JUNE 12, 2020 – I’m grateful for my Trump-supporting clients. They bring out the better angels of my nature, and perhaps this rapport models how our nation might avoid wholesale rupture.
There is no magic to my conversations; no special formula, no complicated blueprint. Just two things: 1. Money; and 2. Mutual respect.
First, the money. To be completely honest about it, I’m not practicing law because I love it to death. Don’t get me wrong, I like solving problems, crafting agreements, interacting with clients, their counterparties, and opposing counsel. This work sharpens the brain and inevitably brings encounters with fascinating people. But I’m not doing it for free . . . Actually, that’s not entirely correct. I give away a lot of my time, and occasionally a business client will run out of funds, which means sometimes I don’t get paid. What I mean is, I practice law to make money, and my Trump-supporting clients happen to be the best when it comes to paying my invoices in full and very promptly. To such clients I give the highest attention—I respond within the hour, rather than within the day.
The power of compensation trumps, as it were, the power of my politics. Moreover, if I weren’t still practicing law, I’d be retired within my comfortable social bubble of like-minded anti-Trumpians, yelling in unison.
Second: mutual respect. My Trump-supporting clients are not ignorant ogres. In fact, over the years they’ve presented themselves as polar opposites of their “non-politician” political hero as he consistently presents himself, which, of course, is one of the most confounding features of the Trump’s unshakable support. My clients are smart, honest, fair-minded; I would say even open-minded about many things. They also respect me and appreciate my efforts on their behalf. I respect them and their accomplishments and appreciate their trust and confidence in me.
Until recently, I avoided deep, committed political discussions, though often my Trump-supporting clients would themselves drop a loaded comment. I learned how to deflect, ignore, or lightly engage—by offering a neutral response such as, “The world sure is crazy!” to a decidedly partisan remark like, “I can’t believe that Congress doesn’t have anything better to do than impeach the president!”
In the post-George Floyd era, however, my clients have put questions to me that I can’t evade. They’ve asked for direct responses to the question, “What do you think?”
And I’m learning to tell them exactly what I think without jeopardizing: 1. The Money; or 2. Mutual Respect. In the process I’ve learned “packaging skills”; that is, how to wrap an idea in a way that piques the listener’s curiosity. But the most important part is first to listen. Listen for clues about mind-set, motivation, and perspective.
Based on promising evidence, I like to think I’m making headway. They, as well, vis-à-vis my strongly held view that since Trump is demonic, so must his supporters be. Is a tempered exchange of views not our better suit?
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© 2020 by Eric Nilsson
