Encouraging Report from Central Florida [View all]

[Sedona]

Last edited Fri Jul 5, 2024, 02:25 PM - Edit history (1)

Visited my 85 year old MAGA mom for 2.5 days with Mr Sedona in the Mount Dora/Tavares/Eustice/Lady Lake red red red area of Central Florida an hour south of the Villages. Saw exactly two trump stickers, one sadly on my mom's car and one in the parking lot of a greasy spoon diner.

Saw only one small trump 2024 yard sign on the road in from the turnpike.

Attended a parade and fireworks display at a super busy lakefront in Tavares. Hard to guess on number of people disbursed along the lakefront and in the adjacent bars and restaurants. Maybe 5000 people? Seemed like a reasonable representation of the local community. Lots of Gen X empty nesters and a small group of families with children. Very few Millennials or Zillennials outside of the wait staff and handful of parents.with kids I encountered. 85-90% White with just a handful of People of Color. Lots of red white and blue gear but no Trump tee shirts, no MAGA hats not one bumper sticker. Zero, nada zilch.

Saw one big trump billboard on the highway out of town by The Viliages and one faded big old Trump 2020 sign on I75 in South Georgia.

If they're in the cult they sure are keeping it to themselves.

Did not engage strangers in any political convos, which I never do anyway so can't comment on speicfic antidotes aside from my 85 year old Trumpy mom. She is a good person and has been slowly shedding the racism and homophobia that was literally bred into her by her “greatest” generation FDR/Kennedy Democratic parents.

I sincerely believe she’s been brainwashed and stays MAGA as way to "belong” in her small group of friends. She actually never heard the boat/battery/shark story from last month. She thought Mr Sedona was making it up. Didn't bother pursuing fact checking her. She'd likely think it was fake whatever.

She was aware Bannon is in jail so there's that.

Nice to see my MAGA Mom. Who knows how long I have with her in my life. We just don't talk politics and all is good. I had no illusions of deprogramming her from the cult in 2.5 days.

I'm riding back now with Mr Sedona to my home in the deeply blue, super diverse suburbs of NE Atlanta in Dekalb County. All and all it was an encouraging visit politically for this Generation Jones couple.