General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsLet's apply some reality about Republicans.....
This November, Massachusetts voters will overwhelmingly re-elect Elizabeth Warren.....and will also re-elect Republican Governor Charlie Baker.
This November, Vermont voters will overwhelmingly re-elect Bernie Sanders.....and will also re-elect Republican Governor Phil Scott.
This November, Maryland voters will overwhelmingly re-elect Ben Cardin.....and will also re-elect Republican Governor Larry Hogan.
Tarring every Republican office-holder as a Trump acolyte and every Republican voter as a xenophobic bigot is emotionally satisfying, but it taints our understanding of the electoral landfield, and leads us to campaign in ways that don't maximize our ability to attract votes for Democratic candidates.
JI7
(89,182 posts)well, not really.
Glamrock
(11,781 posts)Both US Senators are Democrats, their US Congressman is Democratic, they have only 7 Republicans in a 30 member Senate, and only 53 Republican reps out of 150.
JI7
(89,182 posts)since he goes to other states to defeat democrats.
why not try to defeat the republican in his own state...
Glamrock
(11,781 posts)Which, again, is why a Republican governor in that state is strange.
JI7
(89,182 posts)dameatball
(7,380 posts)brooklynite
(93,873 posts)Try to understand WHY some voters who supported Obama switched to Trump. Don't accuse them of being bigots or idiots. Campaign on simple economic issues they care about.
JI7
(89,182 posts)dameatball
(7,380 posts)Garrett78
(10,721 posts)Not very long and should be read in its entirety, so I'm not inclined to post an excerpt.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)But the article is subjective in a lot of places. In 2008, President Obama was the fresh new thing. I voted for Hillary as well as contributed to her and I just could not figure out the Obama appeal. But I think that I could not figure it out from the perspective of a person that did not fit in the groups that he was doing well among, young White progressives, college students, Blacks, laborers. As a college educated professional who maybe met one Black person every three months when grocery shopping in my town, I just could not figure out Obama's appeal and why he was beating Hillary so soundly.
Fast forward to today. In 2008, President Obama brought in a new way of looking at politics, he was the exciting new guy. Hillary old hands leading her campaign and she was stodgy on the stomp. So, the new and exciting factor drew in maybe 10-15% of the pro-Obama primary voters. Around 3-5% of voters DID have economic uncertainty concerns that they felt Obama addressed better than Hillary did. Where we got hurt with Trump was that he was somewhat of an unknown, even with his vile history and overt racism in his campaign. Those 3-5% that voted for Obama, my guess is most if not all turned to Trump, I think it was those people that gave him his margin, along with some of the 10-15% voting third party. That 3-5%, while they may use the N-word, are not overt racists, they tolerate it and looks the other way, but I don't think that they are racists, other stuff drove their vote.
Trump did better than Romney and McCain among Blacks, even with the racist overtones in his campaign, that should set off alarm bells in the heads of people that always fall back on the claim that all Trump voters were racists or held significant levels of racial hostility. The Blacks that voted for Trump or chose to just sit home saw something else. Instead of calling all Trump voters racists, we need to search out the Blacks that voted for him and engage them in a civil conversation about why they voted for him, by understanding that, I believe we can pull back the Black Trump voters and a good part of the 3-5%, enough to win back the White House in 2020.
ck4829
(34,977 posts)"No, Goofy Gary with your high school diploma, Muhammad the neurologist with years of experience and two college degrees did not steal your job."
- Don't be a Goofy Gary
"Ever notice how Goofy Gary doesn't notice how Republicans pit private sector workers against public sector workers or poor black people against poor white people?"
- Don't be a Goofy Gary
"Goofy Gary is a 'good American' who doesn't ask why we can afford war and prisons but not healthcare."
- Don't be a Goofy Gary