A group of about 37 people gathered recently at a local coffee shop around 7 p.m. There were about 32 millennials and five adults. An exit poll by observation showed: definitely Trump – 7; definitely Clinton 14; did not vote – 8; lean Trump – 2; lean Clinton – 6; people not watching any cable news tonight – 35; number attending a nearby college – 23.
That gathering took place in a shop on Hamilton County land that has been owned by the same family for more than 100 years.
Welcome to a coffee shop often crowded with millennials in a community where north of 70 percent of so-called “deplorables” decided who would be their next president. It’s likely that what all of us see, read or hear in the coming months is not going to be like what we have seen, read or heard at any other time since the civil rights and Vietnam eras. Some millennials may have to Google those events.
When a half million folks show up in Washington to march in a protest that was copied all over the country, including here, it’s a significant event. It doesn’t matter how much of it was paid for and how much was just plain passion. When those who do so in the name of life do the same thing, it’s significant but often ignored. Are these protests an issue that will have staying power like the civil rights and Vietnam protests?
What we do know is that the protesters don’t understand what the new president is up to each day. The fact is that a case can be made that a good percentage of Trump’s 63 million voters and all talking heads also do not fully “get” why President Trump is doing what he is doing. Too many Republicans and especially establishment Republicans are lost in the weeds when they should be enjoying the view from 20,000 feet.