The Cubanos and Venezuelanos in Florida, killed me.
How could they vote for Cheeto?
Didn’t they notice his deep disdain for foreign nationals, his immigration policy, family separation, the wall?
How could they give their vote to the 2020 Chaves/Fidel incarnate?
They suffered under those regimes, so why support the phenomenon in the land of opportunities?
One of my friends sent out a catchy salsa, the Trump Song, the Spanish Version, Yo voy a votar por Donald Trump, ay-yay-yay, by Los3delahabana, first or second generation, raised in Florida, and paid by the Trump campaign. The images encourage crushing sanctions against Cuba & Venezuela, but mostly they depict some fantasy of dancing and drinking, by beautiful people of great diversity, proudly flying American, Cuban and Venezuela flags, boating, making angels in the snow, and having a fantastic time over beer and mojitos. The common denominator? A blue, stiffly mock-dancing cartoon of the president, the mop, the long tie, the bulging middle, the slightly raised clenched fists are all there, undoubtedly, this man can orchestrate a great fiesta.
Clearly, I can understand the rejection of socialism, and its darker mother communism, by that community. The Trump machine understood it too, and nicely exploited that fear by labeling the former Vice President that. Truly absurd.
We should all get behind the idea of affordable health-care and a supportive social net, catching those who couldn’t keep up, but calling it Socialism and/or Communism is just ignorance.
So, Cheeto prevailed in that demographic. The larger than life personality, the bravado, the ego front and center, the pathological narcissism. Perhaps they grew up in front of Cuban and Venezuelan TV, watched it as children for hours, absorbed the loath and admiration spewed by their parents, and transferred their fascination to Cheeto.
I should not be disrespectful to him. Because that just makes his fanatics more fanatic.
And who’s to blame. The media. The pundits, the columnist. CNN. They totally failed to read the map, again.
They did not see what they were looking at: A country deeply divided, along red and blue lines.
It is our fault. We demonized him. Sure he demonized us, so we doubled down.
That’s always a recipe for disaster.
When you demonize a person, you create a niche fascination. Take a look at some divorced couples around you and you will see how kids hang on to the ‘bad’ one, refusing to let him/her go, despite the ‘good’ one’s efforts to explain to them it’s wrong.
I did my best to discredit the former MinPres for his wasteful ways and for the debt burden he hung over our heads. I worked hard. The results? He was the largest vote getter in 2017, and only resigned his post because his feelings got hurt, realizing his popularity was waning.
So, this time around I am careful not to demonize anyone, because guess what, it fosters interest and the willingness to explore the subject of my detestation.
I have to admit; I did not sleep well since Tuesday. I wake up at 1am and 3am to check how Pennsylvanian is doing.
Who said: I thought the world was fairly intelligent with just a few pockets of ignorance, now I realize it’s the reverse.