Or rather, it’s what I DIDN’T see there. Lemme ‘xplain...no, no, is too much, lemme sum up. I live in Leesburg, Virginia, which is the purplest patch of a purple state. If you know how to look, almost at the edge of town, you can see the dividing line between dark blue suburban, diverse, progressive Northern Virginia filled with tech companies and government employees and contractors, and the rural, red state of coal fields, tobacco companies and the NRA headquarters. At its heart, Leesburg has a main-street that has little changed since the early 1900’s (the town itself is named after Robert E. Lee's GRANDFATHER to give you an idea of how long it has been there) And, like a blast from a Norman Rockwell painting, it holds an annual 4th of July parade featuring marchers from every local civic group, club, and organization from the VFW to the 4H club, and, of course every elected official and political group in the area from town council all the way to US reps and sometimes senators or the governor. i attend ‘cause I am sucker for that sort of thing and because it is steps from my house. And the stunning thing I did not see at this year’s parade? : Not a SINGLE anything, be it hat, sign, or even bumper sticker, with Donald Trump’s name or slogan on it. Nary a one.
Now, let me be very clear. There were PLENTY of Republican groups and politicians marching in the parade, From Congresswoman Comstock herself, to the Loudoun Country High School Republican club (all six of the poor bodachs), and they were not hiding their party affiliation, they marched with a woman in an Elephant costumes and had a GIANT inflatable elephant on a parade float. But what they did not have was ANYTHING Name-checking their Party’s Presidential Nominee just six months before the election. Hell the Congresswoman spent last week having her people hand out miniature American flags to everyone in this town of 50,000 and marched with at least 2 dozen volunteers who were handing out helium balloons to every kid on the parade route. So it wasn’t like there was no effort being made, just no effort to promote, or even acknowledge the existence of Trump. It was jaw=dropping.
And it was also one-sided. Every Democratic candidate from mayor on up, had at least a Hillary sign attached to their own sign and most had a lot more, and were handing out Hillary themed bumper stickers and signs. Even the Loudoun Democrats for Sanders (love the enthusiasm guys but, really, time to put the horse back into the barn, we’ll try harder next election, I promise) marched with a Hillary sign or two. But on the other side? No Trump, no where, no how. Not on the GOP candidates’ floats and cars, Not on the float advertising the “Ronald Reagan Lecture series” , not even on the pick up flying the Gadsden Flag (the Snake that the TEA Party folks have co-opted) and the ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ (Molon Labe...roughly Greek for “come and take them:...its a paranoid response to gun control thang) bumper sticker. Even THAT guy wasn’t sporting any Donald love.
And here’s what I can’t figure out: Is this because Donald is truly regarded as that toxic to the GOP brand that EVERY elected official in a reddish purple county is afraid to associate with him? Or is the the Trump campaign so poorly run that they lack to ability to do this sort of grass-roots coordination? DO they not have people to print signs and organize parade displays and do the kind of micro-level campaigning that is the bread-and-butter of most campaigns? The stuff that energizes your base and helps rally the troops for door knocking and GOTV efforts in the fall? And in the end does it mater WHY he failing so badly, or can we just take solace in the fact he is?
Either way, I’ll leave you with a few pictures from the parade that DO give me hope, hope that the Donald’s ignorant nativism is the last gasp of dying ideology rather than the harbinger of a new wave of intolerance. Something that helped remind me of the GOOD things about this country on our Birthday. Happy Independence Day everyone