TREMPEALEAU, Wis. — As the Packers and Cowboys kicked off earlier this week, a couple of dozen regulars arrived at the Vet’s Bar with potluck dishes to share, including a crockpot of hot dogs, macaroni salad, deviled eggs and layered dip. Many brought along their own beer koozies, and the bartender passed out green or yellow Jell-O shots every time the Packers scored a touchdown.
Sitting at the bar was a 63-year-old cook who voted for Donald Trump because “everything sucks” right now and there’s no way things could get worse. Next to him was a 59-year-old school lunch lady who believes Trump’s policies will lead to a significant increase in her wages and cheaper health care.
Farther down the long wooden bar was a 67-year-old truck driver who voted for Hillary Clinton and earlier this month pulled all of her money out of the stock market because she’s worried Trump will crash the economy. And there was a 30-year-old union worker at a brewery who voted for the Green Party candidate because he didn’t think Trump or Clinton could relate to guys like him.
There’s a reason that the Vet’s owners have a strict “no politics” rule. It seems as if any conversation about politics these days can quickly become heated.
For decades, Trempealeau — along with the surrounding county by the same name — has been deeply Democratic, with President Obama getting 56 percent of the vote here in 2012 and 60 percent in 2008. But in November, Trump won Trempealeau with 53 percent.
The victory stunned many residents, even though Trump signs had plastered the area for months. The same flip happened in 50 other Midwestern counties clustered in western Wisconsin, southern Minnesota, eastern Iowa and northwest Illinois.
Die-hard Democrats are still trying to figure out which of their roughly 1,600 neighbors were the 482 people who voted for Trump. Several lifelong Republicans say they voted for him, often reluctantly, but they didn’t expect him to win — and, as Inauguration Day approached, they were concerned that the country is even more divided.
Everyone at the bar agreed that it will take at least another presidential election to see if this was a fluke or a lasting shift.
“I just think that people were not feeling the greatest about the direction of the country and thought: ‘Oh well, I’m just going to throw my vote to somebody that I think will change things.’ Still, with the idea: ‘Well, he wasn’t going to win,’ ” said Kurt Wood, who has been village president since 1993 and voted for Clinton. “I think, in all honesty, people already realize what a mistake they made.”
Source:-Washingtonpost
Sitting at the bar was a 63-year-old cook who voted for Donald Trump because “everything sucks” right now and there’s no way things could get worse. Next to him was a 59-year-old school lunch lady who believes Trump’s policies will lead to a significant increase in her wages and cheaper health care.
Farther down the long wooden bar was a 67-year-old truck driver who voted for Hillary Clinton and earlier this month pulled all of her money out of the stock market because she’s worried Trump will crash the economy. And there was a 30-year-old union worker at a brewery who voted for the Green Party candidate because he didn’t think Trump or Clinton could relate to guys like him.
There’s a reason that the Vet’s owners have a strict “no politics” rule. It seems as if any conversation about politics these days can quickly become heated.
For decades, Trempealeau — along with the surrounding county by the same name — has been deeply Democratic, with President Obama getting 56 percent of the vote here in 2012 and 60 percent in 2008. But in November, Trump won Trempealeau with 53 percent.
The victory stunned many residents, even though Trump signs had plastered the area for months. The same flip happened in 50 other Midwestern counties clustered in western Wisconsin, southern Minnesota, eastern Iowa and northwest Illinois.
Die-hard Democrats are still trying to figure out which of their roughly 1,600 neighbors were the 482 people who voted for Trump. Several lifelong Republicans say they voted for him, often reluctantly, but they didn’t expect him to win — and, as Inauguration Day approached, they were concerned that the country is even more divided.
Everyone at the bar agreed that it will take at least another presidential election to see if this was a fluke or a lasting shift.
“I just think that people were not feeling the greatest about the direction of the country and thought: ‘Oh well, I’m just going to throw my vote to somebody that I think will change things.’ Still, with the idea: ‘Well, he wasn’t going to win,’ ” said Kurt Wood, who has been village president since 1993 and voted for Clinton. “I think, in all honesty, people already realize what a mistake they made.”
Source:-Washingtonpost
