The nine types of Trump supporters [View all]

[ck4829]

There was discussion after the 'election' continuing to this day about who exactly got Trump elected. There seems to be some disagreement...

Some people claim it's due to despair and that we can win over these voters:
http://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/we-must-win-over-not-deride-trump-voters/

Some people claim it's due to xenophobia:
https://www.thenation.com/article/fear-of-diversity-made-people-more-likely-to-vote-trump/

What if they're not mutually exclusive?

I propose looking at Trump voters from two axes:

Despair: Living in a depressed local economy, feelings of alienation from the government, unemployed, wanting to return to the "good ol' days", etc.

Xenophobia: Opposition to the 'other'; whether that person is a liberal, a Democrat, a feminist, a Muslim, a minority, a refugee, an immigrant, some other "uppity" person, etc.

Putting these two traits against each other and seeing if they are high or low gives us this system:

HDLX|HDMX|HDHX
----|--- --|-----
MDLX|MDMX|MDHX
-----|----- |------
LDLX|LDMX |LDHX

HDLX (High despair, low xenophobia)
The Unicorn vote
These are the kinds of Trump supporters and voters that we need to be told to look out for, not alienate them any further supposedly, and more. It was just pure despair that drove them to vote for Trump. I'm not sure how many of these voters actually exist though and if that is a large enough group to draw voters off of. I am sure they do exist, but everyone needs to learn about concepts of learned helplessness and system justification and so they can have realistic expectations when dealing with this group.

HDMX (High despair, medium xenophobia)
The Way-of-Lifer
The voter who blames his or her economic woes on "immigrants taking their jobs" and that Trump will force the coal companies to create jobs any day now. Pressure and reminding here is key, but don't get caught up in it.

HDHX (High despair, high xenophobia)
The Self-Gouger
The fact that the 'other' exists is a source of despair in itself. These are the people who if told by a man he would make liberals, Muslims, the GLBTQ, immigrants, refugees, feminists, minorities, etc. feel some pain later on if they would gouge out their eye now, then they would instantly do it. A bit of hyperbole, but they are willing to cut off government resources, their own networks, and capital just to spite the other. Don't bother with them, you're wasting your time.

MDLX (Medium despair, low xenophobia)
The It's Personal Voter
These voters have a wide range, maybe they're the ones who voted for Obama twice and claim that a lot. Maybe they just didn't like Hillary Clinton. I think that as Trump continues to alienate the public, we can reach out to these people.

MDMD (Medium despair, medium xenophobia)
The Anything Goes Crowd
Trump does X, with X being something contradictory to his campaign or being something really dangerous or stupid; they are the people who will support him no matter what. They are the people who nodded when Fox News said "The price of gas is high, it's bad, blame Obama" AND when Fox News said "The price of gas is low, but it's also bad, so blame Obama." There is nothing we can do here except tell ourselves and the politically uninitiated that this system can not be sustained.

MDHX (Medium despair, high xenophobia)
The Purger
These are type of supporters who reinterpreted "Drain the Swamp" to mean 'no liberals in the government'. These are the supporters who want to erase liberals from the discourse. They need to be challenged. Unite the left against them.

LDLX (Low despair, low xenophobia)
The Mercer
Rich people who live outside of Washington DC supporting another billionaire living outside of Washington DC. The DeVos family is here as well. People need to be reminded that this is where real class warfare is coming from.

LDMX (Low despair, medium xenophobia)
The Culture Warrior Voter
Your standard homophobe, transphobe, Islamophobe, etc. The sad thing is, they're not quite as extreme as...

LDHX (Low despair, high xenophobia)
The Dylann Roof Vote
Richard Spencer and other privileged twerps of the alt-right prepping for war against Muslims, immigrants, Jews, liberals, and others. I don't think it needs to be said that we shouldn't even bother here.

We need to find ways to split these forces against each other, that is key.