Grandmas For Trump: He’s THEIR Taylor Swift

Don’t try to dissuade them, they’re not just followers. They are cult members.

Here’s something that may have escaped your notice. A significant number of Donald Trump’s rally-goers are women of a certain age (alright, they are grandma boomers) who greet him like he’s as “bad-boy sexy” as the Mick Jagger of their youth. When not screaming their approval, they gaze with tears in their eyes, as if they cannot believe they are in his presence.

The boomer women I’m talking about are the key to understanding why nothing, not even a conviction in one of his upcoming criminal trials, will affect Trump’s base of support. Found in small towns and rural regions, women who back Trump are as committed to outlawing abortion as suburban women are pro-choice. They oppose gay marriage and fear that children are threatened by people who are transgender.

I know these women because I represented them as a member of Congress for twelve years. In the beginning, I found them to be little interested in politics, deferring to their husbands when talk turned to candidates and elections. With Trump’s arrival, however, I could see them being drawn into the partisan fray.  And like most of the others who donated to Trump’s campaign and flocked to the rallies, they believed he was the only man who could give them power over the elites like Hillary Clinton, who once called them “deplorables,” which was an insult no one would forget.

Of course, the attachment goes way beyond politics. Talk to women-for-Trump and you quickly realize that they are attached to him as anyone might be attached to a sexy pop star or an actor like George Clooney who is a boomer who appeals to women of all ages. Have you ever tried to dislodge someone from their devotion to their music or movie idol?  This is what it’s like trying to talk a Trumpist out of her fidelity to her man. It can’t be done.     

Polls have put Trump’s base at roughly 36 percent of the electorate, or 28 million people. This may not seem like much in a country of 330 million. But consider that 80 million votes could give him a victory over Joe Biden, whose base is only 17 million, and you can see that the Trump campaign starts out with a huge advantage.     

Biden’s problem is that he’s a politician with very little star-power charisma. Like many who served with him in the Senate, his electoral success – he won six Senate races in a row --  was based on grassroots efforts that gave just about everyone a chance to meet him personally and appreciate his Uncle Joe persona. They didn’t become extreme fans, which is why you’ve never heard anyone refer to his backers as ‘Bidenites.’ He just doesn’t inspire such blind allegiance.  

The truth about Biden’s lack of national appeal was evident in 1988 when he ran for his party’s presidential nomination. Biden had so much trouble building a base that when he used the words of a British politician and failed to give him credit. With few unwavering supporters, Biden was unable to weather this mini-scandal, dropped out, and wouldn’t return to the national stage until he rode Barack Obama’s coattails to the vice presidency.

 In 2020, unique circumstances put Biden into the presidential race and led to his victory. Four years of Trump's rule had shown the country he was a genuine threat to democracy and the epidemic made it possible for Biden to win with a campaign that consisted of few public appearances. Nevertheless, his message about the peril posed by Trump got through and voters backed him even though he was less-than-inspiring. In fact, you can say with certainty that Biden was put over the top by voters who were more anti-Trump than pro-Biden.

Four years later, the anti-Trump citizens of 2020 seem to have forgotten what the Trump years were like and appear to have lost their concern about the future of American democracy. The ones who do recall Trump’s term in the White House are those who regard it as a golden time. In other words, it’s the most ardent Trump fans. They are the ones who consider him the ultimate rockstar, a rebel with a cause, namely, the destruction of their liberal culture war enemies.  

Given the superglue of fandom that binds them to Trump, the baby boomer grandmas and others must be considered an unmovable force. This means that Biden must get through to the undecided who must rally to his side if he is going to win. It will be a tough task for a man who offers sure and steady leadership going up against a challenger who is charisma personified.