Massive crowds have gathered in cities like Washington, D.C., and New York to protest actions taken by the president since he took office. But outrage over the current state of American politics isn’t confined to liberal strongholds. Even in red states, frustrated and anxious voters are protesting the administration and putting pressure on Republican lawmakers to stand up to the White House.
In some of the most conservative parts of the country, voters without much experience in political organizing are taking a page out of the Tea Party playbook in hopes of making their voices heard, while existing Democratic organizations are channeling discontent with the administration into protest. Red-state Democrats point to the agitation as evidence that opposition to Trump and his agenda is widespread, and they warn that elected officials of both parties may pay a price if they write off the activism as inconsequential.
“This isn’t a fad, it’s not going away, and there’s nothing coastal or elite about it,” said 19-year-old Dalton Slatton, the president of Middle Tennessee State University’s College Democrats, which helped organize a protest outside a recent town hall featuring Republican congresswoman Diane Black. “If Democrats don’t get behind this movement, we may see a shake-up in the Democratic Party,” he predicted, adding that Republicans might also face voter fury if they don’t take the current protests seriously.
Last week, videos went viral of people expressing anger and dismay over the possible repeal of the Affordable Care Act during the town hall in Tennessee, a state Trump won by a double-digit margin. So did footage of an angry crowd yelling “Do your job!” at Republican congressman and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz at a town hall in Utah.
The refusal left 49-year-old Democrat Marion Chubon, one of the activists McSally met with, disappointed but undeterred. She recently formed a group called McSally Take a Stand to encourage her congresswoman to speak out against Trump. “I’m not here to disrupt government, or cause a scene,” Chubon said in an interview. “It just feels like we’re going in the wrong direction as a country right now, and we have to resist going backward on all the progress we’ve made.”
In the end, GOP lawmakers will likely be more motivated to act if they believe the demands are coming from a significant number of their constituents. Aguirre, who said he never attended a protest before the election, noted that Utah Indivisible is composed of Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians. “We’re a group of people who are all extremely pissed off,” he explained. Amanda Gormley, a 34-year-old Arizona Democrat and spokesperson for PN Tucson, which formed in opposition to Trump’s election, said her organization is “open to talking to conservatives.” But she clarified that’s not the group’s first priority. Instead, members will focus on encouraging people who voted against Trump to step up their civic engagement.
Activists in red states run the risk of becoming demoralized if the reception they receive from conservative lawmakers and voters isn’t what they would like. GOP voters and elected officials have, after all, stood by Trump through plenty of high-profile controversies that might have sunk any other politician, and so far seem likely to remain loyal to the president and his policies. The question now is whether these activists can avoid burnout, expand their ranks, and convince lawmakers to take their concerns seriously.
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