The Marrano Voter: Secret Key to a Trump Victory
Pollsters discuss the “shy” Trump vote; but a great many voters aren’t “shy;” they are self-preserving. In this “cancel culture,” there is high risk in expressing any pro-Trump sentiment in public, in workplaces, and even within social circles and families. The crypto-Trump supporters driven underground are political Marranos. And they will vote. Originally published in The Times of Israel And the winner is…Donald Trump! At least, if my political-Marrano theory is correct. We all see the same polls. Other than a couple of outliers, they currently project a solid Biden victory. Some show a double-digit lead in the popular vote. Even digging down state-by-state, it looks like an uphill battle for President Trump. He’ll need a lot of variables to break his way to eke out an electoral victory. That is, however, if the polls are accurate. One big break could be turnout among what pollsters are calling the “shy Trump vote”—those Trump voters who stay under the pollsters’ radar or otherwise hide their true intention to vote for Trump; how many is inherently a matter of speculation.
I suspect that when the count is over, that number will blow people away. Because even discussing a marginal “shy Trump vote” shows a lack of appreciation for what is actually going on out there. The truth is that a great many voters aren’t “shy;” they are self-preserving. In a public environment so ubiquitously hostile to the president, there is little upside—and a lot of risk—in expressing any pro-Trump sentiment in public, in workplaces, and even within social circles and families.
Pollsters from the outside likely see this differently than do voters actually living in their hyper-politicized reality. To the pollster, this is yet another bruising American election season; but for many Trump voters, this is more akin to the Spanish Inquisition. And in this environment, many Trump voters have opted to become political Marranos.
“Political what?” If that is your reaction, here is short historical refresher. Spain (and Portugal) had been comparatively hospitable to Jewish populations during roughly five centuries of Islamic rule, as long as Jews accepted their second-class dhimmi status and paid special taxes. Christian reconquest introduced coercion of Jews to convert to Catholicism. In the 14th and 15th centuries, pressure increased greatly; Jews converted under duress in ever-greater numbers, many under the highly persuasive technique of periodic massacres of Jewish communities insufficiently enthused by the “choice” of Christianity granted to them.