In my personal experience which is to say completely anecdotal and unscientific, Trump has stirred up a portion of the population who do not traditionally vote. I think there were some studies done in the primaries that he was getting out poor whites who traditionally don't vote in large numbers. Certainly Trump himself bragged on that point which of course means nothing at all. I work with a lot of low information folks with very little education, people I would call rednecks who are inspired by racism, and the loss of the perception of white privilege is real. In my experience Trump's overt racism, stream of consciousness, say whatever the fuck comes through your mind, and don't bother to construct a sentence, appeals to a segment of that population in a way that a guy like Romney was just too polished to do. These are the people that claim they will vote for Trump regardless of what stupid or offensive shit he does or says. Some of that offensive bigotry actually appeals to them, and even the gaffes against veterans, etc. they write off as some sort of authenticity that other politicians lack. So in that sense, I do think he's expanded the base.

The question I have, however, is how many of these angry uneducated whites will actually show up to vote. There are a lot of these type folks in my experience who are eager to share their opinions about politics who have never bothered to vote in their lives. We already know that Trump's campaign is disorganized and its doubtful he will have any sort of ground game comparable to what Obama had in organizing poor minorities in 2008 or 2012. Also, these folks seem to be becoming a lot quieter since Trump has repeatedly shot himself in the foot recently and nosedived in the polls. I think without the perception of success, a lot of these folks in particular will turn their attention to something else by November.

This analysis makes a lot of sense.

to get those kinds of people out to vote.

video, though it was probably not seen by many low-info R voters, didn't help. Trump reflects the id of the low-info, emotionally-driven, low-IQ mass of people who traditionally are moved by demagogues like him. It's an unconscious emotional process. Facts and logic do nothing to dislodge this sort of voter.

I have no idea what to do with such people. They are dangerous in the sense that they are primitive, unfocused, and often violent. And to me, the idea that waiting for "them to die of old age" is ridiculous, because they raise their kids and grandkids to be just like them. Dylann Roof, anyone?

There are other reasons to vote for Trump, of course -- some are voting for him for the same reason lots of people wanted Bernie: to change the status quo and break up the money monopoly of politics, etc. Not that I think Trump would do this, but there are certainly people who think this way.

Last edited Sun Aug 7, 2016, 08:53 PM - Edit history (1)

I too work with families and individuals in the low to very low income bracket. Although it can appear that they have a similar DNA demographic, in actuality they splinter along a number of criteria. Such as:

-Jobs. This is the domain of the low middle to low income class. Yes, we do have a class system in America. Anyone who pretends otherwise is stupid. By JOBS I mean essentially three things, 1. Jobs for guys, 2. Jobs for gals who have split from husbands or significant others 3. Jobs for youth. None of these people are making progress toward a $15 an hour wage with bennies etc. These are people who largely make lateral moves from a $9-$12 an hour job. They are service industry jobs, low wage small manufacturing jobs and may of these people work more than one job in a given week. Truth-a $15 an hour wage will not cut it alone for this population b/c their rent, food and other basic living costs keep going up. They want more for their children but government keeps cutting off funds for education-which means they feel hopeless.It won't be a popular thing to say but white and black americans need to wake the hell up and realize that in the minds of low income middle or low income families-when affirmative action is offered to African American's, they feel cheated. There it is-that is the truth. So Trump elevates them into having an identity with a supposed rich guy to supposedly back it up. Pure Disney.

-Race. These are individuals or families or kid in families that rub elbows with differing races all the time. Why? Because low to very low income individuals and families rely on each other in neighborhoods, schools or apartment complexes etc. and/or they rely on the government. Fact is-they know more about government services than many human service workers. They have to. Their idea of their survival depends on it. BUT- and it is a very big BUT, white low income people expect to be able to return to the white fold and get their needs met b/c they are white. When they don't, their lives become a proverbial value judgment that they cannot tolerate. If you are thinking that white low income still have a threshhold for what whites should have to tolerate-you're right, they do. This is one of the items that Trump and other politicians have manipulated. White privilege exists even if it is only in the minds of those who feel they need it. Trump counts on it.

-Education. Even parents of low to very income levels want their kids to do better than they have done in life economically. They see the reduction of funding for public schools as a direct insult to their dignity and as a dagger in the heart of their kids opportunities for advancement. Adults in this income bracket already know they are deficient in terms of education, becoming clever and using the various systems to support a lottery win kind of life.Trump is glamorous to them. He exudes the kind of money magnetism that is central to the female's attraction at least. For men, Trump exudes an 'educated man' persona that these people "feel" is in the right place at the right time. He's their guy b/c he doesn't make them feel inferior. He makes them feel entitled and without all that 'pull yourself up by your boot straps' stuff. Afterall they reason, if immigrants or African Americans can get all kinds of stuff for free-why not me and mine?

Trump will continue to appeal to a demographic that needs attention. Donald Trump has been giving them that attention and our government has not-or so they see it.

In fact, most of these folks don't like Romney at all.

I honestly think Trump is appealing to a group that felt "left out" or "screwed over" by the most recent Republican nominees.

If he's firing up nonvoting racists to vote this time we can see it in primary voting analysis. I saw one article on that and they said it was the same voters as always, little evidence of Trump changing the electorate.

A Central American Republican coworker will likely vote for Trump in spite of the bigotry - he hates Hillary *that* much. This guy admits he drank the Bush Iraq Kool-Aid, but still thinks he was a good guy and would vote for him again.

My brother, who isn't poor, dead, a rabid GOPer, or a white supremacist, is voting for Trump. He's over the Clintons (primarily on defense policy), and has been sucked in by the NRA.

Trump supporters back him for MANY different reasons, and they're not all white. Perhaps people need to start listening to why they say they're voting for him, rather than summing it all up by skin color.

"Perhaps people need to start listening to why they say they're voting for him, rather than summing it all up by skin color."

There's racists among them too, but it goes deeper.

His supporters know that something is wrong, but most of them have been deflected from the real culprits: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281823571_Corporate_Parsitology_101

Thanks, will check out the link a bit later.

I'm from a once-booming steel town in PA. Steel is gone, and those nice, solidly Democratic, middle-class parts of town are now high-crime 'hoods. Many are barely eking out a living, and beautiful old homes are in total disrepair. People *should* be pissed off about that -- I am. These voters backed Palin in 2008, and like Trump now, the perception being that Democrats failed them economically. Bernie knew how to genuinely tap into that. And like with some BREXIT voters, I imagine many Trump supporters are sick of all the "experts" telling them what's best for them.

Talk radio is a HUGE problem. The two coworkers I mentioned above listen to AM crap, then come into work and drop little bombs on me. I ask them for details and not one can offer any up... they exist on substance-free tidbits. In-depth discussion? Forget about it.

D's, Latino, union, Christian, gay, poor, rich, educated or not. All feel both parties have been screwing them in a variety of ways and Trump (and Bernie) is different for a variety of reasons. Saying they "are voting against their interests" requires knowing their personal interests which are all over the place.

enough, polls show your examples are in the minority. Your brother is odd, what does he not like about Hillary's defense policy? It's not tough enough would have to be the reason for preferring Donnie.

My brother is middle-of-the-road, ex-military, and now with a defense contractor. "Odd" to whom? You? He opposed Iraq, asked "now what?" after we got bin Laden, and generally disagrees with the current Admin's Middle Eastern policy. Distilling it down to "not tough enough" is simplistic, just as it "all white Trump voters are racist."

who are in their tribe (Republican or Democrat, evangelical or progressive, etc.) given the chance.

This is the first time white, angry lower-info, nationalistic, gun loving, right-wing voters have somebody "like them" to vote for who speaks their kind of language, dumbs everything down and doesn't talk like a politician, says he is on their side in particular, and shares their racial views or at least does not sympathize with those who are not "like them."

Trump is there for them, to stand up for people "like them" and to defend people "like them." This is the first time there has been a candidate to do that. That is why the cult of personality is so effective with Trump. These people represent Trump's base and they will stay with him no matter what, but many have never voted before.

In addition to this block, Trump has the evangelicals, the voters who vote Republican no matter what. those that are left that have a hatred of Clinton. But in my opinion, that will not be enough to win the White House.

but not quite as racist I guess.

he does not even try for other voters

These are third generation professional welfare recipients who blame all their problems on the Mexicans... as opposed to say dropping out of school, going to jail or getting pregnant at fourteen.

...poor white man; I guess I'm just not an idiot?

I was actually an Ayn Rand moron in high school! Her simple models to explain economics and other issues appealed to my naive brain.

Then I went to college and I could no longer make the model fit reality!

Is in the Rust Belt, which is where the only narrow passage to a Trump presidency may exist. Deny him a couple of these states, and there's no way in hell he has a path to anything but his own misery. Although he won't do that privately, either.

who are justifying voting for him because for years they've been brainwashed into thinking how thoroughly awful Hillary is. IOW, blame them on faux.

... white evangelical Christians supported Trump the most of any group.

69% to 19%!

They hope to load the Supreme Court with anti-abortion judges, among other things. They know that won't happen under President Clinton.

I'm sure that Trump's anti-Muslim rants appeal to many of them as well.

I've read several surveys that show that Donald is getting a lesser percentage of the white vote than either McCain or Romney did in 2008 and 2012. And as we all know, Trump's support base among minorities, especially black Americans, is virtually nonexistent.

Unless he somehow manages to obtain over 70% of the white vote, I don't see a path to victory for him. The only way I see Trump being able to gather enough support is something catastrophic happening to the US, such as a major economic downturn like the one that occurred in 2008, or a terrorist attack as deadly as September 11th. That's assuming, of course, he doesn't make a fool of himself, like he did after the Orlando shootings.

Given how nasty they are, I doubt they're at the events to represent the downtrodden.

both have good Union jobs even! Just they are FoxNews heads and hate Hillary.