Where Trump got all those new voters

[LymphocyteLover]

Analysis here.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/05/trump-lost-he-won-millions-new-voters-where-did-they-come/?arc404=true

I do think a huge part of his appeal was for less educated working class people who thought the pandemic was overblown and just wanted to get back to work. His re-open everything message must have been very appealing to them, but obviously it was shortsighted given the awful consequences now-- the growing death toll.

Noteworthy to me is he got 1.5 million new votes in California, especially in around LA. I think this might explain better why they are having such a large COVID19 outbreak there.

[onecaliberal]

1. 3/4 of California is supposed to be under a stay at home order.

In my county today there are 0 ICU beds for the 18 day in a row. Very few are adhering to the order. There is 0 enforcement. After almost a month with the vaccine, we still haven’t managed to vaccinate all healthcare workers. I just went to the county health department web page, the word vaccine cannot be found on the entire website.
The state doesn’t seem to care about containing the virus anymore. I guess it’s anything goes. There are LOTS of brown and black people in this county.

[LymphocyteLover]

3. what county?

I'm very sad about what happened with my home state and I have family there.

[onecaliberal]

5. Fresno

[rocktivity]

2. But Trump LOST the popular vote, and by TWICE as much as he did in 2016

Last edited Sat Feb 20, 2021, 12:30 PM - Edit history (4)

Why isn't WaPo also wondering where BIDEN'S "new" voters came from, as well?

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=14641126


rocktivity

[LymphocyteLover]

4. Yeah. That's important to remember.

But trump is so awful it's important to understand what his appeal is too.

[onecaliberal]

6. His appeal is lying cheating hate and fascism.

[StClone]

7. Trump is great at appealing to fears

Finding and motivating fears in people is where he thrived especially where education is less. Note that Massachusetts and East Cost is an example of that. But oddly New York NY, a lot of the interior west, and West Virginia had less pro-Trump votes, too.

[jcgoldie]

8. Just like Trump... head in the sand approach

I thought the virus helped him in the election not the other way around ironically. People want to ignore the virus because it is inconvenient rather than following the science because that is hard.

[central scrutinizer]

9. That analysis makes some sense

The Republicans have always tried to keep working people right on the edge. Low wages, poor benefits, living from paycheck to paycheck, make people choose between food or shelter. Saddle students with crushing debt. Now with the pandemic, many families were really between a rock and a hard place. Stay safely at home, use up your savings and face hunger and homelessness, or go to work and risk getting very sick. The hunger and eviction seemed certain given McConnell’s intransigence and callousness. It probably looked like you had a better chance of surviving the virus.

[MyOwnPeace]

10. I'm sure no vote analyst ever......

thought they would have to derive data from Emergency Room intakes.....

[David__77]

11. Yeah, COVID-related issues worked against Democrats, I think.

At least on net I think that's the case. I get the frustration that the economy was ramped down without the government replacing wages. Other countries that had shutdowns replaced wages with the wage replacement rate being very high.

Trump had a ground campaign and did all sorts of things like marketing himself via letters about COVID-related checks, letters in food boxes that went out to people, etc.

[LymphocyteLover]

12. Yes, agree. Although we focus on all the crap he did, his campaign probably was

effective at highlighting how he was really good for the voters he targeted.

[rocktivity]

13. Trump's (AND Biden's) "new" votes ALL came from those who DIDN'T vote in 2016

Last edited Sat Oct 26, 2024, 02:46 AM - Edit history (36)

due to being either too young or too apathetic.

Trump lost in 2020 because Biden got nearly 60% of them -- which is why I consider this WaPo "analysis" to be "fake news":

In 2016, 129 million people voted Democrat or Republican.
In 2020, 155 million people voted Democrat or Republican -- an increase of 26 million.

In 2016, Trump got 63 million votes and DIDN'T get 66 million votes.
In 2020, Trump got 74 million votes -- an increase of 11 million votes over 2016.
Add the 15 million votes that Trump DIDN'T get in 2020 from those who DIDN'T vote in 2016
to the 66 million votes that Trump DIDN'T get in 2016 -- and you get 81 million votes.
In 2020, Joe Biden got 81 million votes.

In 2020, Biden got four million votes more from those who didn't vote in 2016 than Trump did.
Add those 4 million votes to the three million votes by which Trump lost the popular vote in 2016 -- and you get seven million votes.
Biden's 2020 margin of victory was seven million votes.

Analysis accomplished, WaPo -- you're welcome.


rocktivity

[LymphocyteLover]

14. thanks