coconut / 8472 posts
@Adira: I read a similar article a couple days ago. I don't really love the tone of this one but the point still stands. Hillary supporters get frustrated with people who have no concern over social issues (like racism and gay rights) and Trump supporters struggling to put food on the table get frustrated with those who prioritize social issues over economics.
I don't know what the solution is. But I wish those didn't have to be the choices.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
@ShootingStar: I do think that in some ways, it's a fortunate position to be in to be able to prioritize social issues. But for some people, if it's between prioritizing a social issue or putting food on the table, that's the choice they have to make.
Unfortunately, I really don't believe Trump is going to help these people all that much, unless he's putting them all to work building the wall. His tax plans seem to benefit wealthier families and corporations much more so than the lower middle class or the poor. I hope I'm wrong, but that's just how I see it now. Presumably if Trump fails on his promises, he'll be voted out in 4 years.
The other thing that's frustrating to me as a liberal is I felt like Hillary tried to address many of the concerns of rural communities and those that have been left behind. She seemed to have real concrete plans for what to do. I'm not sure why people ended up choosing Trump over her. Maybe her message fell flat among those people. Maybe she really wasn't addressing many of their concerns. Maybe she wasn't offering nearly as much change as they wanted to see. Whatever it was, liberals and Democrats need to hear that message and do better. We need to address those real needs moving forward.
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
I know for the rural families I know they vote on the party line because that's when the jobs come back. They realize that those plans that may not directly impact them, put money back in the middle class which helps their little economies (people invest, buy things, build things, etc).
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
Another thing that I think might be important to mention is that Trump didn't win by some overwhelming majority. Racists and misogynists didn't come out of the woodwork to vote him into office. He had similar votes to John McCain in 2012, less votes than Mitt Romney in 2008, and less votes than George W. Bush in 2004.
It's the Democratic Party that has failed. We had 8 million LESS votes than 2012. 4 million less votes than 2008. It's our party that didn't turn up and allowed a man like Trump to be elected.
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
@Adira: I work in rural America and the article you shared is exactly why I am not holding a grudge about the voters who help elect Trump. Granted I still don't like the culture clash on what I consider basic civil liberties, but I get the hope that people see when they elected Trump. There was an article on FB that talked about how rural America has felt liberal ideas (marriage equality for example) has been pushed down their throats and the Trump vote was a fight back. I wish we could all get to a place where discrimination is stamped out and realize how one person lives their private life does not impose on someone else. Perhaps I am missing something on that argument too. Articles like these are a good start for understanding each other though.
nectarine / 2400 posts
@Adira: when you say Hillary addresses those needs Id like to point out that I live in a battleground state that trump won that Obama had won before. Hillary didn't spend a single day campaigning here. Not one day. So she didn't get her message to the people and when peopLe here say Hillary doesn't care about us it's hard to respond
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
@gotkimchi: Yeah, I hear what you are saying. I thought she got some of her message across in the debates, but if you don't spend time campaigning to the people you need to vote for you, it's kind of a hard sell.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
My personal view is this: I get it, Hilary is the establishment, she is everything that we dislike about the political elite. Was she the right candidate, probably not. Her mistake was that as candidate, she ignored the middle class people, the ones that have been hard hit by jobs moving away from where they live. She expected them to fall in line and vote the party line. They didn't.
Now, do I think Trump is going to all of a sudden bring back jobs? Probably nothing significant, at least not in any quick amount of time. The jobs that do come back will likely require highly skilled workers and I am not sure that group of people has the skills for it. So then what?
I would love to hear why people voted Trump...what of his policy spoke to them?
coconut / 8430 posts
@Adira: While HRC and the Dems do have some soul searching to do to understand why their turnout was lower, I'm sure you can directly attribute some of it to voter suppression engineered by the Republican party.
I also don't understand why rural america thinks Trump is bringing the jobs back and how his policies will economically benefit them. How is lowering tax rates on the wealthy supposed to help them? How is repealing the estate tax supposed to help them? A trade war with China will just mean that manufacturing shifts to Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia, etc. It doesn't mean that $25/hr manufacturing jobs are coming back to Ohio.
nectarine / 2400 posts
@Adira: yes exactly. And for many of these people debates aren't the best way to reach them. They work 2 or 3 shift, they work two or 3 jobs. Many don't come home at 5 and turn a debate on so I think she could have done a better job with that. Obama said he spent 87 days in Iowa going to every vfw etc and that's what we needed this time
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
@sunny: Yeah, I'd need to do more research about the voter suppression and how it played a role in this election. It definitely could have contributed to part of the problem. I do think apathy and a dislike for Hillary also played a part.
nectarine / 2400 posts
@sunny: but if you lost a manufacturing job and now had trouble providing for your family and someone said they were bringing jobs back I think people were willing to try it even if it's far fetched
pear / 1558 posts
I grew up in a rural area of a purple state & now live in a very progressive state. I feel for both "sides" & am also bitter toward both parties for not understanding what is truly best for the whole country. I have zero faith in most of our government to recognize, let alone act in our best interest. I believe career politicians just want to line their own pockets & retire with their self-voted benefits. Hillary was untrustworthy to too many dems & Independents, & Trump was the chance at change. I do not, however, believe he "gets" rural America, either, nor is he a compassionate person capable of doing good for others if he won't directly benefit himself. He has his own Ivory Towers, sends his own manufacturing off to Mexico & China, and belittles everyone different from himself in any way. I would love to see some positive change, though, so if he can be the ripple that gets a fire lit under EVERYONE then we might have something. The outrage people are displaying MUST be turned into positive action, whether small & local, or on a much bigger scale. One thing that particularly bothered me in the article that @Adira: shared (though I could generally empathize) is that we cannot simply "go back" to the 50's & everything will be great again. For one thing, our environment cannot sustain our current trajectory--let alone go back to the mindset of the 50's in terms of us being global citizens. And as for the depressed economies where factories & coal mining (& other industries) have gone away, what is it that blinds those people & areas that they have nothing else to offer. Innovation & progress (think solar energy, conversion of waste into 3D printed goods, more organic local farming/bee keeping, etc) doesn't HAVE to be centered in big progressive cities. We cannot be expected to be taken care of--we are America, we have to pioneer our own change, not wait for our government to hand it to us. Do good & demand better. For ALL of us. There isn't a finite amount of "good" (prosperity, rights, respect, opportunity, education, whatever) out there, or at least I refuse to believe so.
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