Fecteau: The Futile Anti-Trump Protests

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Friday, November 18, 2016

Matt Fecteau, GoLocalWorcester Guest MINDSETTER™

I was just as appalled as most people when Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. This was a scary prospect after he ran such a divisive, and bigoted campaign. The Trump campaign was a grotesque parody of what a serious campaign should look like. I felt I was watching a grim reality television show at times. 

Recently, protestors have taken to the busy streets across to the United States, to proclaim Mr. Trump doesn’t represent them. While civil disobedience should be highly respected, my burning question to many of these protestors is merely, where were you on election day? 

Considering the stakes of this election, a noteworthy amount of eligible voters simply did not vote. According to the United States election project, only 58% of qualified Americans voted in the last election. This meant Trump outright won the presidency with some 40% or around 100 million of the entitled voting population not even casting a ballot. 

Protestors didn’t vote in larger numbers compared to that of the general voting population. In Portland, Oregon for example, one survey found only about half of those arrested for protesting voted. In other words, a number of people couldn’t find their way into a polling place this past election, but can find days to protest the results and risk years in jail. 

Many had a good chance to rebut Trump, but some did nothing.  If only more people voted, the results would have been much different. In fact, according to some scientific polls, if millennials voted in larger numbers, Mrs. Hillary Clinton would have been our next president.  

While there is a purpose for some protests, the point is mooted with the anti-Trump protests, especially after the election. These dissents seem to be more about protesting the man, than objecting to any bizarre or outlandish policy he has yet to introduce.  Protests are great to inspire, but what exactly are the protestors inspiring? It will not change the election result. 

While we should come out against any mentally unbalanced plan Trump might gradually introduce, protesting the man himself seems silly, and meaningless. Trump isn’t going to stop being Trump. Those sexual assault allegations, you likely knew about them before the election. Those unethical business practices were talked about ad nauseam. That KKK endorsement, well, that was out there too. Somehow though, a lot of people failed to vote to rebuke him. 

The election is over.  Mr. Trump won.  Save your energy for his next unhinged policy proposal, better yet, cast a ballot next election – that is the ultimate form of protest against the current status quo.  

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