General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsLet's forget about trying to reach Trump voters in red areas/states. We should not waste our time.
Last night I was handing out ballots in a very red area of Virginia. In my county 74% voted for Gillespie and 25.1% voted for Northam. Not one person took my sample Democratic ballot. I shared my space with two nice guys from the local Republican party - one for the first hour, the other for the next hour and a half. Republican number one was a retired man who worked as a volunteer for the county sheriff's department and he also acted as security for his church where, yes, they are all packing. Republican number two was a farmer who farmed goats and also worked for a local beef company, sophisticated farmer who knows lots about the process and travels to other states frequently. We chatted and they were truly polite. Other people stopped and chatted with them, and also made comments to them that I heard.
Here is what I learned, mostly from the farmer:
1) They didn't mind healthcare so much, but when the Democrats "snuck Obamacare in the middle of the night" that was made them "never" want to vote for a Democrat (yeah, right - that was it).
2) One woman came and asked if we were polled when exiting (this was not at my polling place). "Someone's polling for CBS, ABC, NBC and CNN - the FAKE NEWS!"
3) When asked if he thought Trump had any dealings with Russia, the farmer strongly said, "Not at all - never." When asked if it is found that he did, he would have to reevaluate his opinion.
4) When asked if he liked it when Trump called Kim Jong-un "Rocketman," he "LOVED IT." Obama evidently told the whole world what we were going to do before we did it.
5) The news only reports the bad things and they are very unfair to Trump.
6) Republicans are for states' rights. In fact, the Civil War was about states' rights, NOT slavery. When I asked, "States' rights to do what, exactly?" I got crickets from all four people standing there, and then one said, "Well, it WAS about slavery, but it wasn't just slavery."
7) One man said he didn't want a Democratic ballot because he's "not for sanctuary cities."
Again, they were friendly and polite, except for one guy who made a joke that he "was going to help out the underdog by voting Democrat." You know how happy I was once I got home and found out that we had a Democratic sweep.
Friends, it is bizarro world. That's the only way I can describe hearing their views. So, don't worry about flipping Republicans, just continue to support Democrats in rural areas so we don't feel so isolated, work on getting out the vote, keep our noses clean, and continue to work to bring new people into our party.
HughBeaumont
(24,461 posts)And the enthusiasm with which his brain-sharing Klan yaps it.
Jesus God, you stupid fucks - CORPORATIONS own 90% of what you see, hear and read. Corporations are NOT run by liberals.
There's great evidence that ALL channels thrust Combover Caligula into the White House by way of marginalizing anything positive Hillary said and championing Trump as the true heir to the Reagan Mantle.
phylny
(8,380 posts)vi5
(13,305 posts)...If I agree with this sentiment does that mean I want purity? Or that I don't want purity?
How do ponies play into this?
I was told that if I didn't want us moving right to attract voters that I was being unrealistic and demanding purity and was thus destroying the Democratic party.
But at the same time I'm told that we can't sacrifice the diversity of our base to attract votes (I agree).
So the solution is......a diverse coalition of centrists? I can't keep up any more.
So.....someone let me know if any of this makes me a Trump loving troll.
phylny
(8,380 posts)is that it is futile to try to reason with or change the minds of Trump supporters.
Va Lefty
(6,252 posts)Garrett78
(10,721 posts)We simply have to outnumber them (bearing in mind that Trump's approval rating among likely voters is higher than his approval rating among the general population), because we aren't going to convert them. Focus on turning out the base, raise hell about voter suppression, and do more to inspire young people to vote.
If it's a simplified message that people want, I suggest something like, "We stand for fairness, justice, compassion and sustainability." Those values pretty much cover every aspect of the party platform.
VermontKevin
(1,473 posts)Take care of the ones already in it.