The part that is fascinating to this Canadian, is that a lot of his supporters' hardships are increased by the policies of the GOP. The demographic that is the largest recipient of federal social aid in the US is poor white people in the South and Midwest. Yet they continually vote for the party that has a clear policy of eliminating these programs.
Just before 2016, I saw this video that I wish I could find again. This journalist went somewhere in the Rust Belt to talk to these (overwhelmingly white) people. Of course, she got the usual "We believe in God, Guns and Country, and active trying to change that... Yada yada" stuff. But the interesting part was when she had an exchange with some fellow that went sort of like this (from memory):
"So, you've voted Republican all your life?"
"Yep."
"And in your lifetime, have things gotten better, of worse for you?"
"Oh, way worse."
"So... You keep voting for the same party, and your situation never get better?"
"Yeah. But it could..."
"Right, but it hasn't. So why not try voting for the other party and seeing?"
"Yeah, but it could!"
I'm not sure how you fix this type of "logic".
I tried finding that video a few times the last few years, and couldn't. Maybe it's time to try again.
The part that is fascinating to this Canadian, is that a lot of his supporters' hardships are increased by the policies of the GOP. The demographic that is the largest recipient of federal social aid in the US is poor white people in the South and Midwest. Yet they continually vote for the party that has a clear policy of eliminating these programs.
Just before 2016, I saw this video that I wish I could find again. This journalist went somewhere in the Rust Belt to talk to these (overwhelmingly white) people. Of course, she got the usual "We believe in God, Guns and Country, and active trying to change that... Yada yada" stuff. But the interesting part was when she had an exchange with some fellow that went sort of like this (from memory):
"So, you've voted Republican all your life?" "Yep." "And in your lifetime, have things gotten better, of worse for you?" "Oh, way worse." "So... You keep voting for the same party, and your situation never get better?" "Yeah. But it could..." "Right, but it hasn't. So why not try voting for the other party and seeing?" "Yeah, but it could!"
I'm not sure how you fix this type of "logic".
I tried finding that video a few times the last few years, and couldn't. Maybe it's time to try again.