Dick Meyer

Opinion contributor

At a time when politics is conducted as burlesque, it is easy to think that the audience is as wretched as the performers. Not so.

This is especially true of voters who backed Donald Trump in 2016. The Trumpeteers who cheer at #MAGA rallies are only a small cadre of his electorate. The Republican scaredy-cats and weasels in Congress dance to Trump’s looniest tunes with more enthusiasm than their constituents. Polls consistently show that many,if not most, people who say theyapprove of President Trump do so with deep reservations.

Many Trumpers are actually Semi-Trumpers. Not all, but probably most.

So, I’d like to urge all those Semi-Trumpers out there, the Semi-Silent Majority of Trump voters, to do some serious thinking before the election. Please. Pretty please.

What message do you want your vote to send?

Given your reservations about President Trump, what is the most prudent and careful way to use your vote — and your influence?

Do you want Donald Trump to be more checked and more balanced in the next two years, or less?

Do you want your vote to embolden or temper Trump before the next session of Congress?

In asking you to think seriously about these questions, I’m not suggesting you read more columns about what a dishonest rat Trump is or how his latest Tweet, twerk or tall tale proves, once and for all, that he is, indeed, a dishonest rat. I’m not suggesting you study his record and rhetoric with a newly opened mind. In fact, turning off your screens and taking a walk will do more to clarify your thinking and find your gut-level convictions.

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My assumption is that 95 percent of the world has a firmly fixed view of Donald Trump at this point. There has been ample time and opportunity to observe and to argue. There’s not a lot of point continuing to debate: Donald Trump — good or evil?

Trump voters are conflicted

Most of Trump’s supporters, though they prefer him to the alternatives and like things about him, have conflicting views as well. The most common and serious concerns are about his temperament, veracity, manners and character, according to poll after poll.

This is amply demonstrated by how Trump has broken a long electoral pattern. Despite a very strong economy, Trump has a lower approval rating at this point in his term than any president since Harry Truman.

Historically, that is strange. Economic good news equals political good news for incumbents. The reason behind the Trump anomaly is simple: The vast majority of voters, including Trump voters, have profound reservations about the tone of Trump’s presidency and the way the country “feels” today.

So, what’s a concerned (even closet) Semi-Trumper to do on Nov. 6?

I’d suggest they do exactly what American voters have done for most of the past 50 years: Divide power between the parties. Do not let the Republican Party control the White House, the House, the Senate and, now, the Supreme Court. Take your own concerns about Trump and his party seriously.

This means voting for the Democrat in your House and Senate elections. Even if you have to hold your nose, do it. And try to persuade those who think like you to do the same.

If that is asking too much, vote for a third-party candidate, or write in the name of someone you admire.

And even though it’s a violation of the unwritten rules of editorializing, I’d say it’s better to stay home on Election Day than veto your reservations about Donald Trump and his presidency.

Resist, Semi-Trumpers, at least a little.

Dick Meyer is the author of “Why We Hate Us: American Discontent in the New Millennium.” Follow him on Twitter: @DickMeyer_DC