Brown: The paradox of Wildwood, May 11, 2024
First, welcome back to Main Line Media News weekly columnist Ray Hoffman – your Main Line Banter and streetwise “about town” column were missed dearly!
Have you, the reader, seen the headlines and drone videos of Wildwood, New Jersey from the weekend?
Is this the new summer of love, Woodstock Nation Redux?
“There’s something happening here, but what it is ain’t exactly clear.”
Is the band Buffalo Springfield, in some sense, watching the growing support for our former President who is advocating for the safety, security, and well-being of every American?
NJ.com exclaims, “Trump cheered by thousands in big rally at the Jersey Shore.”
Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano, Jr. declared in the Press of Atlantic City, “Trump event made for a perfect weekend!”
”Donald Trump’s Wildwood rally ushers in an economic boom to the boardwalk,” reports Ryan Hughes for CBS Philadelphia.
According to Wildwood, NJ CBS, “Despite all the people wearing jackets and sweatshirts, the crowded boardwalk in Wildwood looked more like a Saturday in the summer.
“Memorial Day weekend came early I would say, so we love it. It’s wonderful,” said Isabel Betancourt, who attended the rally.
“I almost couldn’t get here because the traffic was so thick walking from North Wildwood to here,” Denise Keegan, from National Park, N.J., said.
“People who didn’t have tickets to the rally tried to sneak a peak of Donald Trump through fences set up on the boardwalk.
“Crowds also piled into Capt’n Jack’s. The bar and restaurant’s beachfront balcony overlooks the stage where Trump was speaking.
“This is like Fourth of July, Labor Day weekend, and Memorial Day weekend all packed into one,” said owner Sean Dougherty.
“According to Dougherty, A normal Saturday in May is usually slow, and he closes early, but the influx of people was a welcomed boom to his bottom line.
“This is such a boost to start paying bills, paying my Cisco bill, my food, my liquor bills. This was a big, big help,” Dougherty said to CBS.
“The same can be said at the Salty Anchor. The cooler-than-normal weather brought many people through the door.
“Yesterday was very windy too, so everyone gets sweatshirts, sweatpants, and stuff like that,” said Asser Ahmed.
Another headline asserts, “Wildwood rally shows Trump’s base has only grown louder and prouder since 2016.”
In a story by Julia Terruso, Aliya Schneider, and Jesse Bunch, for The Philadelphia Inquirer:
“As former President Donald Trump stood on a stage in the sand in Wildwood, he spoke to a sea of his fiercest fans gathered at the foot of Wildwood’s famous Great White roller coaster.
“They poured onto the Wildwood beach hours earlier. Many came in pickup trucks decked out in Trump flags, with license plates from up and down the East Coast.
“The country is headed in the wrong direction,” said Kelly Carter-Currier, 62, a retired teacher from New Hampshire, who wore a “TRUMP” New Hampshire license plate around her neck.”
For The Philadelphia Inquirer, she continued, “So, hopefully, people will get their s— together and vote the right person in. And if they don’t, I don’t know. World War III?”
“In an election that has been defined by disenchantment from a large portion of the electorate, Trump’s core supporters have remained a loud, proud, and seemingly immovable bloc, even as the former president faces felony indictments across four jurisdictions.”
Yet, from the perspective of a lifetime moderate Democrat, Trump has gotten my attention. For the record, his aggressive name-calling is offensive, and he is due for an epiphany on that.
Kellyanne Conway, step in, please and civilize Trump.
Perhaps that will be a role for his prospective running mate, Tim Scott, Ron DeSantis, even Nikki Haley after a behind-the-scenes reconciliation.
And I would like to see Mike Pompeo and Steven Mnuchin back in action, working on behalf of the American people.
There is a turning of the tide, not placing too, too much stock in polls, and we must, absolutely must, defeat anti-Semitism, educate our youth about being weaponized by people who hate us, and defeat Hamas forever.
Also, every student deserves to work hard at whatever job is available and contribute to our free-market economy.
As an aside, Sunday, May 19 is the commemoration of Pentecost, the historic arrival of the Holy Spirit in the followers of Jesus.
We know that the love of Jesus Christ is the most powerful force on the planet.
Let’s bank on that and see what Trump has in store for us next weekend.
Mary Brown is a Main Line Media News weekly columnist, primarily covering Lower Merion, Narberth, and Radnor.
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