Results: What happens when a 20-year Democrat attends a Trump rally? (Part 2 of 4)

Did you take the previous survey (or at least read through the questions) about Karlyn Borysenko, a 20-year Democrat, who decided to attend a Trump rally in New Hampshire the day before the Democratic primary?

After Karlyn Borysenko decided to attend the Trump rally, she figured it would confirm all of what she believed and had been told about the "mindless fools" that support Donald Trump - that they were essentially homophobic, racist, hateful idiots, "That turned out not to be the case," she said. "The more voices outside the left that I listened to, the more I realized that these were not bad people. They were not racists, Nazis, or white supremacists. We had differences of opinions on social and economic issues, but a difference of opinion does not make your opponent inherently evil. And they could justify their opinions using arguments, rather than the shouting and ranting I saw coming from my side of the aisle." If you are a Democrat, have you ever (or do you still) consider Trump supporters to be less than intelligent?

Ms. Borysenko goes on, "I started to discover (or perhaps rediscover) the #WalkAway movement. I had heard about #WalkAway when MSNBC told me it was fake and a bunch of Russian bots. But then I started to meet real people who had been Democrats and made the decision to leave because they could not stand the way the left was behaving. I watched town halls they held with different minority communities (all available in their entirety on YouTube), and I saw sane, rational discussion from people of all different races, backgrounds, orientations, and experiences. I joined the Facebook group for the community and saw stories popping up daily of people sharing why they are leaving the Democratic Party. This wasn't fake. These people are not Russian bots. Moreover, it felt like a breath of fresh air. There was not universal agreement in this group — some were Trump supporters, some weren't — but they talked and shared their perspective without shouting or rage or trying to cancel each other." Have you heard of the #WalkAway movement prior to this survey?

"I started to question everything. How many stories had I been sold that weren't true? What if my perception of the other side is wrong? How is it possible that half the country is overtly racist? Is it possible that Trump derangement syndrome is a real thing, and had I been suffering from it for the past three years? And the biggest question of all was this: Did I hate Trump so much that I wanted to see my country fail just to spite him and everyone who voted for him?" Does it seem to you like some of Trump's opponents would do anything to spite him - even if it means making the country fail?

"Fast-forward to the New Hampshire primary, and we have all the politicians running around the state making their case. I've seen almost every Democratic candidate in person and noticed that their messages were almost universally one of doom and gloom, not only focusing on the obvious disagreements with Donald Trump, but also making sure to emphasize that the country is a horribly racist place." Do you agree with Ms. Borysenko that many (if not all) of the Democratic candidates are promoting a "doom and gloom" perception of America?

"Now, I do believe there are very real issues when it comes to race that we as a society have yet to reckon with. I believe that everyone from every background of every gender should have equal access to opportunities, and that no one is inherently more or less valuable or worthy than anyone else. And while the 2017 protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, led to a tragedy precipitated by real racists and real Nazis and real white supremacists, I started to see that those labels simply don't apply to most people who support Trump." Do you think it is harsh to associate Trump supporters automatically with racism, white supremacy and the like?

"But with all of this, I was still reticent to even consider attending a Trump event. I do not believe that Trump's attitude is worthy of the highest office in the land. I abhor his Twitter. I am vehemently opposed to so many of his policies. But still, I wanted to see for myself." Do you tend to be a person who prefers to experience things for yourself rather than accept someone else's perception?

Rather than continue on (with 5 or 6 more questions, making this a REALLY LONG survey - and still only worth 10 points), I will opt for a Part III to this survey (because I, for one, prefer several shorter surveys rather than one really long one - that is only worth the same amount of points). Do you also prefer to have longer surveys split up into several shorter ones so they are more manageable?

Are you looking forward to finding out what Ms. Borysenko actually experienced when she made it to the Trump rally (that we'll really get to in a couple more parts & will have the link to the story)?