Will some one explain why people that are poor keep voting for Republicans?!

I keep hearing people saying that they have to because we need core values. The party they are voting for break Unions and keeps going after services to help the down and out. What is wrong with this picture? Why do they think the Repukes are here to help them! Can someone explain this to me?

We like babies just the same as the repucks. We don't want anyone to have to have an abortion. It is a very difficult decision to come to for a woman. It can cause alot of distress on her mentally and things could go wrong with the operation. But if it has to be done, I would rather her go to a doctor so she does not end up dead in some ally thank you so much! And She should have a way to get birth control if she is poor.
Back to that issue again! Why do poor people vote Repuck?

My mother was a nurse in the 60's and clearly remembers women coming in with botched back-alley abortions and a mutilated, yet still alive fetus.

it's not a difficult decision, the majority of "mental distress" is from the unwanted pregnancy NOT the abortion and the procedure itself is very safe.

surgical procedures now that it is legal. That needs to be said right up front.

Well documented. He runs the most left-wing state in the nation.

So I wonder what the lifers are going to do. Probably stay home.

With a sprinkling of false patriotism.

basically equal stupid/denial/no functioning sense of rationality.

Dem's are against God. Kennedy was a Catholic for goodness sake! As for Guns, last time I checked we just don't think a machine gun is needed for duck hunting. And what is so wrong with a waiting period? People can wait to get a gun so that we can keep them out of the hands of bad guys can't we? But, what about there wallets? Bills can't wait! And look at the mess FEMA is in? There are a lot that needs FEMA right now and that Agency can't do a thing thanks to Republicans doing what they have done to the budget.

Let's put the blame where it belongs on the Budget shall we? All the dang Tax cutting and Spending is on the Repucks not us!

They don't LIKE the GOP, they just HATE the Dems. And they HATE the Dems for reasons that aren't even factual. Plain and simple, it's just unintelligence. For example, In God We Trust was put on paper currency in 1957 with a Democratic majority in the house and senate.

No one is forcing them to be in the dark about certain issues. It's their own choice. I'm not holding a gun to their heads, I'm just using very kind words to describe their mind state.

are often fought over symbolic "wedge/culture" issues.

In short, the poor vote for Republicans over culture issues because Democrats don't present a coherent economic message to many parts of the white working class. :shrug:

That is it

:thumbsup:

It's true, much of the GOP base is not well educated. But you don't need a PhD to realize you're being insulted. Keep calling them names instead of addressing the reasons they're poor, and you're going to ensure that they keep voting GOP. The GOP resonates with them because the GOP is masterful at staying on message, and the Democratic party can hardly figure out how to tie its own shoes.

Maybe you could link to it. Otherwise, that's a (wait for it.....) Strawman argument.

Maybe pay a little more attention?

And here's your link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=2187898&mesg_id=2188059 Not from Romulox, you will notice.

Completely agree.

It might also help if we didn't spend time calling the poor who vote republican stupid. From what I understand, they really don't like that.

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Many people enjoy hating other people. Unfortunately. It goes back to the days of slavery when people who weren't slave owners were in favor of slavery because it bumped their sorry asses up the social ladder a notch. The GOP and its people MUST AT ALL TIMES have a boogeyman. Their is no peaceful utopian vision. Its 100% hate + fear.

It's a pretty common psychological reaction among victims who spend a lot of time in close proximity to their persecutors. Also, there are just a lot of willing persecutors out there who would just love the opportunity to go out and stomp minorities.

People who have been themselves been the victims of persecution, or had relatives who were, often end up doing similar things under cover of authority.

Republiklans would be completely extinct.

it's race. No one will ever say it's race, but it's race. They work hard for their money and they don't want any of their hard-earned money going to that lazy black woman with 20 children. (Their thinking, not mine.) That and the fact that they will one day be rich and then they REALLY don't want the government taking their money. God knows, rich people get screwed out of all kinds of money by those socialist liberals.

With the exception of Abortion a lot of it boils down to Fear though.

Fear of taking away guns.
Fear of someone "poorer" than them getting a government handout.
Fear of people different than them.
Fear of financial waste (which is really anything that goes to poor people.)
Fear of constant invasion.
Fear of tax raises. (They somehow can't understand that the idea that a progessive tax system can be applied differently to different income levels. Any raise to anyone petrifies them.)

And then the two biggest in my opinion ---

But perhaps the two most important is (1) fear of loss of job which is at the mercy of the "job creators" and (2) the influence of misinformation via Limbaugh, Hannity, and the wackos on the right. I have an Aunt who benefits from programs totally opposed by Republicans and initiated by Democrats. These programs essentially keep her alive Yet, she listens to Rush Limbaugh and eats up every word he says.

Do you know I have heard homeless people suport the republican party? If you have no home and no job, then you may want to recheck what is going on around you.

manages to keep most of em in line, even as they're getting screwed.

Hate radio 24/7...Fox "news" 24/7. The teathuglians hate mongers play up the worst aspects of people. Their deep seated fears and prejudices.

The poor are legion but the rich only 1%. So they fan the flames of racism and pit poor whites against poor blacks and latinos, etc.

Then they divide again by pitting union workers against non union workers. Government workers vs private sector workers, etc. Its gone on forever and ever.

Brainwashing is real and it works. Thats why it was illegal in this country until the fairness doctrine was abolished and today you see the results.

That's my opinion. Perhaps it's educational and perhaps its innate. I don't know, but it's clear that critical thinking is not going on in these people. I tend to think it's innate, but I can't demonstrate that, so it's just an opinion.

"Stupid is as stupid does." Forrest Gump

excessive conformity
submissiveness to authority
intolerance
insecurity
superstition
ridged, stereotyped thought patterns

Adorno identified the authoritarian personality type as having these characteristics.
The authoritarian personality does not want to give orders, their personality type wants to take orders. People with this type of personality seek conformity, security, stability. They become anxious and insecure when events or circumstances upset their previously existing world view. They are very intolerant of any divergence from what they consider to be the normal (which is usually conceptualized in terms of their religion, race, history, nationality, culture, language, etc.) They tend to be very superstitious and lend credence to folktales or interpretations of history that fit their preexisting definitions of reality (thus the Founding Fathers of the US are conceptualized of as supporters of white nationalism.) They think in extremely stereotyped ways about minorities, women, homosexuals, etc. They are thus very dualistic- the world is conceived in terms of absolute right (their way) Vs. absolute wrong (the "other" whether African American, liberal, intellectual, feminist, etc.)


http://www.gossamer-wings.com/soc/Notes/race/tsld007.htm

They would rather identify with the interests of the 1% than to admit that they have more in common with the rest of the 99%.

It makes them feel better about themselves to vote Republican.

-Laelth

brain and its impulses.

FEAR & SELF PRESERVATION.

And yes, just as you say, that's the hokum that their preachers sadly pass off as 'Christianity".

Exploring the neurobiology of politics, scientists have found that liberals tolerate ambiguity and conflict better than conservatives because of how their brains work.

In a simple experiment reported todayin the journal Nature Neuroscience, scientists at New York University and UCLA show that political orientation is related to differences in how the brain processes information.
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-sci-politics10sep10,0,2687256.story

Self-proclaimed right-wingers had a more pronounced amygdala - a primitive part of the brain associated with emotion.
It is an almond-shape set of neurons located deep in the brain's medial temporal lobe.
However, those aligned to the left had thicker anterior cingulates - which is an area associated with anticipation and decision-making.

The research was carried out by Geraint Rees director of the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience who said he was 'very surprised' by the finding, which is being peer reviewed before publication next year.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1342239/Brain-study-reveals-right-wing-conservatives-larger-primitive-amygdala.html#ixzz1bujfoW8u

“Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires”

it's about all the propaganda to which they are exposed featuring God, Guns & Gays, misrepresenting Democratic positions on those & other things, & generally fueling their rage, which in turn shuts down their frontal functions.

I've just been in too many "discussions" with wingnuts, and too often seen them shut down when confronted with facts contrary to their cherished delusions. It's like a tour of the primitive defense mechanisms--denial, repression, suppression, identification with the abuser…

Racism has always played a major role in keeping a Republican grip on the poor whites--not just in the south, but universally in America. Many have a desperate psychological need to avoid being at the bottom of the ladder; this need actually outweighs their own betterment. That is, many people would pass up a raise if it meant that their black neighbors would also get a raise--a larger one that would put them ahead of the poor white. There have been some very interesting psychological studies done along these lines.

And that sentence is: "They're trying to take our shit!!!"

No matter what you're discussing, right-wingers all believe that there is something they have or that they are striving to have (because they deserve it), and that the scary, evil, "others" are constantly trying to take it from them to give it to the undeserving.

Go ahead. Name any policy and see if you can't boil down the Republican position to a frenzied cry of, "They're trying to take our shit!!!"

It works really well for anyone with an inferiority complex or anyone who feels disenfranchised or anyone looking for a scapegoat to pin their own miseries on. That pretty much sums up low-income Republican voters. High-income Republican voters, on the other hand, are very easy to understand--they're voting for their own self-preservation.

The GOP play to core fears of the other that translate into core values, as well as anti abortion, tough law and order...

They'd rather identify themselves with rich, Xian in name at least, people, who seem to be
"winners" than with gays, poor, women, minorities, etc. (Dems).

many people vote Republican because they consider themselves Republican as if it is brand. Like any Brand the Republicans sell the image. Moral values, Christian, hard working, self determining, etc... People smoked Marlboro because they liked the advertising image. The getting cancer doesn't enter their thought process. The same with the Republican party, they believe in the image so much and it becomes so self defining they can't come to grips that the party they vote for being a negative force in their life.

The near exclusive basis of modern conservatism in America is selling contrived superiority to white losers and then cultivating their preposterous sense of racial solidarity that makes the said losers believe their interests to be in harmony with the ruling class and adverse to their differently colored peers.

bashing Clinton and I would as them why they voted Republican. The main answer that came up was always abortion. I would pick up people who only had money the first week of the month and didn't realize they were voting against their best interests. You could not talk any sense into them, they were only worried about abortion.

Ah, but you are, Joe Sixpack, you are...

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/july272009/american_money_dj_7-27-09.php

People vote their aspirations, not their reality. In a poll during the 2000 election, people were asked if they were in the top 1 percent of earners. Nineteen percent of Americans said they were in the top 1 percent and another 20 percent expect to be someday. So immediately there is more than a third of Americans who don’t oppose tax cuts for the wealthy because they think it somehow does now, or will one day, apply to them.

It all goes back to the playground.

Remember when you were on the playground, and Frank punched Bob? The teacher came over to find out why there's a kid lying on the ground with his face covered in blood. Frank raises a hand, extends a finger coated in Bob's blood, points it at John and says, "He did it."

Next thing you know, John is on three days' in-school suspension and Bob is in the hospital because Frank beat him half to death for tattling to the teacher while he was unconscious.

In political terms, this is what happens.

First, the Republicans do something to make the plight of the average American worse. It could be a tax cut, a spending cut that costs a bunch of jobs, an agreement to remove tariffs on goods made in a country that restricts imports from the US...whatever it is, a Republican Congress wrote it and a Republican president signed it.

Next, the Republicans point at the Democrats and say, "They did it! It's THEIR fault!"

The next step is to have this big huge parade. They come in waving a garrison flag, tossing Bibles and flowers to the crowd, and claiming they know EXACTLY how to fix this terrible situation the people are in. (As well they should: since it was a Republican deed that caused the problem in the first place, all that needs to be done is just to reverse the thing they did.) So vote for us and we'll fix it!

Then when they get elected/reelected, they do it again, the problem gets worse, the blood-drenched finger comes out again...

Using carrots and sticks, rewards and punishment, I think many kids are raised by strict conservatives to be strict conservatives. The consequences of nonconformity can be serious, and the rewards for "going with the flow" can make a kid's life much easier. Add to that the idea of "honor thy father and thy mother" (by adopting and maintaining their conservative values) and you get states like Oklahoma that are solid red for generations.

:rant:

because many of them blame the poor for them(middle class person) not being wealthy. in fact they are sometimes the bigger fools as at least the poor person usually votes republican because they agree on the social issues.

but the middle class types who blame Democrats,liberals etc and social programs that help others are worse.

they should ask themselves if the poor are to blame why are there wealthy people out there. the poor haven't hurt those wealthy people from being wealthy.

but it's easier to blame the less powerful . i see it all the time. someone who complained about having trouble paying some bills and then next moment attack homeless.

least had a CHANCE at becoming rich in this country. People believed it. People still want to believe it but what we have to do is point out that the rich are standing in the way of the middle class person who wants to be rich. That WON'T play well with the middle class republican voter...

The interior decorating business and lawn service for example.

It works.

them a narrative (in the case of the gop's economic narrative it is false) you can get them to vote against their own economic self interest.

Part of that protection is re-education.

all over the country and started Fox News about twenty years before the Dems even thought that they had to do anything to win/keep working class voters.

Working class people are justifiably angry, but it's the job of the AM radio squawkers and Fox to make sure their anger is directed at PRECISELY the groups and people who could help them.

It's the job of the right-wing propaganda machine to give people who feel downtrodden someone they can feel superior to.

It's the job of the right-wing propaganda machine to tell people that they, too, will be millionaires if they "work hard."

Propaganda works, especially when it is relentless and continuous.

The Republicanites went after the working class voters while the Democrats courted the yuppies.