I thought living abroad I would escape the sensationalism that is the 2020 US election. Especially in this particularly vile election cycle. It is very interesting, no, it is heartbreaking to see how devolved to hate filled avatars friends and family have become over what many believe to be a historic election. These are not the people I grew up with, or have known for many years. And this is on both sides. It really has become heart wrenching to observe from my distant perch as is my reality.
As with most elections my dog can’t fight, or won’t fight, or at least hasn’t built enough support to put up a fight. My first election for president not only had a lasting impression on how I would vote throughout my adult life. But also shaped my view of both Republican and Democratic parties.
1996 Presidential Election
The year was 1996, I was turning 18, 7 days before the election, or something to that effect. It was the first semester of my senior year. The election was a heavily debated topic in both my history classes and around school in general. Clinton beat his challenger Dole by a rather large margin. Much of that margin was due to the young vote. Young Americans like myself. I was registered to vote in the school cafeteria, anyone turning 18 prior to election day could do so. The local election board even set up a voting center in the “pit”, a gathering area in the high school I attended, on election day. We were allowed to skip one period to go to the pit and vote.
We were not directly told to vote for Clinton, but the message was definitely clear. Watching the debates, seeing the campaigning, and generally having no real understanding yet of what the candidates really stood for from a policy standpoint. Taxes, health care, and those incredibly important topics now, meant nothing to me then. But I couldn’t help but feel a rather icky feeling from the herding that was going on around me.
My First Ballot Cast
I remember stepping into the booth and seeing those recognizable names that had filled the television and evening news cycles for years. Clinton, Dole, Perot, Nader, they were all there. But so was one I didn’t know, representing a party I did not yet understand. Harry Browne, the Libertarian candidate for the president of the United States of America.
Being the only one I had never heard of, also meant he was the only one I had never heard anything bad about. So I cast the first of many ballots for the Libertarian candidate. Interestingly enough, Harry Browne’s running mate in the 1996 election was Jo Jorgensen. The 2020 Libertarian candidate for President.
Down with the incumbent
There weren’t any other Libertarians on the ballot that I can recall. So I started another voting tradition that day. One I still almost exclusively employ, though not every single time, to this day. I almost always vote against the incumbent. I just have this really suspicious feeling towards anyone who will kiss enough ass to become a public servant in any high profile office. Even if the person I vote for gets in, rest assured I’ll vote them out next time. The clockwork of my voting habits. Vote you in today and out tomorrow. I think it goes without saying that I’m a staunch supporter of term limits.
But why Trump
But what does this all have to do with Trump and my wife. In the time that I have been in Vietnam, and increasingly as the election draws near, everyone wants to know what my affiliation is. In general it seems understood that I’m a trump supporter. Almost as if there can’t be any other kind of American. The greetings I often get at tables for impromptu cheers, or a shout out greeting on the street, are often accompanied with a heavily accented “Donald Trump”. And a fists full of thumbs ups.
But why? Why is there such a love for Donald Trump. The current president of a nation that 50 years ago was laying waste to central and northern Vietnam. If there is one thing I’ve learned being married to a Vietnamese woman and living much of the past two years in Vietnam, you don’t have to look much further than their northern neighbor to find your answers. China.
Crazy Stats
In several recent “polls” held by Vietnamese newspapers, over 80% of Vietnamese citizens said if they could vote they would vote for Trump. That is a staggering number. But living here and seeing people’s reaction to Trump and Biden, it doesn’t surprise me. Vietnam is not the closed despotic communist state that China has become. Vietnam is wide open as far as information is concerned. Google, Facebook, Instagram, all banned in mainland China, not in Vietnam.
The modern Vietnamese are well educated and more importantly well informed. All the major news outlets are broadcast here, and even though CNN is the main American based news network, Trump still holds overwhelming support among Vietnamese. Even in the US, Vietnamese Americans are more likely to vote for Trump than any other Asian demographic. Again, Why? Is his stance on China the only reason?
Trump Loves Vietnam
If you’ll remember Trump made his first of two visits to Vietnam in his first year in office. Visiting Da Nang and Hanoi in November of 2017. It was the beginning of a rock star like rise in Vietnam. He would again return in February of 2019 visiting Hanoi. Within these visits Trump pledged to continue to strengthen relations with Vietnam, and to continue his tough approach to China. Offering support to Vietnam to continue with efforts to keep the South China sea a fair trade and free shipping zone. An area China has ramped up efforts to take control of in recent years.
In addition Vietnam’s economy has boomed even greater than it’s two decade average of above 5% annually. With Trump’s China trade war manufacturing jobs and orders have been flooding into Vietnam. It is projected that by the end of 2020 that Vietnam’s per capita GDP will have grown by approximately 30 percent during Trump’s first term in office. Vietnam is on fire right now economically. Many here in Vietnam attribute that to a strengthening relationship with the US and particularly with Trump as president.
Trump’s Media Footprint
The strange celebrity persona that Trump receives here is almost uncanny. Strangely paralleling the cult like following Trump has developed in the US. There are Vietnamese fan groups, Facebook pages, even barbers giving free Trump style haircuts in anticipation of the election. It is like Trump mania in Vietnam.
Unfortunately I missed my chance to vote. I was supposed to fly in on Sunday to vote on Tuesday. My flight was cancelled due to growing outbreaks around the world. Vietnam is closed again, not that it ever really opened back up. When my wife asked in a boy band fan like enthusiasm, rather than trying to explain the intricacies of politics and political parties. I took the easy way out. I would have, as my friends and family often say, thrown my vote away. A vote cast for Jo Jorgenesen and every non incumbent. But when she asked me in that air of excitement, I said “yes honey, of course I would have voted for Trump.”
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