Supporters see the ‘anything but’ in Trump

They came from Cottage Grove and Springfield, from Grants Pass and Bend.

And, yes, some even came from right here in Eugene, to listen to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, a man many of them said is America’s last remaining hope.

“I think Trump’s our last chance to save this country,” said James Dobson, 68, of Springfield, standing in the parking lot outside the Lane Events Center on Friday afternoon, before about 4,400 people were let in. “If he can’t do it, no one can.”

Like many who came to see the billionaire businessman from New York, Dobson was dressed in red, white and blue. His white shirt had a blue panel filled with stars. And he stood in front of his 1999 Ford F250 jacked-up pickup truck, the one with the 46-inch tires, a cutout of Trump, wearing his red “Make America Great Again” cap, in the bed and two large U.S. flags attached to the back.

“He seems to have it all together,” said Dobson, a Vietnam veteran who used to build swimming pools for a living but now buys and sells used cars. “He’s not a politician.”

No, he is not.

Trump himself said as much, more than once, during a raucous hourlong speech in which he said most of the politicians in the nation’s capitol, are not only one of the nation’s great problems, but just plain “stupid.”

Trump also made endless fun of “crooked Hillary,” i.e. Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic presidential nominee; the media who came to cover him Friday night (“the most dishonest people in the world. Look at ’em back there.”); called for more than one protester to be tossed — “Get ’em outta here!” — and, as usual, mentioned building that wall.

“Build the wall!” a man in the crowd yelled.

“We’re gonna build our wall, don’t worry,” Trump said, referring to the 1,000-mile wall along the U.S.-Mexico border he wants to build if elected president, to keep illegal immigrants out.

It’s that sort of mentally that Trump backers love.

“He’s not bagging on the Mexicans,” said Joe Garcia, 39, of Grants Pass, who was born in Mexico himself before moving to the United States with his family as a child. “He’s bagging on the illegal Mexicans.

Garcia, an Iraq war veteran who said he is now a federal police officer, said the first time he wore a “Trump” T-shirt in Grants Pass, “I got the looks.”

“You’re Mexican!” his friends would say.

Yes, Mexican, and for Trump.

Garcia was standing in line, waiting to get inside the Lane Events Center, with his mother, Martha Garcia, also a native-born Mexican, and his brother, Angel Garcia, 36.

“I brought Mom here, because I needed her to see a Trump rally,” Joe Garcia said.

Martha Garcia said she is an undecided voter, just trying to keep an open mind.

Nearby, a protest was breaking out on West 13th Avenue, several of the protesters young Hispanics, singing something in Spanish as a small army of local police stood watch on the inside of the fairgrounds fence.

Lance Bagley, 50, of Cottage Grove was the first to arrive Friday to see Trump. His wife dropped him off at 6:30 a.m.

By 3:30 p.m., almost four hours before Trump would take the stage, Bagley had a line of hundreds behind him.

“Mr. Trump calls it good real estate — wanted to get a good seat,” said Bagley, a cancer survivor who wore a red “Make America Great Again” cap, a blue sweatshirt and red sweatpants.

Asked why he supports Trump, Bagley said: “He’s not a lawyer. We’ve had a string of lawyers (as president). I think that might have something to do with the string of problems we’ve been having.”

Lawyers tend to lie, Bagley said, when faced with problems.

Also standing in line was Ben Missler, 75, of Portland, dressed in a beige suit, a “Donald Trump 2016” button pinned to his suit, and no tie.

“Trump brought back the love for America, and he can’t be bought and paid for,” said Missler, president of Sky Tram International in Tualatin.

Missler said he read Ralph Nader’s book, “Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us,” and became convinced Trump is the one.

“And he doesn’t use politically correct terms,” Missler said. “I love that. We’re sick and tired of politically correct terms.”

Dawn Coslow, 56, of Eugene, stood in line with her housemate Ronnie Lee, 60, the two women wearing vertically striped “Trump: Make America Great Again” T-shirts.

“Gotta put your eggs in some basket, and his is the only one there is,” said Coslow, who said she recently got her political science degree from the University of Oregon and does political surveys for a living.

“I love the way he’s got the neo-conservatives quaking in their boots,” Coslow said. “And I love that they’re the ones responsible for the Iraq war.”

Coslow said she had seen the calls for protest against Trump on social media, and said “some of them are my friends. And I just think they’re uninformed,” she said of those who oppose Trump so vehemently they are willing to stand in the streets with signs like “Donald Trump: What a Joke.”

That’s what Terry Wiltshire, 65, of Portland was doing, with many others, as cars drove into the fairgrounds parking lot, buffered by a line of police officers.

“Trump is just an egotistical maniac,” Wiltshire said, “who only cares about his agenda. He doesn’t care about any of these people. And he never will.”

Once the rally got going, the crowd whipped into a frenzy and waving those “Make America Great Again” and “The Silent Majority Stands with Trump” signs, the protesters were left to do their thing outside.

A few did get inside, though.

A young woman wearing a white T-shirt with “Dump Trump” written on it, screamed at the top of her lungs as Trump called for his sentries in black suits to haul her out.

When it was over, and Trump had assured all that come November, he would win “Ara-gon” and many other states, Nori Juba, 51, of Bend, said he was not all that impressed.

“I came to see what he had to say,” Juba said loudly, over the din of blaring rock music as Trump’s fans surrounded him near the stage. “But that was nothing I haven’t heard watching the news.”

Juba, who came with his girlfriend, Kelli Brooks, 47, also of Bend, said he has already voted by mail for John Kasich, the Ohio governor who on Wednesday became the last Republican presidential candidate, besides Trump, to drop out of the race.

But, after listening to Bill Clinton stump for his wife Thursday in Bend, Juba said he wanted to hear what Trump had to say in person.

“There’s no substance to what he’s saying,” Juba said of Trump.

But Trump is appealing to people’s frustrations and anger, and Juba gets that. As someone who recently registered as a Republican, switching over from the Independent party so he could vote for Kasich, Juba only wishes there was someone besides Trump.

“It’s frightening that so many people are drawn to him,” Juba said.

Follow Mark on Twitter @MarkBakerRG . Email [email protected] .