And yet, many Americans believe that Trump will somehow bring back this:

You know what? That’s an ad. That was never real.

Advertisers use persuasive strategies to present the world in an idealized way. To entice us into believing that something completely unreal is attainable. That we have to have it. That our lives will be better when we get it. That something is wrong with us if we aren’t like the people in the ad. And this is a very persuasive ad.

But it’s not the truth.

A couple of blocks away from this perfect Reagan-loving community were non-white people struggling to make ends meet and survive in neighborhoods that looked very different from this one.

Down the road were women fighting for equal rights.

Up the street were gay men suffering from a mysterious fatal disease that wouldn’t be acknowledged by the Reagan administration until it had wreaked havoc on the lives of millions.

That was real.

But this ad casts a spell the same way that Trump does to his supporters. And they continue to fall for his empty and vague rhetoric- hook, line, and sinker.

Unfortunately, once the spell is broken, they are going to be in for a rude awakening.

Check out this really thoughtful NPR interview with Pakistani novelist Moshin Hamid for an interesting perspective on this.