AURORA, Colo. — Between the heart of Aurora and the Denver International Airport is the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, where former President Donald Trump will deliver remarks during a rally on Friday.
Ahead of Trump's visit, Denver7 on Thursday saw many people already piling into the parking lots at the resort. Not far away, Richard Foster has assembled his Trump merchandise tent.
"We go to every rally that we can," Foster said about his tent, which is stocked with everything from Trump bobbleheads to Trump teddy bears.
Foster said he has always been a Trump supporter.
“The way things are going now, currently, for the past four years, it's not getting any better. And when Trump was in office, he was actually making that change to where things were getting better," said Foster.
Philip Chen, an associate professor of political science at the University of Denver, said there has been an increase in the attachment individuals feel to their party affiliation.
“What we think about as our political identities today are very much our social identities," said Chen. “The other thing that we've seen a really strong growth in is something we call negative partisanship, which is, even though we still like our party, we've come to dislike the other party significantly more than we had maybe 20 years ago.”
Candidate merchandise picked up speed with Trump's campaign in 2016, according to Chen.
"We often compare political identities today to our identities around maybe our favorite sports teams, right? We feel good when our team wins, we feel bad when our team loses. And in that sense, it makes sense that we might see an increase in merchandising or an increase in these kinds of visible ways to show your support because it is such a strong part of so many people's social identities today," Chen explained.
Dr. Randi Smith is a licensed psychologist who also works as a professor of psychology at Metropolitan State University Denver. Smith sees the collision of politics and mental health more frequently in her office than in years past.
"That makes sense, right, given all of the heightened rhetoric, the heightened violence that we saw, you know, on January 6, the violence that we've seen against Donald Trump with two assassination attempts. So there's a lot more anxiety this time around than usually," Smith said. “There's a lot more of that polarization now where people are really choosing a side and having less empathy, understanding, less meaningful, respectful conversations with folks who might vote differently.”
Humans are social creatures, so it makes sense to Smith that we still act as pack animals of sorts — grouping with others who share similar thoughts and ideals.
“One common thing is to just seek the comfort of people who are our own, the safe people. And there is something beneficial to that," Smith explained. “There's also something harmful when all we do is withdraw further and further into, you know, our like-minded circles and avoid more and more of these conversations or connections with people who might have different ideologies.”
Smith suggested a few ways to help support the mental health of individuals who may be experiencing heightened anxiety as we approach the November election.
"It might mean that it's a good idea to take a fast from social media, or at least a diet. Curtail the intake a bit of what you're consuming. Maybe turn off the news that you're getting on your devices. It might mean socializing in ways that aren't politically related," Smith said. “Getting together with friends and going bowling, going for a hike, enjoying the beautiful outdoors and not feeling so immersed in this sense that everything's hanging in the balance.”
Ticket holders will be allowed to enter the Trump rally on Friday beginning at 9 a.m., and the former president is expected to speak at 1 p.m.
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