As the midterms approach, I keep finding that the only way I can maintain a sense of assurance that America might not allow itself to be betrayed at the ballot box once again by misogynists, racists, and homophobes is to periodically look at all the ways other Americans are like me.
That may seem simplistic, but for many, the bigger disappointment in 2016 wasn’t even necessarily that Donald Trump was elected President (by the electoral college) — it was finding out just how many of our fellow citizens were apparently okay with a guy like him being the commander in chief.
After all, the campaign for the presidency that year exposed at least as many disgusting details about Trump as we’ve found out since then. It’s not like Americans who voted for him didn’t have every opportunity not to vote for a guy who’s been credibly accused of sexual assault by nearly two dozen women, who calls Mexicans rapists, who makes fun of disabled reporters, and who really creeps everyone out with his weird daddy-daughter issues.
Sometimes, however, I need a little stronger medicine than just passing another anti-Trump bumper sticker on my way to the grocery store. That’s why I keep this early poll on hand.
Taken about 3-½ months after the inauguration, this Quinnipiac University poll has everything I could possibly need: Explanations for votes, demographics of the people responsible for the Trump presidency, and even the nagging buyer’s remorse that some Trump voters felt almost immediately after he was elected.
But most importantly, it has this right here — a list of the first word that comes to people’s minds when they think of Donald Trump, and it almost helps if you read it bottom to top. QU surveyed 1,078 voters and included the results that got at least 5 total responses of any given word:
More people said “despicable” than “negotiator.” More said “buffoon” than “dictator.” And while 22 people did somehow come up with the word “president” when given the name of the US President, that number was dwarfed by the 39 who instead came up with “idiot.”
I encourage you to right-click on the image there with the list of words. Print it out. Take it to the polls with you. Show it to your friends. Remind everyone what we’re trying to fix here.
Featured image via screen capture
