Wareham Republicans discuss 'Mystery of Trump'

Aug 19, 2016

For Democrat Steve Mello, sitting in on the Town's Republican Committee Meeting during its discussion of "The Mystery of Trump" was enlightening.

"We all want to know what [Donald] Trump is about," he said. "I want to know who my neighbors are and why they think he has their best interests at heart."

In a relaxed atmosphere at B.B.'s Bar and Grille with pizza and sodas on Thursday night, Mello accepted the Wareham Republicans' invitation to the public to discuss the rise of Trump as a presidential candidate.

When Republican candidate Trump began his campaign, reactions from Americans varied greatly.

Some, like Julianne "Julie" Cummings, of East Wareham, thought it was a joke. Others, like Mark Swan, thought the country finally had a candidate who wasn't afraid to speak the truth.

"This guy is shattering this silence that political correctness has kind of brainwashed into the country," he said. "And I thought to myself, 'That's powerful. This guy is going to win.'"

Both Cummings and Swan are now campaigners for Trump and are Wareham Republicans.

The question of the night was: How did Trump get to where he is?

Following closely an article published by Paul Berman of The Tablet magazine titled "The Mystery of Trump, Partially Explained," the Republicans discussed reasons why Trump has gained as much popularity as he has thus far.

"We put him there: the people want to hear what he has to say," said Plymouth County Commissioner Sandra Wright (R-Bridgewater), who is running for State Senate.

According to Berman's article, Trump's campaign was run similarly to that of Bernie Sanders, who ran an unsuccessful campaign against Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton.

"The New York Times published an article [two weeks ago] by Nicholas Confessore and Nick Corasaniti... and it revealed that Trump's fundraising brought in $82 million in July through online and direct-mail solicitations," it read.

Though the article focuses mainly on the crisis in journalism, it provided a jump-off point for the committee to discuss the election, and exactly what it is that makes Trump a viable presidential candidate.

"We probably don't need a politician, we need a businessman. We're at the point where we're not going to take it anymore," said Wright.

Marcia Rosman, who specializes in business, agreed. She said the country has been stagnant in economic growth for eight to ten years now, and that the country needs a businessman. 

"The average person doesn't understand business and that's what America is – a business."

Rosman first began taking Trump seriously when she heard him say a couple years ago, on Oprah Winfrey's television show, that he will run for presidency when he needs to, and that now is the time when he needs to run.

The Republicans acknowledged that the Republican party is split, that not all Republicans are in favor of Trump, and they brainstormed reasons for why that is.

"Trump is a very divisive candidate; he can't help but separate us," said Republican Committee President Bernie Pigeon. "We are very accustomed to be treated in a certain manner... He has set himself outside of that circle, and it's not a comfort zone."

With only eight members present at the meeting, Cummings agreed that the number of public Trump supporters are "very outnumbered," though there are many out there.

"There are so many people voting for Trump but they're afraid to put the bumper stickers on their car," said Cummings.

"I think people are afraid to say that they support him," said Wright.

The open meeting notice was published on WarehamVillageSoup.com three days ago, and since then, there have been multiple comments attacking either Trump or Hillary with the words "liar" and "corrupt" showing up more than once.

Mello was aware of the meeting through the newspaper, and though he attended the meeting with differing views than that of the committee, there were no fights or disagreements between himself and the members. Mello thanked the committee for their hospitality before leaving.