TRUMP VOTERS THOUGHT THAT TRUMP WAS: “A REPUBLICAN ON STEROIDS!”

…A “diehard” Trump supporter

 

One result from the Trump voter survey was that to many Americans, being patriotic meant being white.

 

A number of polling groups have been wondering why doesn’t President Trump’s voting base feel they are being betrayed yet, as so many media observers think they should?

 

 The political pundits have basically argued that they, the base, should feel alienated by his State of the Union address, his firing of Stephen K. Bannon and his trip to Davos for mingling with the global elite.

 

 

However, the research shows that Trump is delivering the policies that large shares of his voters wanted all along.

 

One research group asked 2,600 Americans in fall 2016 to “name something in your life that would improve if Donald Trump were elected president.” They wanted to know what immediately came to people’s minds and which aspects of the Trump campaign pitch they found most appealing. The responses to the open-ended question suggests that Trump’s appeal was not so much based on the ways he was different from a typical Republican, but rather that they called his supercharged conservatism a big part of what made him appealing.

 

In addition, they offered that question as part of a larger, online, panel survey conducted by the New York University Social Media and Political Participation (SMaPP) lab with the support of the National Science Foundation. 

 

Because of the needs of the survey, the survey combines a random sample of Americans with an oversample of Twitter users. This reported selected results from the third wave of the survey that took place between Oct. 25 and Nov. 7, 2016. The survey offered observations based on the “open-ended” answers from self-identified Trump supporters. The surveyors are still in the process of their coding, and will be able to release even more quantitative assessments later this spring.

 

But the basic one-line statement from the survey said: “Give us jobs, cut the red tape, keep us safe.”

 

The Trump candidacy was, to be sure, out-of-the-ordinary in many ways. Among other things, the GOP brand used to be about an outward rejection of identity politics. Trump, in contrast, made issues related to white ethnic identity more central to his campaign. But what often came to people’s minds, when they talked about Trump, was small-government conservatism, “better chances to find a good job” and the prospect of lower taxes.  In addition, what came out of the survey was that to many Americans, being patriotic meant being white.  (Of course, non-college educated whites are his political base.)

 

Some respondents said they expected that the Trump administration would, “bring companies back to the US.”

 

Others said they hoped that fewer jobs would be outsourced, saying he will “fine companies that move their jobs overseas.” Being perceived as pro-business also appears to have contributed to Trump’s appeal. We found comments such as: “My life will improve because lowering taxes on the job creators would allow them to offer more jobs and kick start the economy; Taxes might go down; A Republican in the White House means furthering of conservative values; In general, government would tend to stay out of my business.”

 

But others also mentioned their skepticism of welfare, which has been for some, a staple of white resentment as when a female homemaker in Texas said that “people who truly qualify for government assistance would receive it and those that are leaching on to it would be stopped.”

Voters with similar attitudes said they  would have supported a different Republican candidate, had Trump not emerged victorious from the primaries.  But that was not because they were blindly partisan.  It was because they agreed in general with much of the Republican platform and rhetoric.

 

Many felt that Trump was the Republican brand, on steroids

 

The survey found that many answers referred to safety or national security, such as “stopping crime,” “peace of mind knowing he will send all illegals back,” “my city no longer being overrun by illegals,” “he would reduce the threat of terrorism.”

 

These were phrases with racial and ethnic overtones. They also suggests that Trump benefited from the GOP’s ownership of domestic and national security issues. A significant number of respondents expressed excitement about the Border Wall and a “sense of security from radical Muslims.”

The related theme comes under the broad umbrella of pride and respect, with their stated hopes like:

 

·       “I won’t be stressing over national security, this guy loves America.”

·       “My renewed faith in citizens of the United States for getting their heads out of the sands for a change.”

·       “Respect from foreign governments.”

·       “Be proud again at being an American.”

·       “Would improve pride, trust.”

·       “Peace of mind.”

 

 (So far, the response to Trump has been the opposite of above.)

 

 

But many voters complained about what they saw from liberals as the imposition of “political correctness.” They believed that as president, Trump could and would reverse that trend by delivering:

 

·       “The elimination of corruption and political correctness.”

·       “Being able to follow my religious beliefs.”

·       “Equal rights for Christians.”

·       “Less discrimination against white people.”

·       “Demands to bow to the ‘politically correct’ agenda of the LGBTQ, anti-life abortion, anti firearm, anti-constitution, and anti-Christ groups will be less.”

 

Many of the Trump voters also expressed spite and animosity toward the Democratic nominee.

 

A male respondent from Florida who did not identify with either political party said: “My state of mind would improve knowing that evil Hillary was not at the helm of it and that we had sent a message to D.C. that we want change, we don’t want the status quo, good ole boy system.”

 

Other Trump voters stated these examples against Hillary Clinton:

 

·       “Would enjoy the embarrassment of Hillary Clinton being beaten by Donald Trump.”

·       “Schadenfreude from seeing friends with cult-like adoration for Clinton flounder.”

·       “Democrat would not be in White House.”

·       “Hillary would likely go to prison.”

·       “Seeing Hillary behind bars.”

·       “My blood pressure will lower, if I don’t have to listen to Hillary for 4 years!”

 

Today, Trump is viewed as a disruptive, anti-system candidate, but he still benefited from the GOP brand even while he reminded everyone that he was not a product of the Republican establishment. That ultimately made him, in the eyes of some, a candidate of hope, and respondents said they would vote for him because:

 

·       “my whole way of life would get getter”

·       “Everything. No more politically correct garbage. Finally have a president with the guts to stand up to foreign dignitaries instead of bowing down to them.”

 

It may turn out that some of Trump’s base is more forgiving of his supposed transgressions, not because they are blindly loyal, but because by pursuing some “traditional Republican policies”, he may doing what they wanted all along.

 

I wonder if these Trump supporters will feel this way after Robert Muller is finished with his special investigation of Trump for Russian collusion, obstruction of justice and money laundering.

 

And will Trump last for 4 years or an additional 4……I personally doubt it, but we'll see.

 

Copyright G.Ater  2018