to staying with the teleprompter. He is an entertainer and knows his crowd. He had sufficient energy and did not slur his words. He puts on a good show for his admirers and just as he played the role of a successful businessman on the Apprentice, he can play the role of a successful politician in this type of event.