[Now That Trump's President... (not any more!)]

All of the wealthy, suburban and city-dwelling Trump supporters are a whole 'nother egg to crack.  They have clearly done well for themselves in Obama's America, whether they want to admit it or not.   Sure, their health care costs may have gone up (though for most of us with white collar jobs it hasn't been that bad) and wages haven't risen much, but from my perspective it seems like they're generally better off than they were in '08.  As a bonus, they still have their guns and most of them haven't even been killed by ISIS yet.  Compared to what's described in the Cracked and Medium articles, their situation is much less dire.

 

And since Clinton isn't proposing anything all that drastically different, on one hand I have a hard time seeing the reason for their hatred for her.  On the other, though, I think most of them are dyed-in-the-wool republicans and simply will always vote for the party.  If Trump was running against Biden, Kerry, Pelosi, Schumer, or any other "establishment" democrat (ie The Devil), their stance would be the same and he'd still get their vote.  The fact that it's Hillary (along with her baggage) only makes it easier for them to justify it to themselves.  Not that this validates their choice in a rational way, and until someone writes a 10,000 word essay on what they're thinking I guess they'll continue to be a mystery to me.

 

That said, I worry less about these folks than I do about the ones that are actually suffering.  Sure they're cranky, but they're not desperate.  And just like when Obama won, if Clinton wins they'll complain but they won't revolt.  They'll keep their good jobs with nice salaries and continue to buy a new Lexus every 3 years.  And they'll vote for the republican ticket again in 2020 (and 2018).

 

I know the polls make it look like Clinton's a shoe in, but I'll believe that on Nov. 9th.

 

I'm with you there.  

[Now That Trump's President... (not any more!)]

 

Oh boy.

 

https://medium.com/@Chris_arnade/trump-politics-and-option-pricing-or-why-trump-voters-are-not-idiots-1e364a4ed940#.nq9kuygcb

 

I've seen a few articles recently trying to give some perspective into what these angry trump voters are thinking. They are angry because America has left them behind without their old job. Well, tough shit. Adapt. Me and an entire generation of college graduates have had to do it. If they can't bother to read about how their candidate's policies would actually fuck them over, they are probably not very good at planning for their futures and are low enough on the food chain to not be taken seriously.

 

i dunno if this is the best attitude to take. i think it makes more sense to educate people about how their jobs were taken away from them and who is responsible. no, it's not just bill and nafta. it's people like trump who think that $$ is god and will do literally anything to make more of it, including getting shit made by exploiting people in poor countries. that's just a small slice of the big picture, basically what i'm getting at is to explain how late capitalism has favoured greed and this has been enabled mostly by republicans as well as many (probably most) democrats.

 

 

Agreed, but it's not quite so simple.  I think this does as good a job as anything I've read so far explaining the divide we're seeing:

 

http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-reasons-trumps-rise-that-no-one-talks-about/

 

It starts off a bit rough with the movie analogies, but he really provides insight that is lacking from most sources about who these people are that will be voting for Trump in a few weeks.  It helps humanize them, and even if they are making a terrible decision it helps to show perspective that's been missing in other things I've read.  Worth the read, IMO.

 

A big takeaway is that going into rural America and "explaining" why they're wrong about the Clintons and NAFTA is just about the least helpful thing to do right now.  Trump supporters are sick and tired of being told they're uninformed/misinformed.  And at this point, in this election cycle, I think it's too late for that.  And as for telling them to adapt, good luck.  While many recent college grads have done an admirable job at making the best of a shit economy, it's a lot easier for a young, ambitious, and educated 20-something than for aging baby boomers with deep roots in their community, and who have spent decades at their (now non-existent) blue-collar jobs.

 

If Hillary wins, it will be a huge mistake for her to continue to ignore the "deplorables."  It's understandable during a campaign, as she has no chance of winning most of these people over at this point, but if she doesn't make any concessions who knows what monster she'll be running against in 2020.  And politics aside, these people deserve a chance for success, just like everyone else.  And if there truly is no chance for them in rural America, maybe once things have calmed down after the election cooler heads will prevail and we can actually have a national conversation about this.  Ahhh, who am I kidding?

[now playing thread]

badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger mushroom mushroom

 

...for like the last 10 minutes