is universal, and repugs take advantage of that human inclination, especially by doing their best to dumb people down, with inadequate education, and by lying to media.

I have a friend who cites "I thought I was poor because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet" to make that point.

Many people see themselves a certain way which is related to self-esteem, but it's larger than that it's identity. People will vote for who they feel has values closest to their own, is someone they can relate to, and who they see as being better able to preserve their culture. I don't know why anyone would want to vote for keeping conservative culture alive, but I don't need to understand that to know this is why they vote that way.

Rural people tend to have traditional values many identify themselves as conservative (they aren't actually, but that's a different issue) so when someone says family values they are speaking a the language of a traditionalist. They don't just like their guns they rely on them in some cases to bring in food to suppliment depressed wages. Many are also too proud to apply for government benefits even when they are eligible (this is changing cuz starving isn't fun), but even if they get benefits they resent it, forms ask for too much information and they feel they have lost their autonomy. I am not saying these things because I read a study or I took a class. I grew up in a rural area. This is the impression I got not just from my family of origin, but from my extended family, our neighbors, and others I knew in this area.

The problem is that they are misinformed about "the worthy cause" their self sacrifice is supporting.

People who make minimum wage and vote against candidates who would raise it because it would harm business, are a good example. The basic premise is false; increasing the incomes of the working class would improve the economy.

She had a disability and has turned on her own after having a surgery to correct it. Now that she's past that, I think she wants to elevate her self-perception. Forget about when the government was there for her.
I saw a similar situation. Medicaid paid for the delivery of the first child of the republican majority leader in the MO house (Rod Jetton). This was reported during the session when they made very deep cuts to medicaid in MO.

Then there's one of my favorite representatives. On the house floor, he said, "when my first daughter was born, we needed some help. We went to family services and the state government helped us out. I want some of my tax dollars to go toward paying it forward. Everyone in a situation where they just can't make it work should have the help that was available to me."

You think it's them, they think it's you. Some minor differences, but for the most part it's just opposites sides of the same coin.

I have two friends. Each a dozen years older than me. Each was a traditional working class democrat, and voted that way despite being center-right on social issues and made it clear they voted that way because their economic interests were more important than, say the gun issue for instance, but there were/are others.

One retired comfortably with a full pension and other family heirlooms and is fixed pretty good for money. The other just inherited a boatload of money and is nearing what will be a comfortable retirement.

Both now vote only on social issues, but that's not all; They have each gotten nasty, curmudgeonly conservative and staunchly republican.

I guess that could be pigeonholed under "I got mine, the hell with you".

pitches (“we can’t possibly afford FIVE MILLION dollars on this…hey, THAT’S only $4 billion, it’s not THAT much”), adopt the media narrative without questioning it (“Obamacare is the government taking over my healthcare and it’s failing”), know very little about issues that they’re supposedly interested in (“Citizen’s United means that corporations are allowed to give as much money to politicians as they want”), and tend to judge politicians by how they “feel”. (at least, this is what I’ve seen)

There’s not much a push to be less apathetic and disconnected – even people who consider themselves opinion leaders when it comes to politics are too lazy to pay any attention to the aspects of it that aren’t hot (look at Matt Yglesias’ thoughts on local politics, for example). Most of the thought leaders are the equivalent of celebrity gossipers, even on the left.

So many don't employ critical thinking because they're either lazy or just plain dumb.

When that gets said, you're basically calling someone stupid, and that's probably never going to get them onto your side.

They have evaluated the information and would rather identify with people whose interests are represented by republicans, than vote their interests. It has a way of making someone feel superior to their peers. I also think there's an element of denial of their own situation by creating a mental distance from their economic peers.