What I learned after 100,000 miles on the road talking to Trump supporters

It's all too easy to feel righteous indignation for the "others" when we're so easily immersed in our own little bubbles and personal challenges. To be sure, there are fringes on the edges of every faction of the political spectrum that are more difficult to reconcile, but if one can tune out that noise for a moment there is a possibility of reaching a deeper understanding of one another here. Whether or not you like the path chosen to office by our new President-elect--or even like him at all--there is something to be learned from listening to the large numbers of people who voted him into office and the factions that supported him. Most of them are honest, decent, and hardworking people that have similar struggles, hopes, emotions, concerns, and dreams as most anyone else in this country. The President-elect's message resonated with many people. That may seem crazy to many folks, but most folks who voted for him aren't crazy. Pay attention, engage in conversation, and try to understand why it resonated. And if you supported him, do the same. If everyone can work hard to remove the rhetoric and BS perpetuated by any of the political parties all the better.

A small sampling, but their reasons for supporting Trump just show how little they know about why they're in their current situation / what electing Trump could possibly change for them. It's simultaneously sad and infuriating.

This just goes to show that education is key. Education is about so much more than the classes you take. It teaches critical thinking, which can help improve emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is a powerful skill to have. It allows one to look inward, reflect on their own circumstance, and reason about how the society they live in actually affects them.

The article tries very hard to portray Trump's followers as racist, but really I just think they are desperate and forgotten. A quote really resonated with me, from Lori Ayers in Ohio:

> “I voted for Obama the first time, not the second. Now I am voting for Trump. We just got to change things.”

It's obvious that what resonates with blue-collar workers is change. The sad thing is they are probably a dying breed in a world where computers are replacing everything from air traffic controllers to bus drivers.

I'm not sure if there IS a solution, apart from massive education reform (to help their kids break out of that social strata) or massive government incentives to bring jobs back -- which will most likely not happen.

Conservatives definitely have their own problems, but liberals live in such bubbles, it doesn't even surprise me Hilary lost (even though I was leaning that she wouldn't).

The narrative pushing is too much. I still cant believe how much of asian indian and asian community voted for him in philadelphia very unexpected.