Why do people vote Republican?

[tulipsandroses]

Aside from white supremacists, gun humpers, religious zealots, fetus protectors, greedy businesses owners and corporations. Seriously, are there any sane and logical people that vote Republican?
And why?

They fight against damn near anything that would benefit every day Americans.
They fight affordable healthcare. They fight against having a livable wage, they fight against any talk of student loan relief, I could go on and on.

I’m really befuddled.
What do “sane”Republican voters expect when they keep these people in office?

[leftieNanner]

1. They have been listening

To Rush Limbaugh and Fox News for too many years to believe that what you say is true.

Sad but true. Maddening but true.

[underpants]

10. That pretty much nails it. They are in so deep they have no idea how bad it is

Talk radio especially is horrific. I listen in at some point each day mostly local guys. For some people it’s Fox, talk radio, formerly Rush at lunch, talk radio on the way home, affirmation of everything they’ve heard during the day on Fox.

[Ferrets are Cool]

2. Because they get to OWN the libs

[catsudon]

33. yeah

they hate us just as much as we hate them. your mileage of hate may vary.

[Ferrets are Cool]

35. So? Democrats and Repugs are the same?

[catsudon]

40. i didn't say that...

their hatred is unjust.

[rurallib]

4. I ask myself these same questions nearly daily

hoping I will have some epiphany. Nothing so far.

The only thing I can come up with is that they have been brainwashed for 40 years that Democrats are evil incarnate so they must do anything and everything to stop Democrats.

[Frasier Balzov]

5. Terrestrial radio and elimination of the Fairness Doctrine.

[BigmanPigman]

6. I'd say it is from their environment and how they were raised.

Most of them were raised in GQP homes and run around in GQP circles from college, to work to friends and family. They are ingrained to be racist, homophobic, misogynistic, greedy, immoral, gun loving psychos. They have been trained to be hate filled, lying cheaters who have no moral compass.

They are living in a cult, plain and simple.

[Claustrum]

7. Taxes.

My parent literally told me that Bush is better than Obama because he gave him a $10 tax refund check. My parents earned so little that they barely benefitted from the tax cut (They made like 80k combine income). Of course there are a lot of racism in it because my dad also told me that no countries in the history of the world that the country was good having a black leader leading the country.

Sadly, I am a first generation immigrant that somehow the Libertarian/right wing media used Chinese radio hosts to spread their nonsense as well. I can hear the daily right wing outrage of the week (in Chinese) complaints from my parents while they would be completely silent toward the real outrage like the school shooting yesterday.

[Mariana]

41. A lot of right wingers vastly overestimate how much they pay in taxes.

They don't understand how marginal rates work, they don't know how to calculate their effective tax rate, etc. They usually don't even know how many dollars they paid in income tax. But they're absolutely certain it was way too much!

[betsuni]

8. Subconscious belief that Republicans are the law and order, pro-business good for the economy,

low taxes, strong leadership party. Daddy.

[underpants]

11. Traditionally Republicans were just that - dicks

Tough on crime, tight with the penny.
I think it was Bill Maher who I heard say that.

[JI7]

14. I remember all the "Thank God Bush is President and not Gore" after 9-11

But if it was Gore or another Democrat in office many of those save ones would blame them for being weak and allowing the attacks to happen.

None of this involves these people thinking very deeply. But they will judge people differently based on the same thing happening based on their views of the parties.

[betsuni]

19. Daddy gets away with everything.

Mommy Democrats get yelled at for not cutting the crusts off Timmy's peanut butter and jelly sandwich just the way he likes it.

[Mr.Bill]

20. I firmly believe that if Gore was president

9/11 would not have happened.

[Pantagruel]

9. A belief the GOP

will lower their taxes convinces a certain % to vote that way-true or not.

[underpants]

12. "If I vote Republican, will I be rich one day?" One of the first things I read on DU

There used to be a regular post here called “Ask Auntie Pinko”. It was very good. That question was one of the first things I saw on DU and I thought it crystallized the whole thing. That was 20 years ago too - not these full fledged Nazis we are dealing with now.

[bluestarone]

13. Because Democrats ALWAYS get stuck with cleaning up the MESS RETHUGLICONS leave

When they are voted out. Takes Democrats 4 years to fix their fucking mess. But then get blamed for spending to much money. People refuse to see what's really going on. PLUS another reason is religion. PROTECT that baby for 9 months then they don't give a rats ass anymore! Tiring just tiring for sure!

[Doc Sportello]

15. Cognitive psychologist George Lakoff offers a compelling perspective

His work is about what are called moral frames that humans use to make sense of the world. Liberals use logic and evidence to persuade voters, while cons are plugged into a different approach that relies on the frame of the strict-father model to reach voters through an emotion-based process. To me, it's the most compelling explanation of why people vote against their own self-interests. Here is an interview with Lakoff from several years ago:

snip

Much of cognitive linguistics concerns itself with how we build the mental apparatus to understand everyday situations: a hospital, or a date, or a cash machine. Erving Goffman, commonly cited as the most influential sociologist of the 20th century, wrote Frame Analysis in 1974, defining and exploring exactly how this happens. Having built the frames to understand life, we no longer deliberately plug back into it. It is unconscious; what we think of as "common sense" is merely an act or notion that resonates with one of our deep frames.

Lakoff's work on the conceptual systems around morals and politics (and how they show up in language) has yielded two-dozen metaphors for morality, most of them universal across cultures. Of those, the two key frames informing political judgment involve the idea of government as a family: the strict-father model (conservative) versus the nurturant-parent model (progressive).

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/feb/01/george-lakoff-interview

[Patterson]

16. In simplest terms they're dumbasses and assholes.

[Talitha]

17. Must be something in the Kool-Aid....

[roamer65]

18. Genetic defect?

Really makes me wonder if some sort of bad gene is responsible for the lack of empathy.

[Polybius]

21. Gas prices and stocks

Which is the same reason they vote Democrat when a Republican is in power and they are doing bad. Some people blame the Party in power.

[Septua]

22. There are a lot (I don't know how many) of sane ones...

..like Liz Cheney, Kinzinger, the Lincoln Project people, Nicolle Wallace but the voter segment has most of the wing nuts and there is a bunch of them and they've always been there. I believe most of them are the white superiority/supremacists variety who are truly racists and bigots and want to be in charge, in control and live by their interpretation of the Constitution and freedom.

Trump brought 'em all out of the woodwork.

[Earth-shine]

23. A lot of them are simply born into it regionally.

Last edited Thu May 26, 2022, 02:23 AM - Edit history (2)

I know some Republican voters who don't much like the Republican party because of many disappointments over the years ... but they hate the Democratic party.

[Septua]

25. That is so true

"My dad was a Republican, his dad was a Republican so I'm a Republican." They don't even have a good excuse...they just vote Republican.

I'm working on a list, "why would you vote for Trump?"

He’s a liar.
He’s corrupt.
He’s a con man.
He’s a despot.
He’s a traitor.
He’s egomaniacal.
He’s callous.
He’s incompetent.
He tried to overthrow the government.

Because he's not a Democrat?

[Earth-shine]

26. For many, they may may hate Trump, but they must vote Republican.

And I asked a friend why.

"Because I AM a Republican."

[SunImp]

30. +1

[Beartracks]

24. They believe they're fighting against a socialist takeover...

... but for many that makes them easy dupes for a fascist takeover.

==========

[GReedDiamond]

27. I know a guy since around 1977, who was a peyote eating "hippie"...

...who looked like he could have been a Manson Family cult member.

He read and almost evangelized for the Carlos Castaneda stuff.

Then he made some $$$ (his first few millions) in the early-mid 80s and started leaning "right" because "I became conservative when I had the $$$ to conserve."

Meaning, he wanted tax cuts.

Plus, as a business owner, he always wants to suppress wages, benefits, unions, etc, as much as possible.

Additionally, 25 years of watching Fox News (he really loved billo riley) just further mutated his brain.

He does have several employees who have been working at his business for 25-30 years, so they are treated well, it seems.

But for some time now, he apparently has zero critical thinking skills.

He is extremely friendly/likable, thinks of me as almost like a brother, but when he unloads his repuke shit on me, I tell him he's full of shit, he's a fuckin moron, etc, and if you don't wanna hear this from me, stfu with your trump-humping bullshit.

That usually works for a few months or more.

[eShirl]

29. some kind of moral defect?

I'll never understand it

[Initech]

31. Since the 2016 election, the goal is to "make liberals cry".

Which is equal parts sad, pathetic, and psychopathic.

[clementine613]

32. Because they're evil.

It's really that simple. There are good people in the world and evil people. The way to tell the evil ones are that they vote Republican.

[anarch]

34. when you caveat that with "aside from white supremacists," it's hard to answer accurately

there are no "sane" GOP voters--there are just a lot of racist shitbags in this country

[Mosby]

36. It's because they hate liberals

So much that they will vote against their own interests.

The demonization of liberals started with Rush, and became what we know now as "hate radio".

Here's the modern republican platform:

1. I'm gonna get mine and fuck all yall.

2. If a liberl is for it, im against it.

That's it. There are no bill buckleys anymore.

[Emile]

37. They like giving tax evading billionaires tax cuts!

[krawhitham]

38. well, when you add up NAZIS, gun nuts, bible thumpers, fetus protectors, & the greedy you get 47%

[Novara]

39. because they are stupid and/or racist and/or evil, or all of the above