The president has his opponents second-guessing their own instincts, paralysed in fear of getting it wrong
The biggest, most electrifying event in the closing days of campaigning in New Hampshire was not staged by Bernie Sanders or Pete Buttigieg or even the surprise third-place finisher, Amy Klobuchar. No, the candidate who filled a 12,000-seat arena, and had devotees queueing up for several blocks on a frigid Monday evening, was the man those others are battling to take on in November, the man who is shaping the Democratic presidential race and who is inside the heads of Democratic voters: Donald Trump.
The commitment of those Trump supporters, the intensity of their faith, was on a scale unmatched by anything else I saw as I crisscrossed New Hampshire. The loyalty inspired by Sanders comes closest, but it’s in a distant league from the adoration offered to Trump. Those lining up in the snow to see the president, buying up hats and T-shirts bearing his name or face, spoke freely of their “love” for him, of their certainty that every criticism was fabricated by “the fake-news media”, of their conviction that he is the only teller of truths in a world of lies.
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Source: Elections - theguardian.com
