What We Have to Do to Prevent Another Trump

It really bothers me that Donald Trump could use a platform of fear and hate to become President of the United States of America. We can't let it happen again. However, I get how it happened.


I truly believe that most of the people who voted for him are not bigots. I truly believe they feel trapped in the current version of America. The other option spoke about continuing the good work that President Obama has started. That will not inspire someone to vote for you who wants change. The only road to improvement goes through change. We must remember this.


America, this is what you have to do.


1. Vote. For a nation that talks a lot about democracy, you really don't practice it. You only get about half of your eligible voters to vote. This changes your strategy to win. If three quarters of your population voted every time because it is important and did not need to be motivated to get out and vote, you would see different platforms and different results. If you know most people are going to vote, now you need a platform that appeals to at least half of your eligible voters.


2. Speak to the majority as well as the minority. Both sides of the aisle stopped listening to and asking about white working class voters. I truly believe most don't mind if other people do well but, if it feels like everyone but you is getting some help, eventually you are going to do something drastic to shake things up.


3. Simplify the message. There is a lot of clutter out there. People are working hard to grab your attention. People don't want to feel like they don't understand. People want to receive communication is a manner that they understand. As much as Trump's message was short on substance, it was simple and it spoke to a lot of people.


America, you have made a real mess. It didn't start when Donald Trump announced he was running for President. It didn't start this century. This has been building for a long time and finally it came to a head. Too many people who thought they were smart stopped listening to a lot of people who have just as much say in the general election as they do. They didn't break down the message into easy to understand and digestible bites. They dismissed millions of people as insignificant. Look what happened. A guy who knows how to reach people came along with a very simple message and won it all. He used the establishments perceived strengths against them. He spoke directly to the people. He used consumer data to understand what mattered to them. He went to them. He didn't ask them to come to him. He sold ball caps to people who wear ball caps and he wore one as well. He knew what he was doing and the other side didn't even notice. It was in plain sight. He didn't hide it.


So, what we have to do is, listen. We have to listen to the minorities. We have to listen to what may be perceived as the ideal. I know a lot of people think life is easy if you are a white man in America. It may be true but it really doesn't matter if you feel like things are not going well. You only know your own experiences and we have to listen to everyone's experiences. We have to acknowledge their problems because they are real to the person facing them.


Someone else is going to try and do what Trump did, and their agenda may be much more evil than his. We need to prevent this from resulting in the next guy's success.