Lauderdale: Trump's Hilton Head crowd not angry, but fed up

"He's the one speaking," he said.

"White" describes the throng of thousands that showed up at the Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & Spa to hear the brash upstart who is leading the GOP presidential primary polls. But "angry" does not. And plenty of women waited in the lines that snaked around the building to the beach.

Liz and Rusty Mead of Dune Lane came armed with banners: "Over the Hump with Trump" and "Trump Save Us."

But they were not angry.

"Worried," she said. "Worried. Real worried."

It's the whole situation, she said. "It's not one thing, it's everything."

Plenty of people admitted to coming for the show. The circus came to town, so they were there. It was a "wish you were here" moment that dropped in the laps of a family vacationing from Pennsylvania.

For Janice and Lamar Holcombe of Savannah, the first in line, it was a Christmas present. They stayed in the hotel the night before, along with two daughters, so Janice could be the first through security. Nearly in tears, she hustled for the podium where she hoped to shake Trump's hand and tell him how much she likes his ideas.

As the last stragglers waited anxiously to get in the door, they were held up by a young woman who became nauseated. It was Danielle Adler, 25, of Savannah. She's 36 weeks pregnant and was going into labor. She and Kasey Taylor, 30, who took the day off to come, had to leave before the star arrived.

"I like his boldness," Adler said. "His backbone. He's the only one giving direct answers."

"Fed up" is a good way to describe this crowd.

We want America to be America again, they said.

He's saying the things I'm thinking, a number of people said.

Terrorism. National debt. Insecure borders. Corruption. Republicans who can't do anything with control of both the House and Senate. Lobbyists paying off elected representatives. A so-so economy. Illegal immigrants. This is what worries the people who came to see Trump.

A local man named Tommy Hawk, whose long white beard explains why he played Santa Claus at Bluffton Tire & Auto this month, hasn't been to a political rally since he was a kid. His nanny took him and the cocker spaniel to see Ike and Mamie Eisenhower wave from the back of a train car.

This was a whole different show, he said.

"Mainstream America is fed up with what we have to deal with every day," Hawk said. "Now, can he get the job done? What he can do is, he can start it. He can put his foot down and say he's got mainstream America behind him."

Joe and Carol Cochran waited in line, even though he had a knee replaced last week. Yes, he said, that's a strong statement that he wants change.

We've got to do something, people said.

Trump certainly can't do any worse than what we've got, they said.

He's saying the right things, they said.

And he has the chutzpah, the brains and the business savvy to pull off real change.

"Even though he's on his third wife, he's a good family man," one said. "His kids have never been in trouble."

One told me to read "The Clintons' War on Women" by Roger Stone and Robert Morrow to learn how frightening corruption in Washington has become.

A Clemson University junior wore a "BYOG" T-shirt and a "Hillary for Prison 2016" button.

One had a "W.W.J.D." tattoo.

One wore a "Southern Fried Cotton" T-shirt.

Another T-shirt read, "People Who Think They Know Everything Annoy Those of Us Who Do."

Some said their biggest concern is Trump's brashness on the international stage.

Some said they are still undecided. A Dr. Ben Carson donor said he wanted to hear Trump's full talk, without the media's varnish.

They smiled for thousands of selfies. They were not angry. They were fed up.

Follow columnist and senior editor David Lauderdale at twitter.com/ThatsLauderdale and facebook.com/david.lauderdale.16.

This story was originally published December 30, 2015 at 1:46 PM with the headline "Lauderdale: Trump's Hilton Head crowd not angry, but fed up."