WAPO: "Theres no such thing as a Trump Democrat"

[emulatorloo]

Quick Summary: Those Obama voters who switched to the Trump were largely Republican to start with. The abberation wasn't their votes for Trump but their votes for Obama.

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Opinions
There’s no such thing as a Trump Democrat

By Dana Milbank Opinion writer August 4 at 3:37 PM

Do you believe in mermaids, unicorns and fairies? If so, you may have taken interest in a new mythical creature that appeared during the 2016 election: the Trump Democrat.

It has become an article of faith that an unusually large number of people who voted for Barack Obama in 2008 or 2012 switched sides and voted for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton. It follows that Democrats, to win in the future, need to get these lost partisans to come home.

But new data, and an analysis by AFL-CIO political director Michael Podhorzer that he shared with me, puts all this into question. The number of Obama-to-Trump voters turns out to be smaller than thought. And those Obama voters who did switch to Trump were largely Republican voters to start with. The aberration wasn’t their votes for Trump but their votes for Obama.

It follows for Democrats that most of these Obama-Trump voters aren’t going to be persuaded to vote Democratic in future; the party would do better to go after disaffected Democrats who didn’t vote in 2016 or who voted for third parties.

<snip>

And those Obama voters who did cross to Trump look a lot like Republicans. The AFL-CIO’s Podhorzer analyzed raw data from the Cooperative Congressional Election Study , out in the spring, and found that Obama-Trump voters voted for Republican congressional candidates by a 31-point margin, Republican Senate candidates by a 15-point margin and Republican gubernatorial candidates by a 27-point margin. Their views on immigration and Obamacare also put them solidly in the GOP camp.

“Democratic analysts who are looking to solve the party’s problem by appealing to this small group of Obama-Trump voters are pointing themselves to a group that by and large is a Republican group now,” Podhorzer told me. “The bulk of Obama-Trump voters are not fed-up Democratic voters; they are Republican voters who chose Obama in 2012. As such, few are available in 2018 or 2020.” Democrats should instead appeal broadly to working-class voters, he said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/theres-no-such-thing-as-a-trump-democrat/2017/08/04/0d5d06bc-7920-11e7-8f39-eeb7d3a2d304_story.html

[onecaliberal]

1. Hear, hear.

[we can do it]

2. Exactly.

[barbtries]

3. thank you for the summary.

i agree with that much. it is sad however how many people who should have been voting democratic just didn't because decades of propaganda and lies convinced them that Hillary was a bad choice.
She would make a fine president what she should be doing right now.

[Wounded Bear]

4. Not at all surprising...nt

[ismnotwasm]

5. Now if we can only refute the idea

That a vote for Obama cancels racism.

[JHan]

8. lol....+++++++

[Tarheel_Dem]

37. +2

[Botany]

6. Trump Democrats were the cover story for the rigged election.

n/t

[FakeNoose]

17. Yes I think you're right about this

... and it really makes me mad. It never should have come to this, but apparently it did.
Sexism beats racism every time.

[samnsara]

32. i know...i know .....

[Butterflylady]

7. Exactly

[PoorMonger]

9. I've Been Thinking This.

The only real example I have in my life is an aunt , who is a wealthy dentist. She voted Obama in 2008 - but went back to Republicans in 2012. She, I think, felt shame at the end of Bush's term and she went along. It wasn't two years into Obama's admin that she started consuming Fox and turned on Obama big time. In a weird way I could see her going against Trump in 2020, as she may again see herself as being conned ; but the problem with her, and many people like that, is that she doesn't really care about issues or policy , and so she's prone to switching based on some warped perception of how she sees America. If Fox ever has to turn against Trump out of preservation she will too.

[3catwoman3]

10. "There is no such thing as a Trump Democrat."

I agree 1000%. It made no sense to me then, and still does not, that anyone who had the true soul of a real Democrat (intelligence, thoughtfulness, compassion, sensitivity to others, concern for the planet, etc, etc) could have possibly looked at everything Trump is NOT in those regards, and said, "Oh, yes, this is the person who should next occupy the Oval Office."

Simply not possible.

[YoungDemCA]

11. Even if we assume that this is true, what exactly is the point here?

nt

[tiredtoo]

12. The point is

We should not waste our time/efforts trying to convince the Obama/trump voters to vote Democratic. We should put our efforts/time into getting Democrats to vote!

[YoungDemCA]

18. OK. nt

[onetexan]

27. agree

no use convincing trumpers as theyre at the point of no return

[Me.]

26. You Have To Ask?

[uponit7771]

28. To go after the base that was suppressed or didn't vote

[Scurrilous]

13. K&R

[samnsara]

14. what i have said all along. there is NO such thing as a trump supporting dem.

...just like that crazy ass county clerk who refused to issue same sex marriage license professed to be a Dem. HOO HA! I don't think so....unless she was a Dixie-crat

[58Sunliner]

15. Agreed.

[BigmanPigman]

16. A lot of Dems I know thought that since he had no strong ideology

that he wouldn't be as bad as a Cruz or Paul. They also know that he has flipped parties a million times. Since assuming office though he has been hard right all the way. I think that has already turned many voters against him permanently.

[Me.]

19. Can We Now, Once & For All

Get rid of the notion that we have to cater them and all who supported him. They don’t like us, have never and never will. And by the way, the people who vote most consistently for the Dems are Black Women. How about we cater to them for a change.

[broadcaster90210]

25. Amen!

nt

[uponit7771]

29. +1

[leftofcool]

33. Amen!

[Omaha Steve]

20. Analysis by AFL-CIO (thank a union for paying dues to the AFL-CIO)

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is a national trade union center and the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of fifty-six national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million active and retired workers.

[KPN]

56. Good post!

No -- Great Post!

[LittleGirl]

21. K and R

I wished I could rec this a 1000 times!

[SunSeeker]

22. K & R

[JCanete]

23. What catering are we doing? Who is in disagreement that we should be broadly appealing to the

working class, or that Democrats should be trying to win back disaffected Democrats and those who voted third party?

Is talking to these people and trying to get them to see their own plight from a more accurate perspective considered catering to them?
If anything, the fact that these were republicans who voted for Obama only proves that you can actually win over republicans with the right messaging. Somehow this writer turns that detail into why we shouldn't go after them.

The question shouldn't be whether or not we should go after these voters. That doesn't make any sense. Of course we should. The question is, do we change our guiding principles to appeal to them, and of course we shouldn't. We should instead, show greater contrast between us and the GOP on campaign financing and on the issues that will affect their lives directly. No middling, we're going to work with wall street to make it better for you talk. That shit doesn't convince me either.

[uponit7771]

30. M$M describes "working class" as mostly white people so they and narrow sighted dems are ...

... still wanting to chase these mythical people vs. turn out the dems true and loyal base

[JCanete]

31. you are right, the MSM has its own spin on this...a total bastardization of the actual point, and

for obvious reasons. The MSM loves promoting the culture war and staying the fuck away from the class war.

[broadcaster90210]

24. Bingo.

Nt

[mcar]

34. Another election myth busted

[Squinch]

35. Kick. So who has been pushing that myth as truth???

[JI7]

39. some trump voters themselves as a defense for voting for such a vile bigoted man

i knew most of them were lying. most who voted for obama would have done so in 2008 during the economic disaster .

but also some anti clinton people who wanted to push how horrible she was as if there was just someone else who was better these good people would have voted for them.

the real difference was in trump v romney/mccain . romney and mccain did not try to appeal to bigots. bigotry was THE reason they supported trump.

[Mc Mike]

36. Rec, thanks, nt.

[Tarheel_Dem]

38. It never made sense. Thanks for posting. n/t

[Mountain Mule]

40. Excellent - thanks for posting that!

[zentrum]

41. If the goal is to appeal

....to disaffected Democrats and third party voting Democrats, then the mainstream Democrats will need to stop talking in such insulting, dismissive and demeaning ways to them.

[DeminPennswoods]

42. Common denominator was hope

The common denominator in the past 3 presidential elections for these voters was hope: for better jobs, better wages and better economic security. Obama and Trump offered polar opposite visions and policies, but these voters heard the same basic message, "your lives will get better" and that's how they voted.

[yardwork]

45. Make this an OP. This is the essential point.

I think your point is the way forward for the Democratic Party. Many people don't pay any attention to party labels, especially for president.

They vote for the PERSON who promises them HOPE.

Both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama highlighted the theme of hope throughout their campaigns. They won.

Trump also highlighted a theme of hope - that America would give jobs, healthcare, and hope to those who felt left behind.

Democrats, take note. Make big promises. Give people hope.

[DeminPennswoods]

58. Feel free to make one

I'll gladly chime in. : )

[lamp_shade]

43. Exactly... and I personally know 4 or 5 of them.

All registered R's who voted for Obama in '08 (and probably again in '12). All hated both trump and Clinton, climbed on the Bernie wagon and became diehard followers (and as far as I can tell still are). Only one will admit voting for trump... the others won't say. I couldn't agree more with Milbank.

[yardwork]

46. What resonated with them in Bernie's message?

[lamp_shade]

50. I really don't know.

Oops. I started to reply to the wrong comment.
I often heard them say things like "he's so cute" and "I love his accent". I never asked what they thought his message was; I really don't think they could have answered. I also think they just enjoyed being part of the "movement".

[Bernardo de La Paz]

47. Obama-Trump voters just bandwagon followers. Good advice to ignore them & make a bandwagon instead.

[Orrex]

48. Yes indeed--idiot racist fuckheads.

Let this be an eye-opener to those who urge us to reach out to these Obama-to-Trump voters.

The nation will be much better served by empowering individual voters and ensuring the integrity of our elections.

[dalton99a]

51. It's an insidious myth.

[Loubee]

52. Yes--a myth that conservative Dems wanted to believe

and promote to throw back at their pesky progressive base.

[Nitram]

53. I read this in my copy of the Post this morning. I believe they are completely right.

Don't worry about the "Obama voters who voted for Trump." Worry about the anti-Trump voters who didn't vote for the party's nominee.

[Honeycombe8]

54. Makes sense. I saw one on tv. No way she was ever a Democrat. nt

[not fooled]

55. The message is

Democrats should be democrats. Get that message out and enough people voting to over come KGOPee election fraud and we will win.

[KPN]

57. Yes, we have to go after the disaffected Democrats.

There are all kinds of those -- third party voters, Is, non-voters.