For loyal Macon County Trump backers, a campaign message still rings true

July 23--DECATUR -- Tim Spinner is tired of hearing over and over about President Donald Trump and Russia.

"Nothing has been proven," said Spinner, an employee of UPS Freight in Decatur. "Even if Russia tried to mess with the election, the investigation needs to come to an end. We need to focus on other things, like health care."

In the world of national media and cable news commentators, the Trump administration that started six months ago Thursday has been punctuated by a series of scandals more earth-shattering than the last. But in Macon County and other places where Trump's "America First" campaign message resulted in a solid November victory, the assessment is more nuanced.

The Herald & Review interviewed local Trump supporters last week, as his half-year mark in the White House arrived, following another turbulent month for the 45th president of the United States. The past few weeks included the collapse of a Senate plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act, despite his party having majorities in Congress, and revelations the president's oldest son met with a Russian lawyer after being told about potentially incriminating information about Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. More recently, there have been emerging frustrations about Attorney General Jeff Sessions for stepping clear of the Russia-Trump inquiries and, on Friday, the announcement press secretary Sean Spicer was stepping down.

Yet Trump defenders point out past months also have included a high-performing stock market, plummeting fuel costs and improving unemployment numbers. Critics say the economic trends started before Trump became president.

Macon County Republican Chairman Bruce Pillsbury said the successes are being ignored by the national media.

"If Trump pulled their grandson out of icy waters, they'd complain that the president didn't have a warm jacket waiting for them once they got out," he said.

In November, Trump carried 56 percent of the vote in Macon County, and had similar victories in surrounding counties -- 51 percent in Sangamon, 62 percent in Piatt, 67 percent in DeWitt, 68 percent in Christian, 71 percent in Moultrie and 75 percent in Shelby. A substantial victory in the Chicago area meant all 20 Electoral College votes went to Clinton, who grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois, but Trump's win was secured after getting 304 electoral votes.

Overall, Trump won 90 of Illinois' 102 counties, according to data provided by the bipartisan Paul Simon Public Policy Institute in Carbondale. In the central part of the state, only Peoria and Champaign counties were for Clinton.

Macon County was counted in Democrat column as recently as 2008, that time for another Illinois politician, Barack Obama. Eight years later, Trump won by 8,000 ballots in the county.

It's a pattern repeating more frequently in downstate Illinois, a shift Steve Bean has seen firsthand during his more than quarter-century as Macon County clerk. When he ran for the office as a Democrat in 1990, Bean said, the area was competitive. Macon County twice went for Ronald Reagan, whose working-class message struck a chord, but also helped elect Democrats like then-U.S. Rep. Dick Durbin, U.S. Rep. Glenn Poshard and state Sen. Penny Severns.

"It was a whole different ballgame when I was elected," Bean said. "If I were to run now for my first time ... I'm not sure I'd get elected."

No Democrats running for state or national positions came close to winning Macon County last fall. Along with Trump receiving 26,866 votes to Clinton's 18,343, other Republican candidates such as former U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk and U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, easily won Macon County over their Democratic challengers. In Davis' case, he earned more than 66 percent of the vote, nearly double those of Decatur resident Mark Wicklund. Kirk lost his seat to Democratic challenger Tammy Duckworth.

The shift is a common one in most area counties, said Kent Redfield, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Illinois at Springfield. Factors such as population decline, loss of manufacturing jobs and an aging population all contribute to the sea of red, he said. Macon County's population has dropped all but one year since 1997. The most recent numbers available from the U.S. Census Bureau had the county's population as of last year at 106,550, from the peak population of 132,399 in 1979.

About 19 percent of the population in Macon County is over the age of 65, an age group that tends to vote more reliably for conservatives. That number is above the 15 percent national average.

"Downstate has really become much more Republicans in the rural areas, and in the more urban areas ... some of them are still Democratic, but less so and they're losing population," he said. "The industries have left, the downstate Democrats had their roots in mining. The mine jobs have left, and you've lost the industries where you saw the workers vote more Democratic."

Throughout the campaign, Trump promised to bring back manufacturing and coal jobs, which had long played a vital role in employment for downstate Illinois.

Jak Tichenor, interim director of the Simon Institute, said it's a matter of how the actions are now resonating.

"To give (Trump) credit, he talked a good game during the campaign," Tichenor said. "It will be interesting to see how he does with his campaign promises."

Challenging start

A Washington Post/ABC News poll last week found 36 percent of Americans approve of the president's performance, with another 58 percent expressing disapproval. The data works out to the lowest six-month rating of any commander in chief in 70 years. Trump has since tweeted, questioning the accuracy of the poll, saying that "almost 40% is not bad at this time."

Even by modern presidential standards, Trump had no honeymoon period after his inauguration day, but there have been several moves that have brought enthusiasm from his base. In January, he chose Neil Gorsuch to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by conservative Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February 2016. He also plans to move forward on building a wall between the United States and Mexico, a rallying cry for his fans during the campaign. A $1 trillion infrastructure plan also was announced.

But his administration also has faced continued questions on the Russia matter. Former FBI Director Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel to probe if any wrongdoing occurred. Trump has repeatedly cast doubt on the conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies that the Russian government sought to tip the election in his favor and has sharply rejected the investigations as a partisan "witch hunt."

Many of Trump's local supporters who spoke to the Herald & Review said they did not object to the president building a relationship with Moscow. Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin also had a previously undisclosed meeting at a summit in Germany this month.

For Paula Fullerton, it's important for "superpowers" to become allies and avoid confrontation.

"It is important for him to reach out everywhere to improve the relationships with the different countries and maintain those that may have been questionable over the last presidencies," said Fullerton, a 41-year-old Richland Community College student from Westervelt. "I know that since they are such superpowers, with the United States, it is important that we stay on their good side."

Spinner said Trump is correct in talking with Russia.

"With two countries like ours, if the leaders aren't meeting and trying to work out a difference, then we are moving back toward the Cold War from the '80s," he said.

Former campaign volunteer Shane Bouvet said more people should show respect to the president's job and do what they can to help him.

Bouvet met Trump in January, shortly before the inauguration. The single father from Stonington made national news when Trump saw a profile of him in The Washington Post, invited Bouvet to a pre-inauguration party and surprised him with a gift of $10,000. The Post story chronicled Bouvet's preparations to go to Washington, D.C., and included an anecdote about Bouvet wearing a donated suit and shoes to attend the inauguration festivities.

"He is just a generous guy to meet with me," said Bouvet, who works as a FedEx courier. "We've got to respect the office. My dad is service member, and my president is for the military."

Spinner said Trump "is doing what presidents need to do," he said. "He is working to try and get America back into the scene."

Political experts say it's unsurprising backers are willing to stand by Trump.

Redfield attributed steadfast allegiance to a growing political mentality of "my team versus your team." Voters are more willing to overlook their own candidate's flaws in exchange for what they see as "wins" over the other party, he said.

"(Voters) are making an investment when they vote," he said. "You think that when you've made the choice, you've aligned yourself with the candidate. That's a personal, psychological connection."

Trump proponents are unlikely to abandon him after only six months, Redfield said, as that typically does not happen for a long time. People want to give elected officials a chance, and to turn against their candidate is for the voter to admit they made a mistake.

"For that to happen, the voter would have to say, 'I was really wrong about this person, that was a stupid vote,'" Redfield said. "People are reluctant to do that. They're going to extend credibility, to extend support."

A Reuters/Ipsos poll of Trump supporters released Thursday said about one of every eight people who voted for him are not sure they would do so again after witnessing his first six months in office.

That's been the case for Bud Clark, a military veteran from Decatur who said he has questioned some of the chief executive's actions since taking office.

"I voted for Trump hoping for change," said Clark, 68. "Unfortunately what we got was a thin-skinned bully. I still believe he can do a good job, but he's got to give over his wanting to power everybody. That's a bully."

Clark added that he would still back Trump over a Democrat, however.

Supporters contemplate future

Tichenor, the political science expert, said as long as Democrats lack a strong message on economics that resonates with downstate residents, it is unlikely that the GOP will be giving up recent gains. He said it will be interesting to watch the next year or so, as Republicans struggle to pass legislation to overhaul the Affordable Care Act. Even if the recently discussed Senate proposal overcomes political challenges to become law, the Medicaid cuts it contains could cause real harm or possible closures of rural hospitals and other medical providers in the downstate area, he said.

"As I take the long look down the road, those types of things will have an impact on Trump and the Republican support in Illinois," Tichenor said. "It's common sense that people can turn on their candidates if it negatively affects their lives.

While the future of health care legislation remains murky, it's also unclear when Trump will move on to other campaign promises, such as tax reform and funding for infrastructure projects. Other tasks include a fiscal year-end budget battle and calls for increasing the debt ceiling.

Macon County Democratic Chairman Jim Underwood said he's seen nothing but disaster so far from Trump and Republicans in Washington.

"They control the presidency, House and Senate and they cannot agree on anything," he said. "I think over the next three-and-a-half (years), you're going to see a lot of buyers' remorse."

Underwood said to capitalize on that, Democrats must do a better job developing an economic message that reaches voters across the spectrum.

"Nationally, I think what we've ended up with is a lot of dissatisfaction, and that drove people away from the Democrats," he said. "I think we just have to get our message out that the Democrats support working families and businesses. And I think recently that message has gotten twisted."

Pillsbury, the county GOP official, said it's the Republican message that deeply resonates downstate. He said the president is doing a "very favorable" job.

"One thing I saw in the headquarters this year, and this even went beyond the election, there were a lot of union people coming in ... and they would ask for Trump signs," he said. "I had a couple of people come in at different times tell me, 'I've been a lifelong Democrat, and I've had enough.'"

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Herald & Review Staff Writer Donnette Beckett and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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