Posted on 02/18/2020 3:55:27 AM PST by Kaslin
WESTBY, Wisconsin -- Spend any time with people who supported presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2016 and you quickly find out that the reasons they voted for Trump had very little to do with him.
It is likely one of the most misunderstood threads among this new conservative populist coalition. To get the real reasons for their support for Trump, you have to be where they are, have no preconceived ideas about who they are and have no prejudice for what you think their motivations are.
Tom Schaub, Ralph Petersheim, Donna Leum, Kris Amundson and Ben Klinkner are all sitting around a large conference table at the Westby Cooperative Creamery in this Vernon County town. There is a pot of coffee and an oversized box of doughnuts. The aroma that only bakery-fresh doughnuts can provide radiates throughout the room.
All four are dairy farmers. Schaub is president of the co-op. Petersheim has been recognized for his water and land conservation efforts by the county, earning him the Outstanding Conservation Farmer Award for his impeccable land efforts. Leum's family owns a 53-cow dairy, and both of her adult children are in different aspects of the dairy agriculture industry. Amundson's family produces 17,200 pounds of milk per cow each year for the cooperative. Klinkner is a sixth-generation farmer on his family's organic dairy farm.
They are all board members of a co-op that was formed over 117 years ago by local dairy farm families searching for a way to develop a sustainable market for their milk and dairy products in their creamery.
Individually, they are superhumans. Not only do they work the dawn-to-dusk hours required to bring you cheese, yogurt, milk, sour cream and any other dairy delight that fills refrigerators (cows are milked twice a day every day of the year); they are devoted conservationists of the soil and water, and are tireless volunteers dedicating countless hours to the 4-H club, local schools, their churches and the co-op board.
They all said their vote for Trump wasn't for him but rather for their communities.
It was an abstract and complicated decision that rarely makes sense to people who don't walk in their shoes, live in their ZIP code or understand how long establishments within both parties have let them down, their parents down, their grandparents down and their children down.
"People who don't know farmers or live near or in a farm community have little idea of why we feel so connected to our place," said Leum. "But they do seem to have strong opinions about who we are, and when they find out we supported Trump, they look at us as that dumb farmer who doesn't know any better."
"Well those dumb farmers, they're an electrician. They're a plumber. They are mechanics, scientists, conservationists. They take care of the crops that fill their cupboards, (who) love and care for the animals who provide dairy and meat for their feasts. They are also vets and engineers," she says with pride and a broad smile. "I mean, we have all these skills because you cannot keep calling repair people, so you do it yourself. So actually, I think we are pretty darn smart."
Overall, there are 68,700 farms in Wisconsin covering 14.4 million acres of land. They provide nearly $90 billion for the state economy every year and employ over 400,000 people statewide.
There are nearly 8,500 dairy farms in Wisconsin. Hundreds of them shuttered in 2019, continuing a 10-year trend the co-op board members said is largely based on a complex pricing system and fixed costs being spread over a wide swath of production.
"On the co-op level, we're given an advance price of what the milk is supposed to be for the month, so we base all of our prices on the products that we're making and selling," explained Schaub. "And then when the final price comes in, it can be a $2 difference."
"Well, that $2 difference. ... There's no way to make that up, so, then you have a loss for that month. Then, you string too many months like that in a row, and that's when things get rough," he said, adding that the eventual result could be bankruptcy.
All five farmers like President Trump's policies. His demeanor? Not so much. But they knew Trump would come through with better trade deals, which he did with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Vernon County is one of the 23 counties that voted for then-President Barack Obama in 2012 and switched to Trump in 2016.
While many national outlets have parachuted into the Vernon Counties of the last presidential race to ask voters about Trump when the trade deal dragged on, when special counsel Robert Mueller's report was released and when Trump was impeached (and acquitted), few journalists ask voters how they got here in the first place. Furthermore, few members of the Republican and Democratic establishments who mock farmers behind closed doors (or openly on social media) have reflected meaningfully about why farmers picked Trump over their establishment candidates.
Despite moans from the chattering class saying there have been too many stories on Trump voters, farmers such as these have a story to tell about lives focused on faith, family and farming. Few who actually know them could argue they're not creating a profound benefit for the entire country.
Apparently, YOU are a UNION mole here at FR.
I started working at age 16 & am still doing client work at age 80. The 5 DIFFERENT unions I was forced to join did nothing extra for me. One of them actually lied bout a strike within 3 hours of the members voting NOT to strike. Double crossing jerks at every turn.
Those high numbers of persons who are working in the USA DO NOT NEED a UNION or a Democrat to tell them how to do their jobs.
You degrade hard working people whose lives would NOT be one whit better if they were in a UNION.
How many persons have provided you services during your life who were NOT union? I would bet plenty-—and far more than union workers.
Your UNION addiction is a poor substitute for taking care of your own life & your own abilities.
I got that point exactly, and the author did a good job of laying out the struggles that farmers face but a not so great job of explaining how those struggles were caused or exacerbated by NAFTA which she doesn’t even mention. A great example of an article that works for people who already know the story.
I’m not saying this is a bad article, just that with a bit more work and more quotes from the farmers abut Trump directly, it could have been great.
I agree with Zito. Many people support Trump in spite of his personality, not because of it.
Yes. The quote from the farmer directly addresses the issue that AFTER they decided to support Trump, people treated them like they are stupid when in fact they are quite smart.
But the article purports to explain why they supported Trump in the first place, which none of the quotes from the farmers addresses.
... in several generations. Bears repeating.
I wasn’t enamored with Trump’s style at first. I liked the fact that he hit back but found him too crude at times. I still think so sometimes but a lot more rarely now and I don’t mind nearly as much. That is because he has been great on policy, he has been great on results and because after having seen the depths to which his enemies in the deep state and MSM and Democrat Party will sink to get Trump at all costs - laws, democratic norms and common decency be damned - I am vastly more disgusted by them than I am by anything Trump says.
I love the fact that Trump hits BACK!
He’s not like the Republican Party establishment types who just roll over and take it when the Democrats/MSM lie about him and constantly go into the gutter. He pays them back in their own coin and THEY CAN’T STAND IT.
Its so gratifying to watch them melt down and have hissy fits when he punches them in the mouth right back. This is what we always knew about them - they love to dish it out but absolutely can not take it.
He you old fart, I have nothing to do with unions. It isn’t 1960 any more. Unions account for 7% of labor. THE ISSUES GLOBALISM AND OFFSHORING APPLY TO ALL LABOR IN THE USA.
Glad we don’t get the majority of our vegetables and dairy from China...it is our best interest to promote US farming if people want to eat...imho
PS...Canada lumber really good? It takes YEARS to grow it cause it’s COLD up there...S. America lumber grows REALLY fast.
I hope you are willing to protect manufacturing and blue color workers with the same zeal.
Not blinded. I know Cocaine Mitch gives Trump grief. But I’ll accept that for the insane rate at which the Turtle is slamming Trump’s Federalist Society judges through. It just may stave off the progressive horde for a generation.
And many of us love his personality.
It’s nice to have a president WITH a personality.
Sheesh...of course...Are you NOT watching what President Trump is doing??? Re:manufacturing
ps..
But I can’t eat a phone or car
My opinion is that many people are hesitant to say they like him, afraid of being ridiculed or belittled or not held in high esteem by their Liberal friends.
And you might get a punch in the nose if you admit liking him.
Yeah, sure, the "sophisticated" ones are still demanding a federal minimum wage and pissing and moaning that they can't get a job ten years after the crash.
Those who can't find work in this economy are utter failures - should be learning new skills instead of bubbling constantly like a dripping, yeasty front hole about how life is so unfaaaair.
Hadn't ever been a fan of Trump, never watched The Apprentice. Listened to him and when he came down the escalator, I thought, "Wow" but figured he was just running as an icebreaker for more conservatism.
When Macy's killed his clothing line I thought he'd cave. When he punched back, I got in his corner full time and have been there ever since, including monthly contributions,
Ha...by giving to President Trump I’m on a local Socialists group published “list”...in Oregon...
He seems to be whining a lot lately. It’s not a good look.
Did he think being President would be an easy job?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.