Melania Trump, and her husband President-elect Donald Trump, center, walk with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, as they depart after a meeting on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

AP

Melania Trump, and her husband President-elect Donald Trump, center, walk with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, as they depart after a meeting on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Editorial: Why I voted for Donald Trump

Democrat Hilary Clinton, the champion of many Americans, was favored to win the 2016 election.  But that changed on the night of November 8th, when her Republican opponent Donald Trump swept past her and proved the victor.

“Who voted for Donald Trump?”  The question was repeated during all eight periods of class.  Wide-eyed North Penn students read and reread the results of the election, struggling to accept the outcome, hoping in vain that somehow there had been a mistake, and that Hilary had truly won.

The news that Donald Trump would be the 45th President of the United States sent shockwaves through the American people, spiraling many into confusion, anger, and despair.  For months, Trump had been cast as a racist fear monger, brewing up hate amongst citizens and encouraging animosity towards our fellow Americans.  His campaign signs have been laughed at, scorned, and defaced.  People who may have previously disagreed with Clinton’s policies flocked to her side, disgusted by the character of the Republican nominee.  The idea of a man like Trump being our leader was at first laughable, then horrifying.  And it happened.

“Who voted for Donald Trump?”  Well, being brutally honest, I’ll reveal something, a fact that I know won’t be popular.  I did.  I voted for Donald Trump, for the man commonly compared to evil dictators.  And, again with the honesty, I don’t regret it.  I understand that my decision will offend some, and surely will be questioned by many, but I stand by it.

I voted for Donald Trump because I wanted change.  That sounds cliché, like the slogan of every other presidential hopeful, but it is the truth.  I’ve watched what has happened to this country after eight years of Barack Obama’s presidency, and I put my foot down at the thought of a similar term under Clinton.  So, I did what every American should do.  I voted.  I exercised one of our most cherished American rights.  And the ninety minute wait in line for the polls was worth it.  Again, I’m sure that some will criticize my choice of leader, and demand to know why I cast my vote for a man who many think will destroy everything this nation stands for.

To do justice to this question I must respond to it with a story, as lively as that sounds.

Friday, February 19th, 2016

“So, who are you gonna vote for?” I overheard a college student at the next table ask his friend at Texas Roadhouse.

“Donald Trump,” he replied with a grin.

“Seriously,” the other smiled, “who are you voting for?”

“John Kasich,” the friend admitted.  Even then, over half a year before the actual election, the idea of Donald Trump for President seemed laughable.  Nine months later it was the reality.

 

Saturday, November 5, 2016

The drive through central Pennsylvania on this glorious autumn morning was perfect.  Up until the rest stop.  I was turning away from the water fountain when I noticed a commercial on the large TV mounted in the building.  I had seen it before-the Hilary Clinton campaign ad that showed a clip of Donald Trump mocking a disabled reporter.  I shook my head and returned to the car.  My once bright mood had soured.  I considered it my civic duty to vote for the next president, but it seemed to me that there were no good choices.  Either longtime politician Hilary Clinton, whose crooked past and Democratic policies I disagreed with, or media mogul Donald Trump.  The Republican Trump and I saw eye-to-eye on economic and social issues, but his character worried me.  I certainly didn’t want Clinton for president, but Trump?  I doubted that I could look myself in the mirror if I voted for him. 

Then the car broke down.  Steve, the bearded man who showed up to tow our car, was only required to take care of our disabled vehicle.  But, with dusk approaching, he offered to drive my family, free of charge, to a nearby motel where we could spend the night.  He didn’t have to do that.  What’s more, he jovially struck up a conversation with us.  Steve talked about his early life and his business, and how his livelihood has been strained for the past years by rising taxes.  As we bounced along in his tow truck, I noticed a Trump campaign sticker on his window.  Funny: Steve the tow truck driver didn’t seem racist or hateful.  As we settled into the motel room, I wondered why someone who so cheerfully went out of his help complete strangers would support someone like Donald Trump.  The realization came to me with great power.

Steve is an American.  And “surrender” is not in an American’s vocabulary: no matter how bad things get, Steve has kept a grip on his business.  His small towing business was battered repeatedly during the Obama administration.   Rising taxes and Obamacare took money from Steve’s sweaty and at times bloody hands and went to welfare checks and food stamps.  That one sentence sounds innocent, as if the money were directed to a good cause, but this is an imperfect world.  More and more people are living on welfare, not because there are no jobs, but because for many there is no desire to work.  Entire families are now living on welfare, and with routine government handouts there is little drive to get a job and cancel the flow of free money.

Many champion welfare and Obamacare, claiming that those who can’t take care of themselves must be provided for.  Many Americans agree with that.  The majority of people are all for helping out those who cannot help themselves, like disabled veterans or those with special needs.  However, many strongly disagree with the practice of providing for able-bodied people who choose not to work.  Many hardworking American citizens have watched Obamacare make their health insurance costs rise over 30%, so people who do not work, who do not contribute, can have health insurance.

Why should Steve and millions of other Americans fight through life if their hard work is solely for the benefit of others?  Why should undocumented immigrants flood over our borders and take our money and jobs while other natural born Americans chant “no human being is illegal”?

A taxpayer myself, I wince when I see how much of the money I earn is taken out of my paycheck by the government.  And again, I am not against helping people.  I just think that to be an American one must contribute.

Americans aren’t perfect.  But if you provide an American with a toehold, he’ll take a leap.  That work ethic is what makes American great.  And every American is descended from an immigrant.  My elderly neighbor’s father came to this country from Slovakia with nothing, not even an understanding of the English language.  But that didn’t stop him.  This new American citizen planted his feet and worked.  And he put the money he earned to the raising of his son.  And his son, my neighbor, went on to serve his new country in the Korean War and later became a successful lawyer.  Imagine that: a man who was a peasant in Slovakia came to America and watched his son become a lawyer.  But that didn’t happen through welfare checks.  I guess when that apprehensive Slovak immigrant saw the Statue of Liberty for the first time he decided to follow the American Dream through to the end.

There are millions of Americans like him.  Just look at Steve, who put his work on hold to drive a family to a motel, or the Indian-American motel manager who barely spoke English but smiled at me and wished me a safe trip when I left.  Like my neighbor’s father, that motel manager left his home country to come to America and accomplish whatever he wanted through his hard work.

“Who voted for Donald Trump” people ask?  Well, I’ll tell you.

I did.  My neighbor did.  Steve the tow truck driver did.  The motel manager did.  Newly arrived immigrants who want a new life did.  Millions of hard-working Americans who are tired of watching their hard-earned money going to welfare checks did.  And if those who hate Trump call us bad people, that’s okay.  Because in Trump’s America, in my America, there are no free rides.  There are no open borders.  You get to where you want by hard work, by the sweat of your brow and the calluses on your hands.  The hours you spend driving to work, the stacks of paperwork you go through at the office, the materials you produce at the factory, the crops you harvest, the citizens you protect, all of that adds up to how you earn your way in this country.

Hopefully Donald Trump can bring to our hard working American citizens the change they voted for.

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