The weather in Green Bay, Wisconsin was unseasonably warm for October 30, but a welcome thing for the throngs of Donald Trump supporters -- some of whom camped out overnight -- waiting to get into the Resch Center for Trump's rally.
In the shadow of Lambeau Field, the line snaked from the Resch Center doors through the parking lot, and down Armed Forces Drive toward Holmgren Way.
Barry, a lifelong resident of Green Bay, was one of those supporters. He came to the rally after work, having voted earlier that day. He was standing in line with Andy, from the town of Suring, an hour north. Andy also came down after work.
For both men, the biggest issue is the economy, followed by security. Not just the border, but internationally as well.
'Inflation is ridiculous,' Andy said. Barry agreed.
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When I asked what they thought about Kamala Harris, Barry had one word to describe her: 'Joke.'
While we waited in line, which inched its way slowly to the doors, more people lined up behind us.
Eric, a Black man from Minneapolis, said he admires men like Trump who get up in the morning and 'get things done.' It's a four and a half hour drive from Green Bay to Minneapolis, by the way, but Eric made the trip. I asked him what he thought of his governor, Tim Walz. He paused for a moment, then said 'The inner city has gotten worse.'
The crowd was diverse -- men and women, young and old, some decked out in Trump gear and others in Packers garb. A group of Japanese supporters walked around the parking lot with flags and signs that read 'No More War' and 'Stop CCP [Chinese Communist Party].' They were the only people for whom the economy was not the top concern (but was a close second).
For a few, like Dave from Appleton, Joe Biden's 'garbage' comment was still fresh. Dave was wearing a black trash bag over his clothes, with the word 'GARBAGE' spelled out in blue painter's tape. For him, the issue was also -- you guessed it -- the economy.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: "For the past 9 years, Kamala and her party have called us racists, bigots, fascists, deplorable, irredeemables, and they call me Hitler... They've taken your money, they've thrown open our borders to criminals... They've sent our blood and treasure to fight in… pic.twitter.com/1Vxwnc75cf
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 30, 2024
Trump is in Wisconsin because the state, as I mentioned here, might be in play. Trump has a rally in deep blue Milwaukee on Friday. He lost the city of Green Bay to Biden in 2020.
I see a lot of doom and gloom in the waning days of the campaign: it's so close, Kamala might win it out, Republicans are overconfident.
If the number one issue for these voters was abortion then, yes, Kamala wins in a landslide.
But it's not.
It's the economy.
The arena, which seats about 10,000 was full by the time Trump took the stage. The process of screening everyone took time, and it poured outside (this writer's tennis shoes are still damp). The energy was solid. Of the people I spoke with, most had already voted and the others were going to vote on election day.
More than getting a sense of which way the electoral winds are blowing, I wanted to go and see the people who were attending. Those baskets full of deplorable, bitter clinger, Nazi fascist, garbage people.
Except there were none.
This will, naturally, only come as a surprise to Democrats and their propagandists in the media. Who -- I know -- genuinely believe we are trash, simply because we don't see the glories of Kamala.
They live in a bubble, a privileged world where they'd never stoop to rubbing elbows with guys like Andy, Barry, Dave, or Eric. Where they would sneer at the women who laughed when I asked if their husbands told them how to vote (as the Left suggests), and where they would try to lecture the peaceful Japanese that war really is the answer.
Which begs the question: why should we believe them when they say Trump is going to lose the election? The polls, the trends, and history indicate the opposite.
CNN's Harry Enten WARNS signs of Trump victory were THERE ALL ALONG
— Resist the Mainstream (@ResisttheMS) October 30, 2024
Are the polls correct this time? pic.twitter.com/lSJi0IZ6MB
72% of Americans think the country is heading in the wrong direction. Why on earth would they vote for four more years of not only driving off the cliff, but hitting the gas pedal?
This does not mean the election will be a landslide, and it's crucial everyone who supports Trump votes for him. But as the election draws near, I'm confident in my prediction that this is likely a repeat of 2016, and Trump gets somewhere around 304 electoral votes.
And if the media stopped believing we're trash and started talking to us, they'd see it, too.
