NOTE: this article was written before the 10/9 debate, and thus is limited to quotes and comments prior to it.
There’s no denying it—it’s been a bad couple of weeks for presidential nominee Donald Trump. He completely bombed the first presidential debate; unleashed an objectively embarrassing twitter rant against Alicia Machado; went on trial for raping a thirteen-year-old-girl; has allegedly tried to say the n-word on live TV; was caught saying that being famous gives you the right to assault women; and the Republican National committee has cut him off the way his father should’ve done 50 years ago. Over the weekend, dozens of Republicans have publicly renounced him (because apparently, everything he said was acceptable up until it threatened white women), and his own running mate will not defend him (though he still thinks that LGBT conversion therapy is an acceptable practice). To all watching, it appears that Donald Trump is on a sinking political ship.
But we can’t get comfortable.
It’s easy to rejoice, sit back with a glass of wine, and watch Donald Trump bluster and blather and treat the election like it’s reality TV. After all, he’s ostracizing nearly everybody, and it’s common knowledge that he’s not presidential material. Right?
Wrong.
Because these people exist. And these people. And don’t forget your racist uncle. And sure, they’re funny, they’re entertaining, we like to watch these Daily Show videos hundreds of times and laugh and feel morally and intellectually superior (because we are). But when we do that, we forget that these diehards with no sense of irony or contradiction are still going to vote. And we know exactly who for.
We cannot grow complacent because Trump supporters will not grow complacent. Trump’s more moderate supporters are abandoning him, sure. But he still has a loyal following who are looking forward to November 8th as if it’ll be the second coming of Christ, and their votes will count just as much as all of ours.
It’s easy to watch Trump’s downfall and feel like voting isn’t as important anymore, to assume that he’ll lose because people are rational. His supporters are not rational, but they are enthusiastic. And we have to be equally enthusiastic about stopping him. That means still campaigning, still voting, still talking, still paying attention. Yes, Trump is wrecking his own campaign. That will not stop the people who believe in him. We can’t let it stop the people who don’t.
And hey, if you won’t listen to me, listen to the cast of Hamilton! Listen to former presidents (and the cast of Hamilton)! Listen to the Avengers! But whatever you do… listen.
