The confessions of a white female suburban 2016 trump voter

[beachbumbob]

We had a very nice lunch on our deck yesterday with a female friend of ours of 20y+ years. In 20 yrs, we have always avoided any political discussions with her and her husband as they are staunch republicans of the "upper middleclass". So the discussion went like this.

me: So it looks like trump is going to lose this election big time

her: "Don;t get me going about trump, I have NEVER voted for any democrat for president in my 50 years of voting until I voted for Biden last week"

me: "I hear that alot from former trump voters"

her: " I didn;t like trump but voted for him in 2016 as I hated Hillary."

me: "thats big turn around then

her: "The guy is a criminal along with all his kids and wives" They need to go away to prison? With what he and GOP have done, I will NEVER vote for another republican."

me: "A lot people feel this way"

This gal went on and on for 10 more minutes and al the while I was sitting back and smiling. There are millions of republican voters just like her and that number will be all the more obvious come election day. This election will not be close under any reality

[SWBTATTReg]

1. Thanks for relaying the story. I'm not smiling, since in the meantime, so many have suffered, but..

at least, we're going in the right direction this time around. It is just too bad that these thugs and crooks got their way for far too long, and the tools of government and some representatives failed to keep him in check (the republican senators mostly). That's why the constitution clearly laid out the rules for each body of government were established to provide a check on each other. That's failed or at least the republicans tried to bypass these checks and balances.

[beachbumbob]

2. at least some of the trump supports of 2016 have woke up

[FM123]

3. Yep.

I have heard this same conversation more than once but from coming from seniors (in Florida). I think it's wonderful!!!

[Ohiogal]

4. As long as I live

I will never understand the women in this country who hate Hillary. My sister is one of them and yes she voted for the orange monstrosity in 2016.

[UpInArms]

6. Hillary has been the GOP's whipping post for the past 35 years

They hate smart strong women.

[Ohiogal]

7. My sister is a college educated professional

Mid 60s,widow with no kids. Her late husband was a Fox watching fanatic. She still works because she’s got a nice big home mortgage. She’s not dumb. But she hates paying taxes more than just about anything. Plus she believes the conspiracy theory about Hillary having people murdered.

[UpInArms]

8. Being educated does not inoculate anyone

from believing falsehoods.

Too many people have fallen into the void of Faux’s continual lies.

I am so sorry your sister is one of them.

[beachbumbob]

9. this is so true and makes these people appear to be even more ignorant and an Idealogue

than the working class who fall for GOP bullshit

[UpInArms]

11. Part of their mantra

Is designed to create “single issue” voters. Issues that control emotional response which override all logical thinking. They create circular thought processes that block people from allowing information to be layered into The decision making process. Similar to “dog whistles”.

They do this by creating an ever expanding network of misinformation through extensive media ownership and having all the channels set to deliver the same brainwashing message, so that there are fewer and fewer places to hear dissenting voices.

The return to the Fairness Doctrine, (which is not an “equal time” issue, but an equal discussion issue, would go a long way in promoting a better media landscape.

[Ohiogal]

14. Not to belabor the point

But my sister doesn’t have kids,,so she complains like crazy about having to pay taxes that go to the schools. (I mentioned to her that surely there were childless people who paid taxes for schools when we were in school). She is Catholic so she is anti choice. She’s sort of racist and has told me she likes living in her development because it’s all”professional people” who live there. Translation, all white. She claims she cannot afford to give to any charities. I don’t know how we were raised in the same home. Our dad was pretty racist and I have heard every racial epithet in the book, but once I got out of the house and on my own, I developed my own different views. My husband’s parents were a lot more tolerant and accepting. Thank goodness, I could never marry someone who calls themselves a conservative by today’s definition. Sorry for the rambling

[NewJeffCT]

28. If she has a big home mortgage

does she also pay big property taxes? The Trump tax scam that targeted blue states with high home values by capping the SALT deduction at $10,000 (CA, NY, MA, CT, NJ, etc) also hit *some* of those upscale Republican suburbs pretty hard (Houston & Dallas come to mind, but many others as well)

[Boogiemack]

47. And you say she is NOT dumb?

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

49. Sounds familiar. My high IQ, college grad sister is a self-described "staunch Republican."

Last edited Wed Oct 14, 2020, 05:04 PM - Edit history (1)

Her husband is a Fox-addicted RWNJ (who, of course, has the nerve to turn on Fox Noise in my Dem parents' home.)

Two of my other 3 siblings share my parents' Dem party membership and strongly anti-Trump stance. The other sibling leans R, believes racist myths, R lies about the economy, etc., but even he hates Trump.

R sister and I have an unspoken agreement not to discuss politics. But, every now and then, I can't help throwing into a multitopic text something like, "I'm very worried about COVID and grieve for the more than 200,000 Americans (and their families) who are dead thanks to Trump's policy failures."

She ignores it. Which actually kind of pisses me off, because I don't believe she's very informed politically. I think if she could be made aware of the actual facts, she might be persuadable. But she doesn't want to hear it.

[Ohiogal]

50. Yes, that sounds very familiar!

Thanks for making me feel not quite so alone!

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

51. You're welcome, for what it's worth.

I doubt I will ever understand how anyone can support Trump. I mean, there's something for everyone to hate about him.

That may be one of the hardest things to take about him being elected. For all the concrete damage he & his cronies are doing and will do if given the chance, the fact that enough Americans support such a horrid creature in the exalted position of POTUS means that I can't count on anything to make sense in this world.

[Cosmocat]

25. YEP

a quarter century of slandering the fuck out of her.

[Mariana]

16. Hillary was the victim of a decades-long propaganda campaign.

It's just a fact that propaganda works on a lot of people.

[Cosmocat]

26. A quarter century of slandering the shit out of her

I never have backed down from it, she is a decent human being and highly competent public servant. But, the right wing have made her public enemy #1 since the early 90s because they knew she was going to run for POTUS at some point, and people just simply are that stupid to give into that much bullshit.

[jayschool2013]

30. I always have trouble with the "I (don't) like the person" voters

Caligula and his criminal cabal are a different type, of course, and to not like Trump's criminality, bullying, lying and recklessness are certainly a reason to vote for Joe Biden this year, but generally, I didn't like Hillary Clinton a whole lot either, but the Democratic platform is ... and has been for my 40 years as a registered voter ... closest to how I believe a country should be governed.

It just astounds me that undecided voters sit around every four years and try to decide which candidate "they like" and which they "don't like."

It cheapens the democratic process.

[a kennedy]

36. I know, will NEVER UNDERSTAND why she was so hated......and it IS hate they

still feel for her even now, four years later. I just don’t understand it.

[reACTIONary]

52. Agree - I can't understand it, or...

... anyone else hating on her. She is one of our most accomplished public servants. Can't figure it out.

[Skittles]

53. propaganda can work on anyone

it's sad

[captain queeg]

5. This is encouraging and I believe it will be a historic landslide

I hope it goes smoothly though I have no doubt trump will try to pull some shit. But just think if all those Hillary haters hadn’t let themselves be swayed by the rethug hate campaign 4 years ago. Where would we be right now? This nightmare needs to end.

[no_hypocrisy]

10. Reminds me of my sister, a white suburban female Trump voter in 2016.

August: I'm not voting for Trump. He scares me.

December: I voted for Trump. Hillary scares me.

[beachbumbob]

12. who is she scared of NOW?

[no_hypocrisy]

40. Buyers remorse

[PatSeg]

13. The part that really makes me hopeful

is the "I will NEVER vote for another republican." I've heard this a lot lately and the only chance we have for meaningful change is to get more republicans out of office for a long time. I'm sure there are republicans who will vote for Joe, but will still vote republican on down ballot races. Trump is not the only problem, his enablers are just as bad.

[beachbumbob]

17. since she is a senior citizen, its dawn on her the GOP really wants to sacrifice her life

and she knows that if corrective action in February, the US would have COVID behind us now.

[PatSeg]

23. Yes

When people have so little life ahead of them, they tend to value the time they have. Trump has already told seniors how he feels about them. Also as we get older, we become concerned about the world we are leaving our children and grandchildren.

[Mariana]

21. Some of them are thoroughly disgusted

by the behaviour of the House and Senate Republicans, as well as most of the Republican governors, sucking up to Trump and rubber stamping everything he wants. Trump IS the Republican Party now, and the Republican Party is Trump. I mean, they didn't even publish a platform this year, except to say that they enthusiastically support everything Trump does.

[PatSeg]

24. Not terribly subtle

Who knew an entire party could destroy itself in just a few years? There doesn't seem to be much left of what the party used to be. It blew my mind when they didn't even have a platform this year.

[EndlessWire]

43. I know!

It's very disturbing that they didn't publish a platform. Too much work to do that just to follow whatever Trump wants, anyway. They are just following the dictator.

[Kitchari]

15. The spell is broken

It's like they are awakening from a hypnotic trance - may it continue

[liberalla]

29. That's exactly it... great description!

MAY IT CONTINUE !!!

[AllyCat]

18. I know 3 of his 2016 supporters who are leaving POTUS blank

This year. I consider that a half vote for Biden.

[Sherman A1]

20. everything counts

or in those particular cases doesn't count, but it's all good.

[FakeNoose]

19. Congratulations for not saying "I told you so"

It must have been painful, biting your tongue so hard.

[beachbumbob]

31. I think the facts we have today is 1000x any "I told you so's",

My hope is a complete destruction of the GOP as a result of this election to the point where they will be out of any national power for 10 years or more. If we can survive the next 20 days with trump blowing up the world. Desperation is where he and GOP are at so nothing is off the table

[FakeNoose]

33. I hear you, and I've been saying the same

We're witnessing the final decimation of the Republican Party.
Chump killed it, and the leaders all participated.

[EndlessWire]

44. I agree. n/t

[lagomorph777]

22. Trump finally slapped 'em upside the head with reality.

Reptilicans are terrible, dangerous people. Now many of their followers are, at long last, waking up to that reality.

[NurseJackie]

27. Sarandon really helped to reinforce the anti-Hillary narrative...

Sarandon really helped to reinforce the anti-Hillary narrative... and was likely an influence on many women like the one who's the subject of the OP (above).

Sarandon, Moore, West, Turner and other well-known politicians (and spouses) put their vanity and ego and pride above all else. I'll never forget, and I'll never forgive.

And that's all I have to say about that (for now) before I get myself into trouble. But those who know me well have a good idea of the other things that are on my mind.

All I'm trying to say is that we should never let something like that happen again. It's important to VOTE FOR THE DEMOCRAT!!! (No more of this BS "philosophy" of how it's "not important who you vote for, as long as you vote"... how idiotic!)

[beachbumbob]

39. throw MM and Uygur into the same boat, all 3 could care less on the outcome of trump

[cayugafalls]

32. Even with this news, I am writing letters, calling voters and doing what I can.

Never. Stop. Winning.

[beachbumbob]

34. we all are, if we don;t then we are not helping to defeat fascism

[barbtries]

35. agreed.

his base is abandoning him in droves. there are still the stubborn cult dwellers (my brother and SIL sadly), but even long time republicans are so TIRED from this mess.

all i want right now is for the election to be decided on 03Nov2020. I think it's possible.

[ScratchCat]

37. Its the common thread

"I voted for Trump in 2016 because I don't like Hillary Clinton".

This is why I keep telling people Biden should easily win by a landslide. Tens of millions of people didn't vote period in 2016 because they a)didn't like Hillary and b)assumed Trump was losing anyway. Not this time.

[NoMoreRepugs]

38. I will never understand or forgive those, especially women, who hated HRC - NEVER.

[Aristus]

41. I still don't buy the "We didn't know he was like this" bullshit.

Or the "Hillary was just as bad" bullshit.

Or any of the bullshit, really.

I don't like stupid people who can't acknowledge the simple, self-evident fact that they're stupid.

Contrition does not cause, or equal, intelligence.

I would have thrown them off my deck for being brainless parasites decreasing the human race's chances for long-term survival.

But that's just me...

[colsohlibgal]

42. Glad She Will Vote Blue

But what was she thinking about in 2016? She didn’t like Hillary but was OK with that Fat Orange Liar? Something is wrong with her thought process.

[beachbumbob]

45. GOP thought process and why I don;t talk politics,

but he HATES trump and that is all that matters.

[ecstatic]

46. That's encouraging. I'm soooo nervous. nt

[misanthrope]

48. Same person now that he's always been. It's not been hidden.

Rationalizations of those that voted for him over Hillary Clinton astound me. Nor do they sound attributable to any type of legitimate reasoning.