What can Trump do to unite the country vs. divide?

I think it's also important to note that there's no way people on the fringes will ever be "united", but those aren't the people who matter. All of those who are super butt hurt about not getting their way in the election results will likely continue to be butt hurt, and that's fine. Not enough people care about their opinion for it to matter. The group we are really looking at here is those who are rational adults and all that will take to "unify" them is success. Due to the joke of a president we had for the last 8 years that got nothing positive done the people are hungry for some wins. Give them those wins and things will be okay.

 

I always find it curious how some people need to come up with this narrative about people's motives. Well they are protesting Trump not because they don't like what he is doing or saying, but because they are butt hurt about Clinton losing.

I think this shows either a mental illness in the need to project how one would behave in a situation and assume the rest of the world must operate that way. Is it more likely that the rational posters on this board are unable to get over the election result, or more likely that bobby is a very small minded person incapable of realizing that people get over election results?

I mean, who the F is talking about the election anymore on here anyway?

 

Nothing says uniter like a white supremacist sympathizer attacking John Lewis on the verge of MartinLuther King day. Trump is vile, what scum.

 

Thank you and good post. Who cares about the flipping election result? That was over months ago now. I care about our poor ****ing country and the slim chance we can get the president to behave better than at any point since he was in a militaristic boarding school. Not insulting civil rights icons would be a GREAT start. Working with the intelligence community would be another grand gesture, if that's not too much to ask.

 

I keep hearing about how reasonable Trump is behind closed doors. I'm holding out hope that one of the people in his trusted circle can encourage him to moderate his tone in public because of the potentially disastrous long-term consequences.

After watching that "press conference" and his tone deaf remarks about Lewis, so close to the inauguration, I'm starting to consider that he's simply not pathologically capable of holding down the presidency for the next 4 years. It's shocking, really.

 

The answer unfolds...

 

I keep hearing how he's going to become more presidential. Surely after the convention. Surely after the election. Now, surely after the swearing in. It's like a woman who thinks her boyfriend will stop cheating on her after the wedding, or once she conceives, or once the child is born. Maybe Trump isn't as bombastic in private, but I think we all have a pretty good idea what he's about by now. Even if he changes his PR approach, he's still Trump.

 

If, just days before the inauguration, it's still happening...it clearly is too much to ask.

 

There are things another President could do to be more of a uniter. There is very little that Trump will actually do.

 

Trump isn't the person to unite this country

 

I think he could be. I mean, you'll never unite the freaks out on the fringes, but no one should care about them or their opinion. I think either by success or failure, Trump could unite the bulk of the country either behind him or against him. He's not an ideologue like Obama who so greatly fractured the country and pushed them apart in his 8 years and IMO that alone will help.

 

John Lewis cares. Don't you dare criticize John Lewis!

 

Looks like MLK III thinks he can do some things. At least he's giving him a chance on the day his father is honored...

http://thehill.com/homenews/adminis...hether-trumps-criticism-of-lewis-offended-him

 

And hopefully Trump gives the MLK III's request for support of a free national ID card due consideration and didn't view this as a PR stunt.

MLK Jr's daughter Bernice, on the other hand...

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-mlk-idUSKBN15018J?il=0

 

It's one thing to criticise, it's another thing to attack.

 

"He could unite the bulk of the country against him"

Fair point and I'd say this is probably true.

I read the initial post as could Trump be the one to get the country to rally behind him and lead us forward. To that point, my answer is more that likely not.

 

Good topic, wizkid83, and I think you have a fairly objective viewpoint on it. Just as many were very optimistic about Obama, and that became tempered over time, I think much the same will happen with Trump, but from the other side. He won't be the apocalypse many think. Will he be good? That's a whole 'nother question.

I think the divisiveness in the country poses a major problem to any President. Trump's lack of any strong ideological concept should actually help a bit in this, but it is a huge hurdle to overcome. I think Obama was actually open to various views, but even he admitted that he essentially got overtaken, especially in his first term, by his own party, and didn't realize then how to actually get things done. Trump will certainly face those same issues. How does one satisfy their own party yet reach out to those on the other side? It is a very difficult political quandry. Trump's penchance for ignoring politics and just forging ahead might help, but will likely not gain the embrace of many on the right.

I think he will need to reach out strongly to the public through speeches, etc. Social media could work for this, although clearly not the way he has often used it, so step 1 is to stop addressing any perceived personal slight like a 12 year old kid. But, much of what Trump wants to do is good for everyone, so he has a good message. His focus on the inner cities, for example, would benefit many on the left, perhaps moreso than those on the right...but in general we all would benefit from better inner cities, with less crime, etc. If he focuses on the forgotten working class, as he did in his campaign---while many of those were more conservative, that too, would benefit everyone, many on the liberal side as well. I think he is open to discussing solutions with both sides, and reaching some sort of consensus solution through negotiations. This is how government is supposed to work, and if he has any success in actually doing it, that message will help bridge the divisiveness...and if that happens, then that would help bring more consensus to other issues, and so on. Bringing a business approach to all government programs and departments is also something that isn't really political--a better run government is both conservative (less costly) and liberal (government helping more effectively). Everybody benefits. I have always thought government needs to be more pragamatic--look at problems, see what might actually solve them, and then monitor those programs to see if they actually work. Somethings businesses do as a matter of course, but governments often don't.

How much of this will actually happen? I have no idea. I hope at least some of it. Trump may turn out to positively surprise many, including many on the right. I was not a big supporter of his, but I can see some positive things that he might be able to do. So, watch and see is my attitude. I'm not overly concerned with what he, or any other politician, says. I want to see what they actually do.

 

Agree with your overall statement here, but as for uniter or not...anyone good at negotiating is a decent uniter---that's how negotiations get done. Is he that way campaigning on broader issues? No. But on individual matters where that negotiating takes place? It think he might surprise.

 

Oh I can think of 1000 ways he could, but that wouldn't be a very nice thing to say.

 

Good negotiator or not, a person prone to twitter tantrums and throwing out off the cuff insults when they feel denigrated is not my idea of a "uniter". We will see.