Results: What Happens When A 20-Year Democrat Attends a Trump Rally? (Part I of 4)

Ms. Borysenko begins, "If you had told me 3 years ago that I would ever attend a Donald Trump rally, I would have laughed while assuring you that was never going to happen. Heck, if you had told me I would do it 3 months ago, I probably would have done the same thing." She explains that she was a Democrat for 20 years and had no desire to have anything to do with our current POTUS or any of his supporters. If you are a Democrat, could you ever see yourself attending a rally for Donald Trump - even just out of curiosity?

Ms. Borysenko explains in her article that her hobby of knitting actually sparked her interest in differing political opinions, since discussions in knitting groups often turn to politics. She admits that she rarely paid much attention and just did her knitting in silence, but after hearing stories of violence against people with differing mindsets, she started paying closer attention to what was being said. "I started paying attention after one man who was attacked got mobbed so badly that he had a nervous breakdown and was admitted to the hospital on suicide watch. There was something that was not right (well, so many things really) and it witnessing the vitriol coming from those who I had aligned myself with politically was a massive wake up call." Do you agree with what she says about those with liberal mindsets seem to be violent against those that oppose their views?

"You see, I was one of those Democrats who considered anyone who voted for Trump a racist. I thought they were horrible (yes, even deplorable) and had worked very hard to eliminate their voices from my spaces by unfriending or blocking people who spoke about their support of him, however minor their comments. I watched a lot of MSNBC, was convinced that everything he had done was horrible, that he hated anyone that wasn't a straight, white man, and that he had no redeeming qualities." Borysenko explains. If you are a Democrat, have you ever found yourself considering anyone who voted for Trump a racist, a bigot, or in some way unintelligent? (Be honest)

"But when I witnessed the amount of hate coming from the left in this small, niche knitting community, I started to question everything. I started making a proactive effort to break my echo chamber by listening to voices I thought I would disagree with. I wanted to understand their perspective, believing it would confirm that they were filled with hate for anyone that wasn't like them." Have you ever found yourself interested in differing opinions than your own - because of a shift of mindset, a realization that the other side "can't be all bad", to confirm what you already thought of them, or for any other reason?

Before attending the event, Borysenko talked to some friends and acquaintances about her intent - from both sides. Overall, most people seemed concerned with her safety. "I had never seen people I didn't know so passionately urge me to avoid all of those people. One woman told me that these people were the lowest of the low. Another man told me that he had gone to one of his rallies in the past and had been the target of harassment by large muscle-bound men. Another woman offered me her pepper spray. I assured them all that I thought I would be fine but that I would get the heck out of dodge if I got nervous. Some of my more right-leaning friends online had expressed genuine fear at my going as well….but not because they were afraid of the attendees. They were afraid of people on the left violently attacking attendees! This was one day after a man had run his car through a republican voter registration tent in Florida and there was a genuine fear that there would be a repeat, or that Antifa would bus people up from Boston for it. Just as I had assured those on the left, I told them I thought I would be fine because we don't really have Antifa in New Hampshire." If you had a friend that was considering attending a rally of the "opposite" party, would you be concerned for his or her safety?

As mentioned before (& by the title of this survey), I plan to finish this story in a few more surveys. Are you interested to learn how it turns out (presuming you won't mind the extra points from the additional surveys)?