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Friday, April 21. 2017

Stereotyping Trump voters


The media's "angry, ignorant mouth-breather" stereotype of the Trump voter is no more than Lefty media spin. Since they do not talk to Trump voters, they will never report the reality. While working class white voters, male and female, might have given Trump his electoral edge, clearly large numbers of all sorts of demographics preferred him over Hillary. I did, and I do not think I am a knuckle-dragger.


Megan McArdle has a half-decent piece,  Trump Voters Want Respect. Here’s How to Give It to Them, but it falls into the same stereotyping: sophisticated, educated elites vs. ignorant, feckless plebs referred to as "them." It is condescending and inaccurate.


If Megan wishes to contact me,  I would be happy to introduce her to a goodly number of sophisticated, highly educated New York elites who were Trump voters - some enthused, some in the (political) closet, and some holding their noses but ok with it given the alternative.

Posted by The News Junkie in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 16:20 | Comments (13) | Trackbacks (0)

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The way the media portrays Republican voters continually reminds me of the way the Germans portrayed the Poles and Jews in the 1930s. Stupid . . . ignorant . . . vermin . . . subhuman .. . less than.

It is much easier to do real harm to your enemy after you have dehumanized him.

Not saying that will happen, but they have been laying the foundation for it for years.
#1 feeblemind on 2017-04-21 17:07 (Reply)
The Jews in 1930's Germany were disarmed. Trump voters, not so much.
#2 Bob Katt on 2017-04-21 17:53 (Reply)
I am the lone Trump voter among my friends and coworkers and it feels like being a Christian in Imperial Rome. If your blog ever has a cocktail hour someplace in Manhattan, or a similar activity I'd love to join. That Urban Hike looks interesting! best v/
#3 virge on 2017-04-21 18:28 (Reply)
Yes, go. I went last year, and given the length of the hike, conversed at some length with nearly everyone there. Not all the same or all I agreed with, but a genuine relief from social workers and psychiatrists.

There is another side to this elites vs plebs argument: the number of ill-educated, boorish, mouth-breathing Democrats who could be considered just as Deplorable in their own way. It's not just "elites" over on the other side. On average, Democratic voters (in presidential elections) have had less education than Republican voters for decades. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. Perhaps conservatives don't mention this for reasons of politeness and fair play, but in truth, it's probably because the counteraccusations of picking on the downtrodden seem too expensive a cost.

Trump voters need to be careful not to stereotype themselves in exactly the same way, simply inverting the status that they are "regular folk" and thus superior. The voter breakdown is mixed on both sides.
#3.1 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2017-04-21 19:41 (Reply)
Could you tell if any of the Gang of Z were there?
#3.1.1 Sam L. on 2017-04-21 22:35 (Reply)
If so, the disguise was admirably good.
#3.1.1.1 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2017-04-22 18:06 (Reply)
I have followed this site for years to stay aware of so many topics…gardening, food, literature, design, antiques, tech, arts, travel, medical insights…and now I'm impressed at the political dialog.

Well done, BD and Friends. You have crafted a highly intelligent site for the curious browsers.
#4 jma on 2017-04-21 21:49 (Reply)
The thing is, if you look at the numbers, a lot of those "disaffected white working- and lower-middle class voters who had given Trump his electoral college victory" were the same ones who gave Obama his shot at hopenchange. They weren't so deplorable then, and not when the last time they went Republican was for Reagan. And it's not like there's 60 million of them.
#5 Jerryskids on 2017-04-22 03:38 (Reply)
Hasn't the bourgeoisie always disdained everyday working people and felt compelled to scold and correct them? I think of it as one of their most identifiable traits, along with glibness. I also have noticed that their empathy and capacity to walk in another's shoes is limited, unless it is melodramatic or maudlin or self serving. They fancy themselves as quite creative and modern, by virtue of their educations. Many are, but not most. Most are just piggybacking on the talent of others. They are at their most laughable when they present themselves as avant garde or outre.
#6 Exasperated on 2017-04-22 06:55 (Reply)
They also consider themselves "open-minded" and "empathetic", when they are, in reality, neither!

Berkeley: the town, the University and the aura, is a perfect example of this whole attitudinal expression, just as the Upper West Side is.
#6.1 B48 on 2017-04-22 12:23 (Reply)
Berkeley was the most bizarre place I ever lived. A lot of stupid people who all thought they were brillieant.
#6.1.1 Jim on 2017-04-23 18:33 (Reply)
I am bourgeois, I voted for Trump, and I don't know what "working people" means. I work.
#7 Bird Dog on 2017-04-22 07:12 (Reply)
It's horrible. The mouth-breathing unsophisticates that are Trump voters are now even invading elite safe spaces like Sette Mezzo: http://dailycaller.com/2017/03/28/now-chuck-schumer-is-yelling-at-trump-voters-in-restaurants/
#8 Ken in NH on 2017-04-22 13:03 (Reply)

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