Nagging Suspicions ...

Boy, was I ever wrong.  My prediction Election Day afternoon about the most likely outcome of the voting was off the mark -- by a mile.  Turns out my nagging suspicions from several weeks ago were the real story.  There really was a "hidden" Trump vote out there.  The real problem was and is that it really wasn't hidden at all.  It was right there in front of us in plain sight but we either chose to ignore it or were in complete denial.

In mid-October, I had a bad day.  It didn't start off that way.  I just had a lot of chores to do and errands to run.

It started at the grocery store in the produce department.  I ran into a longtime acquaintance and sometimes client -- an older Hispanic woman who has been a small business owner for as long as I have known her.  Over the years, her small restaurant has been the site of many political pachangas -- seemingly always for Democratic candidates. She and I were standing among the fruits and vegetables catching up when she volunteered that she is "with Trump all the way" and "could never support that woman".  Rather than have a political debate with an old friend in front of the banana bin, I just laughed and said "that's a good one" and "good to see you" and walked away.  It was a disturbing and puzzling conversation but did not ruin my day.  I was just left wondering how dislike for Hillary could so outweigh all the horrific things Trump has said about women.

My next stop was the pharmacy to refill the prescriptions for all my blood pressure medications.  While waiting for my meds, I struck up a casual conversation with an elderly retired Hispanic gentleman whose path I have crossed from time to time over the years -- mostly at political events (and I don't attend Republican affairs).  We were both commenting that the Presidential election campaign was not good for our health when I made an offhanded remark that I would be glad when the election is over and we don't have to listen to that crazy man anymore.  He looked at me, grinned, and said "you know, I am a Trump man", and walked away.  I was stunned -- having heard this twice in less than an hour from two Hispanics who I believed to have been longtime loyal Democrats.  It seemed to have no impact on either of them that their candidate believes (or at least claims to believe and has said) that all but some Mexican immigrants are rapists and murderers.

Later that day, I went to an appointment with my dental hygienist for a teeth cleaning (okay, to be completely honest, it was a denture implant cleaning).  The hygienist is a pleasant Hispanic woman in her late twenties or early thirties and a married mother of several young children.  I don't really know her and cannot imagine why she would think to start talking politics with a relative stranger in that setting.  Nevertheless, here I am with my mouth wide open and her hands and a very sharp metal dental instrument pointed down my throat, and she volunteers that she and her husband "really believe in Mr. Trump".

I guess I should have known then that this was not going to end well.  I should have at least started paying closer attention to those nagging suspicions.