...I can't think of any way that Trump made any lasting changes in my life (or very many others' lives) that another president wouldn't have replicated in the same scenario*...in the end, anecdotes about people's political beliefs are basically useless drama when used beyond your personal enrichment.
I'll leave you with one more anecdote, and it's something which happened in your own state. Having lived in California myself for several years, for the benefit of others in this forum who may not realize it, it's actually a rather politically polarized state, with areas in the north east and central valley being extremely conservative. A friend who I've known since high school, moved from NY to southwest of Los Angeles about 6-7 years ago. He's an engineer and works north of San Diego but couldn't afford to pay San Diego real estate prices and wanted some land that was larger than a postage stamp. He was born in India but his parents emigrated to the US when he was just 1 year old. In many ways, he's more American than I am. He's a very chummy, affable guy. Think Russell Peters.
A lot of the residents of his part of town are military families, fire fighters, police officers, etc. Having had a rather rough time with his old neighbors back in NY, where nobody spoke to anybody else, he and his wife were thrilled when he first moved out there. People were friendly, generally more open and affable, and they welcomed them into the neighborhood with open arms. My friend is a bit of a car guy too and he happily helped some of his neighbors change their brake pads, fluids, diagnose some simple issues, etc., always happy to lend a hand. And so were his neighbors. He once told me, about a year after moving out there, that he was no longer sure how many children he had, as at any given time there were half a dozen kids parading through his house, few of which looked like his own. It was like a throwback to 1970s living--a community that cared for itself.
Flash ahead several years. Most of his immediate neighbors have multiple Trump banners and flags. It didn't happen over night but slowly, over a period of 2-3 years, the neighbors stopped talking to him. His children were no longer welcome to play with the other kids. And the other kids simply didn't come around to their house anymore. Nobody wanted his help on their cars. And the neighbors who used to sit in front of his garage and drink beer, and laugh and joke, still did, just not at his house. He doesn't ever remember making any political comments. He doesn't have a Biden/Harris sign on his lawn or an old Obama decal on his car. He's pretty much apolitical, or at least used to be. Things finally came to a head about 9 months ago, just before Covid. Several of his neighbors were having an impromptu get together. He walked over with his wife and the conversation either stopped or several of the neighbors suddenly started talking about 2nd amendment rights and how people either needed to assimilate or learn the hard way. It was outrageous. He and his wife had long talks about moving somewhere else, but at least for now, his kids are not being harassed at school and they like the area where they live. But he told me if Trump wins another term, he was going to put his house on the market immediately. Would the situation be any different if he didn't have dark skin? I don't know. It doesn't seem to affect Dinesh D'Souza. It wasn't just one single neighbor. It was like a mob mentality. These were the people he socialized with for the previous 5 years, baby-sat their kids, drank beer together. He still thinks of it all like some bad dream. I can only imagine this is what it must have felt like for Jews in Germany in the early 1930s. How many thought, ahh, it's just a few bigots, just ignore them. Until suddenly one night, some windows were broken and they started being rounded up.
What Trump has sparked is dangerous. He, along with right wing propaganda social media has brought out the worst in people in ways I never, EVER imagined would happen here. I lived and worked in Germany for about half a year back in the 90s and I loved it. I often thought, what HAPPENED to these people 50 years before that lead them down the path of madness. And I was convinced it would never happen again. And not in the US. And I've seen things like this, experienced things like, where I start to have doubts. And like my friend, I think if Trump would have won a second term, things would have changed. Changed for the worse. And possibly changed forever. As somebody who works daily with DHS, EPA, FDA, DOT FWS and ATF, changes have been slowly happening that I find all together disturbing. The man has been held back by a system of checks and balances that impeded his very worst whims and desires. By all rights, he should have been removed from office after his impeachment trial. And I think writing him off as just another candidate is closing our eyes to a much larger, much more dismal picture.
I've never really been political myself. I had issues with Bush and how he and his cabinet handled and profited from the Iraq war. But I've never really thought and never believed that a sitting president was truly a threat to democracy in this country until now. Call it drama if you wish. Easy to do now that the man lost the election. But I think we were at a dangerous tipping point. And may still be.
