Trump Came to Town

Virginia Beach and Chesapeake went all out for President Trump upon his arrival, completely shutting down 15 miles of busy suburban freeway so that his entourage had a completely private thoroughfare from the airport to a berry farm near the North Carolina line. Such accommodations inconvenienced some of his followers, who had to work on a Friday and did not have the luxury of spending the day perusing merchandise and food stands at the berry farm. A caravan thus formed on the backroads, arriving at the duck fields to find that there was no more room to hear the once-disgraced president speak. Cars lined the side of the road, new cars, no beaters. Their occupants had nice clothes, good hair, and smooth hands, untaxed by grueling work or hard living. Nearest to the berry farm were mansions with many cars in their front yards. One must wonder how much each automobilist paid for the privilege. Chesapeake used to vote for the Democratic Party, between the family farm Dixiecrats and the urban industrial neighborhoods of South Norfolk. But Chesapeake is now a suburban wonderland filled with economically secure members of the military industrial complex. Donald Trump was welcome here. A cul de sac served as promontory for those who could not enter the venue. For ninety minutes, Trump’s voice rehashed talking points soothing to the audience’s ears. From here, you could not see Trump, but his voice boomed invisibly over the fields like a FDR fireside chat, or how God talks to people in movies. Studies show that Trump’s biggest fans are unchurched. Trumpism is their religion. I’m no stranger to political speeches, which seasoned politicians always keep to 10 minutes or less. Trump’s hour and a half oratory was different. One woman told me that Trump “could speak so long, because he knows so much”. After Trump left the stage, cars started to fill up the Wawa fuel station. There were Teslas and big pickup trucks, and a few MAGA hats, t-shirts, and #FJB stickers. But it was remarkable how these hardcore Trump supporters blended in as the regular American citizens you would see at the strip mall or county park. Experts will say that Virginia is fool’s gold for the Republican Party, having gone 20 years voting for the Democrats. But Trump’s handlers knew what they were doing. Many of the cars came from rural North Carolina , the quintessential swing state audience, and the Chesapeake suburbanites added visual reinforcement to the rally, so important to Trump’s image as the American hero.