I've never understood why so many working class white men and women vote republican.

[npk]

Even though it literally means they will pay higher taxes, higher medical costs, find it harder to keep or find employment, and basically ensure that they will work almost there entire lives just maintain that abysmal status quo - all of this so that a lucky few in this country can live their American dream. Why? Because rich conservatives have been able to convince them that Democrats are trying to take their guns away from them, when they aren't. Trying to take their religion away from them, when they aren't. Trying to take their health insurance away from them, when they aren't. Trying to destroy the sanctity of marriage, when they aren't.

Yet these many falsehoods are so engrained in these peoples minds that they cannot see that they are destroying their future because of some boogyman that doesn't exist.

A lot of this blame is squarely on the media. The media has gone from journalists and reporters whose purpose is to debunk this kind of nonsense, and working on behalf of the people, to becoming a corporate structure whose only desire is to get more people to buy their newspapers, magazines, or watch their programming. In essence the media now works for the shareholders not the American people. Unfortunately debunking simple myths or ignorant nonsensical statements just doesn't sell much these days, but keeping us divided, at one another's throats, on made up controversies and paranoia that doesn't even exits is big money. It's the reason why a TV station single handily got a President elected, and then kept him in office by telling one lie after another. Why? So that a few lucky people could stinking filthy rich.

Sad.

[TreasonousBastard]

1. Forget the media and remember that half the population is below average...

in everything, including intelligence.

[RZM]

6. This post is part of the reason they do so

Conservatives aren't calling them idiots. That goes a long way. Condescension turns people off.

[Scootaloo]

10. yeah well, conservatives make their bread and butter by lying out their asses.

[SilveryMoon]

14. If condescension from a poltical party party working (at least somewhat) in their interests...

Drives them to a party actively working against their interests, then calling them dumb is simply a statement of fact.

Sitting out when it comes to vote, maybe I could see that. And that's a big maybe. But going to/supporting a party that is actively working against your interests, telling you it's your damn fault for being poor, amongst other things, is not only mind boggling stupid, but self destructive not only for them but for the US as a whole.

[RZM]

16. I don't dispute it's against their interests

That much is obvious. But people really hate being talked down to. I'd say Dean was on the money here. When he mentioned the confederate flag, he made the discussion about health care and not stupidity. That's how you get it done.

[SilveryMoon]

30. People really hate being talked down to?

Then they should use some brain cells and don't vote for people that screw over the non 1%.

If they can't understand, then again calling them mind boggling idiots is a statement of fact.

[mike_c]

51. what SM said....

Welcome to DU!

[susanna]

21. How is the OP calling them an idiot?

Please, do tell.

IMHO, the OP is just wondering why people don't look at the weight of the evidence smack dab in front of them. Back in the old school, that was just called critical thinking...looking beyond the propaganda and making sound decisions. No one felt bad for doing it; in fact, we were TAUGHT to do so. To do otherwise was to deny our birthright as citizens of probably the most enlightened democracy on earth.

But hey...you must know it all...please educate me. I'm waiting.

Oh, and when you go to educate me? I'll probably turn around and accuse YOU of condescension. Like that much?

[Number_9]

41. Looks like he is responding to the first reply...

... that implies that the 50% of the population that is below average in intelligence must be the group that votes conservative.

"Forget the media and remember that half the population is below average...in everything, including intelligence"

[susanna]

70. Oops...must have missed the attribute. n/t

[TreasonousBastard]

22. That sarcasm thingy would come in handy if I ever used it...

but, more to the point is that the Republican message is you, too, can become rich and famous. Like any get rich quick scheme, prosperity gospel, or lottery advertising amazing riches are within the reach of everyone.

Even more to the point is that you don't hate the rich and powerful-- you envy the rich and powerful, and while you are waiting for your own turn you will suck up to them.

This is a much more attractive message than why taxes, food stamps, rent subsidies, and solar power are good, or at least necessary, things.

[gaspee]

26. Well, they are stupid

Should people lie to make them feel better?

[WinkyDink]

53. They AREN'T?! Cons call people idiots WITH EVERY LIE THEY SPEW. Republicans condescend BY NATURE.

[yawnmaster]

19. with a normal distribution, no matter how intelligent the population...

half the population will ALWAYS be below average.
As such that statement doesn't say anything.

[Warren Stupidity]

37. It does when the average itself is really low.

[yawnmaster]

62. That wasn't included in the statement.

on edit:
and low compared to what?

[Trajan]

2. J.C Watt's grandpa once said ...

"Working men voting for Republicans is like chicken voting for Colonel Saunders" ....

(paraphrased)

[JRLeft]

3. Racism for some,. Some of them have bought into Reaganomics, and others

are one issue voters. NRA, Gay marriage, the boogie man socialism.

[David__77]

4. I understand it.

It's right-wing populism, and it has a long history in this country.

[npk]

7. True, but that right wing used to be a much smaller fringe element

Now they have become the base of the GOP.

[David__77]

18. Maybe.

But you had the Dixiecrats that dominated most of the south, before that the KKK that reached a huge membership earlier in the last century, the various nativist movements in the later 1800s... there has unfortunately been fertile ground for the populist right. And the US labor movement had plenty of connections to the populist right at different junctures, openly pandering to racism. What we have now is essentially the same thing with the Republican Party - appealing to whites in a demographic panic over prospective loss of race privilege.

[napi21]

5. I don't think the media has much to do with it. I think it's mostly because

their parents, and whole family were Pubs and taught their kids to be Pub as they were growing up.

I live in Ga, and I don't think you'd find a State with more Pubs in it than Ga! That's mostly the reason I hear from the people here.

[npk]

12. But I think the media has played into this

Much of the right-wing media has gotten away from just reporting the news, and has gone more tabloid, more opinion, and more this is what we think, then they were doing 20 or 20 years ago. They know that these rabid right wing conservatives love it when the news can pen and tag these falsehoods on Democrats, because these people will continue to tune in and and there corporate backers reep the benefits.

[fasttense]

33. Somewhere that generational voting changed because the South use to be Democratic.

True, Southern Democrats were not big liberals but they always voted Democratic until the Civil Rights Act passed.

The reason they voted Democratic was because they hated the RepubliCONS and President Lincoln for freeing their slaves.

The reason they vote RepubliCON now is because they hated the Democrats and President Johnson for letting their former slaves really vote.

So if you think race has nothing to do with it, you are just not paying attention.

[Scootaloo]

8. Because they're white

I'm not sure many liberals really fathom this... But that deep, ugly racial divide that segregated our nation even into the 70's? That hasn't gone away. A few rope bridges have been strung over the chasm, but it's still there, still deep as ever.

Take public education. The conservative loathing of this long American institution began with desegregation. Racists whites did not want their children being schooled with black children, so they pulled their kids out to send them to segregated private schools. They then turned around and said "why should I pay taxes for a school my kids don't attend?"

It's the same logic shown in their hared for welfare, their hatred for medicine. They see these things as their money - white people's money - being used for the benefit of brown people. No matter how much it's pointed out to them that more white people than brown rely on welfare, no matter how often you undermine or counter their argument.. .it doesn't matter to them. if ONE non-white person is benefiting, they are incensed. Period. if these programs were "white only" - as they often were in the New Deal - they would no doubt have wild bilateral support. But they're not, so the conservatives - the racists - hate them.

There are a few other defining factors, but all of them still come down to the conservative hating someone who is not like them. They hate people who do not share their religion, They hate people who do not share their gender. They hate people who do not share their sexuality. It's all hate. it's what drives them, it is the core of their outlook.

[RobinA]

43. Second This Notion

What Scootaloo said. I come from a family of Republicans. The older, WWII generation are just beginning to get it that the Republican party today is not their Republican Party. They generally are not racist. They don't vote, because they are genetically unable to vote Dem, but they get that Repubs are coo-coo.

The younger ones who are actively Repub are all about race. Plain and simple, Dems want to give all their (the Repub opining) hard-earned money to lazy black people. They don't say that straight out, but everything they say is code for that. Obviously there are some outliers on both sides, but this has generally been my experience, both of family and friends. Race. Race. Race. Race. Race.

[hifiguy]

48. Excellent post. You have touched on the

essence of the Repig appeal - hatred of the "other." Tribal politics at its most primitive and brainless.

[bootat9]

50. right on

here in texas where i live the majority of the hate is directed at the "meskins". the right wingers hate that the schools have bi-lingual education. they hate cinco de mayo. the list of hates goes on and on. ome exception: they love their" Meskin" food.

[raccoon]

72. Good post. nt

[Agnosticsherbet]

9. In many, politics works like religion.

They believe in that ideology, therefore they vote for Republicans.


It isn't rational, and logic will not affect their belief.

[MrSlayer]

11. I know exactly why.

Because Democrats are for the ni**ers and Republicans are for the rich. And they'll choose the white guy that's robbing him for real over the ni**er that's coming to rob him in theory. And you can't convince them of the truth. Because they just don't like ni**ers.

This is why, trust me.

[gaspee]

27. I believe you

Saw it in action when I lived in Texas and Florida. San Francisco, not so much. Here in RI where I was born and raised and now live again, it's there under the surface. Not so blatant and not so widespread, but still there.

This is still the white male's land of opportunity. Sure, other people can make it, but they still hold the levers of power and they're so scared of sharing the power and opportunity that it comes out as hate.

The media doesn't help. It goes a long way toward stoking that hate by it's portrayal of the "other" as criminal, something to fear, people who don't pull their own weight, want a handout, etc.

[SammyWinstonJack]

13. If only they were destroying their future and not everyones'. In a perfect world that would

be.

NO, the rest of us are destroyed right along with these self-absorbed, self-righteous doucherockets.

[HiPointDem]

15. The poorer you are, the more likely you are to vote democrat.

I've never understood why there is this myth about working class people leaning republican. It's the middle & upper classes who lean republican. The working class goes for democrats, & it's precious little they get for their votes, too.

Of the last four presidential elections won by the Republican candidate, the two closest ones (in 1980 and 2000) would have gone to the Democrat had lower-income people voted in the same percentages as higher-income groups....Making it easier to vote isn't enough. Nonvoters need a reason to vote, and this is where the "economic populism" so reviled by the DLC fits in—taking on corporate power, reforming labor law, slowing and reshaping the free-trade juggernaut, returning to a more progressive tax structure.

Writing last year in Dissent, Benjamin Ross noted that while DLC-ers often point to George McGovern's 1972 loss as the nightmare result of a Democrat moving too far to the left, the "New Democrat" strategy actually has a lot in common with the McGovern campaign: both give up on white, working-class voters and organized labor, hoping instead to win with a coalition of upscale suburbanites plus African Americans and other ethnic minorities.

But as Ross suggested, economic-populist policies have the potential to appeal in different ways to all of these groups...

http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2004/0104cervantes.html







Those who don't vote, or don't vote for the person you think they should, do so because in their calculation doing what you think they should doesn't make sense. They're not all brainwashed fools. They don't see a reason to vote, or to vote the way you want them to.

[gaspee]

28. Wow

Interesting.

[limpyhobbler]

39. If the Dems had a stronger populist economic message, more low-income

white people would vote for them. You have to give people a reason to vote for you.

[Odin2005]

40. Working class WHITE people lean Republican.

[HiPointDem]

60. the poorer you are, the more likely to go dem. holds for whites and blacks.

[ghurley]

17. In my experience... because deep down they hate blacks...

and they really hate seeing them get things like food stamps.

Im 29 years old, and I have to remind myself that my mom's high school in Charlotte was whites only until the 10th grade for her. A lot of kids that I grew up with were raised by their parents to HATE blacks.

The other group I see are the right to lifers.

[AllyCat]

20. I know many who vote that way because their family voted that way, they've always voted that way

and are not up on politics enough that they feel they don't want to change anything now.

[davidn3600]

23. Social issues, libertarians, family, etc...

A lot of people are religious in this country. They are dead-set against abortion. Dead set against homosexuality. etc

Libertarians do not like nor trust the government.

And some follow what their family has always voted for.

[DemKittyNC]

24. Seriously,

It is low intelligence levels. Both my parents and my sister are very uneducated. I know that is bad to say about ones own family but it is true. Needless to say they think Romney/Ryan are God's gift to mankind and oh how Ryan's eyes are so enticing and he is so sexy... but ask any of my family members what they are running on, what are their stances or platform or plans for the future and none of them could tell you anything politically worthwhile about them. Although to be honest Romney or Ryan can't tell you either... lol

[gaspee]

29. I agree

Stupid is as stupid does. My stepfather is a moron. Pure, unadulterated stupid. He's the only republican in my family.

[Cleita]

25. Prejudice and bigotry. Those are the reasons.

They believe the Pubbies are going to give them some fantasy land with no people in it who aren't like them.

[gordianot]

31. As a 60 year old white male in the area I live my politics are at odds with so called peers.

In a few hundred years given global warming my descendants will develop darker skin tones.

[Skittles]

32. I swear the number one reason is:

BECAUSE THEIR PARENTS DID

[fasttense]

34. If that were true, then they would all still be voting Democratic. n/t

[deutsey]

35. Politics of resentment n/t

[nanabugg]

36. Because they know the GOP will work hard to hurt the people they don't like!!!

They do not think of themselves FIRST. They of those OTHERS first and what they can do to HURT them.

[Odin2005]

38. Many of these people are afraid of going to Hell...

...if they vote for a "god-hating baby-killer" even if they agree with our side on economic issues.

Religious BS poisons everything.

[rustydog]

42. Back in the day, it was truly a conservative party with intelligent people who had a different

view of how the government should be run. Then the geniuses who wrested control and courted the radical christian nut jobs and right-wing KKK Kreeps and the people who hated human welfare relief but dearly loved corporate welfare relief. The party is taken over by war-mongering pieces of shit who either ran to france when America called them to war,or they developed boils on their butt, lay in their own feces or just went AWOL from the Texas air national guard.

The GOP today stands for nothing but the interests of corporations and the uber-wealthy. period. Anyone who votes Republican today is too stupid to be allowed to vote (Unless they are rich, then you can understand them protecting their investment) because they would be voting for their own demise.

[WinkyDink]

56. Let us not romanticize.

[Hotler]

44. One word. Selfishness n/t

[Arkansas Granny]

45. The right has painted Democrats and liberals as being weak, immoral and unpatriotic.

They portray themselves as being strong, god-fearing and defenders of American freedoms.

They tell voters that those "bleeding heart liberals" are going to raise their taxes, take everything that they have worked hard for and give it to freeloaders and commies. Liberals want to take your guns and abort your babies while letting immigrants come into our country to take your jobs.

They do this while they are waving the flag and quoting scripture, so they must be telling the truth, right? They appeal to emotions and not intellect and they prey on low information voters by making them feel like they are better people than those damned liberals.

[raccoon]

73. Great post. nt

[Doctor_J]

46. Non-stop propaganda

use the "seek" button on your AM radio next time you're in the car. Listen for a few minutes, and then pay attention over the next few days how the same lies you heard on the radio are being repeated by every idiot at the restaurant or whatever. It's as plain as the hair on Ryan's forehead. the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine was the most disastrous legal decision in the country's history.

[Aerows]

47. A lot of it is racism

They can't stand the thought of a black person or a latino person in need receiving aid of any kind. The Republican party has pushed the "welfare queen" canard, despite the fact that there are many whites on welfare and food stamps - including some in the military.

White women who vote for Republicans are just plain stupid. The driving motivation for the Republican party is that whites are superior to everyone else, and that women should be subservient to men.

They always claim that they don't like anyone being on food stamps or welfare, but when it comes down to it, they will ignore white people being on either, and scream to high heaven when anyone not white is on it.

Lindsay Graham pointed out that "we're not generating enough angry white men", and essentially told it like it is. Without the angry white people vote, Republicans cannot win. And changing demographics pretty much ensure that going forward, unless they develop a new strategy, they can't win. Young people have been raised very differently - most see equality among races and sexes. They aren't going to vote Republican just because of fear mongering about race and gender.

And frankly, they are going to get what they so richly deserve - wandering in the political wasteland.

[Carolina]

49. Racism

When LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act, he noted that the Democratic Party would henceforth lose the south. Former Dixiecrat (Dems) fled to the Republican Party which has used the southern strategy of covertly painting Democrats as the party against traditional values, against states rights, against good ole hard working white people... ever since.

Nixon used it and of course recall that Reagan's 1st post convention stop was Philadelphia, Mississippi which was famous for the slaying of 3 civil rights workers in 1964. Today the rat bastards are overt in their hatred and depict Dems as favoring welfare queens (a not so subtle reference to black women) over hard working whites.

In short, it's the well employed MO of divide and conquer, of demonization of one group to get others (who are no better off) in a lather... and it works because of 1 part human nature, 1 part a compliant and bought media, 1 part outright theft/legal manipulation (i.e., 2000 selection, 'proprietary voting machines, current efforts to disenfranchise blacks)

[Quantess]

52. Glenn Beck knows.

He is able to tap into the disgruntled, caucasian, RW psyche. I have no ideal what his appeal is, myself, but he is like mainlining some potent bullshit into the emotional vein of the white working class conservatives.

edit spelling

[Blaukraut]

54. To quote John Steinbeck....

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

There's your answer. The average American grossly overestimates his chance at becoming wealthy, that's why the low tax, small government argument resonates with him.

[WinkyDink]

55. They believe Republicans are more moral and more patriotic. And thus, God has rewarded them with $$.

As already said in post #45!

[ladjf]

57. Ignorance.nt

[goodword]

58. Maybe They Don't Want To See Differently

Reasons why:

1. Racism. Many Republicans are closet (or even open) racists. Therefore, you have a black man in the White House and the main objective would be to get him out. Period.

2. Religion. The Republican party has aligned itself with many of the draconian views of the religious right. American churches have become less a place of worship and more of a political platform.

3. Patriotism. The Republican party seems to embrace war and war seems to galvanize people into love and support of their country. If you're against war then you're obviously a commie, Nazi, terrorist, or some other American-hating POS who needs to be eradicated.

4. Money. The Republican party represents big money, and who among wouldn't want to live like many of them do? From corporate executives to wealthy politicians, they live a good life and those in the middle class who vote and support them are enamored and fascinated by it. They've swallowed the idea that
"work hard and you too will become a millionaire". It doesn't work like that. Fact is, millions of Americans work hard every day and they're lucky to see $10.00 of their paycheck after all the bills are paid. Many of them are facing foreclosure or bankruptcy. Yet, the dream is still out there for them. If it happens to Bill Gates or Donald Trump...... Like star-struck contestants on American Idol who can't carry a tune in a bucket, these folks will continue to be discontent and struggle to 'make it happen' and support wealthy Republicans who don't give a rat's butt about them.

5. Media. Yes, you touched on this. I'm amazed at how biased news has become over the years. But nothing has been been more damaging to this country than Rush Limbaugh. He was the original crack that eventually split our country wide open. He started the divide that has now seen to it our elected leaders can barely stand to be in the same room with each other. Yet, he has amassed a following, but then, so did Charles Manson. People do tend to lean toward the charismatic, the loud, those who seem unafraid to say what's on their mind. And they allow these pundits to guide their thoughts and sway their votes.

6. Lack of Follow-up. Have you ever driven down the street and seen a "Fair Tax" sticker on the back of an old, beat up car? Do you wonder what that person is thinking? Or do they think at all? But, hey, it's a FAIR tax, so therefore it must be fair, right? People who don't have a pot to piss in and would be harmed the most by a sales tax on everything they buy think this would be FAIR for THEM? Lack of follow-up. Lack of researching, reading and learning about what a proposal is all about is what Republicans count on when it comes to luring in the middle class.

7. The biggest reason so many middle class Americans vote Republican is because Democrats are too quiet, passive and don't get out and push the word enough. We need a stronger backbone. We need more media spokespeople. We need to be in the public more. We need to push back against Republicans who are getting stronger all the time.

[Populist_Prole]

59. Great summation

Good to see yet another new DU member that has their mind right.

[Zoeisright]

61. Ignorance and fear.

They don't have many logical reasoning skills, and they're scared all the time. So they naturally gravitate to the authoritarian party, which doesn't question and provides answers they want to hear, even if the answers are 1000000% wrong.

And yes, the media is 100% complicit in this. Journalists (ha!) stopped doing their jobs a long time ago.

[MicaelS]

63. Because a lot of people are Economically Liberal, but Socially Conservative.

And by Socially Conservative, I mean having deep religious faith to the point where their faith and church is the center of their spiritual and social life.

I have co-workers who are deeply religious. Some of them spend a great of time on religious forums. They spend time and money giving charity to the poor. And their religious faith outweighs any "good" that modern Liberalism can do for them.

They all say the same thing. They despise (a) Atheism and (b) Homosexuality. They see both as "evil", that's their word "evil". And they believe the modern Democratic Party has given into evil by not just accepting, but also accepting and condoning both. They go onto to say that they will never vote Democratic as long as the Party engages in its current position on both issues. But they would vote Democratic if the Party ditches both issues.

I'm not religious, and I do not go to religious forums, so I can only take what they say at face value.

And then there's this over here, which I am in total agreement:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1016&pid=33399

The Dem betrayal of the working class started in 1968. The activist faction within the party became dominated by "bourgeois" upper middle class types obsessed with cultural issues who derided the values of working class Americans. This lead to the emergence of the "Reagan Democrats" and the alignment of working class white men with the Republicans. We Democrats are seen an "elitist" party of upper-middle class yuppies by a lot of working class people.

That doesn't mean gay rights, women's rights, etc. are not important, but they should not displace economic progressiveness as the central "hub".

Every time an Upper-Middle Class Dem talks about how virtuous they are because they bought organic food at Whole Paycheck they drive more working class people into the hands of the GOP.

And there is my contribution:

The idea that the only people that mattered were those in the large urban centers, help drive away those in small town and rural areas. Trying to restrict / ban guns is just part and parcel of this. It's a urban vs non-urban issue. I know gun owners who say they will never vote Democratic as long as the Party advocates Gun Control and Gun Prohibition.

[MariaM83]

65. don't think for themselves; rest are bigots and haters nt

[bongbong]

66. Let's ask Karl Rove

"Take a look at our agenda," Rove said. "Education. This year, we picked up seven points in the suburbs over '96. Our education plan allows us to make further gains in the suburbs. It will also allow us to make gains with Hispanics and African-Americans. The tax cuts will make the economy grow. As people do better, they start voting like Republicans - unless they have too much education and vote Democratic, which proves there can be too much of a good thing." - Karl Rove, New Yorker magazine, Feb 19/26 2001 (combined issue), page 78, interview.

[just1voice]

67. Ah, the same question with "black men and women" would seem like what?

Racist as hell? Yep. You think a working class black man or woman has never voted for a repuke? Also, you think the media only brainwashes whites? Again, racist as hell.

[AngryOldDem]

68. Because they've raised voting against their better interests to an art form.

I would have no sympathy, but whatever fucks them also fucks me.

Makes me angry.

[SweetieD]

71. You forgot the biggest element RACE

Honestly a lot of it just boils down to poor white folks don't have anything except for the status and privilege of being white. They may not even be able to articulate that but so much political belief is still racialized. There was a reason why Johnson said the Democrats would lose the South forever and it had nothing to do with religion or sanctity of marriage, it was race. It was about white people feeling threatened by seeing black people treated equal or doing well. Since the 80s, much of the conservative foundation has been poor whites believing in the black welfare queen who is taking all of their hard earned money. When it comes down to it they don't want black people to have sh*t. They'd rather cut their nose to spite their face.