Senator McCain’s death has reminded me that the blue collar, midwestern states voted for black Obama over a white, military hero and even (for a Republican) economic moderate in 2008.
I usually like to repeat NY Times Nate Cohn’s analysis that Trump won by taking Obama’s place:
presumably economic populist (wrong) Obama versus Wall Street Romney — compares with — acting-like economic populist (need I say) versus Wall Street Hillary.
But why did (relatively) economic moderate McCain lose midwestern whites to Chicago south side African American Obama. Improved thinking: they were so used to having their troubles ignored that they would go for anyone who looked like change. Obama certainly did not turn out to be that so they went for the Republican sociopath teenager (that’s different!).
Take that EMichael!
* * * * * *
I think there are three areas of knowledge anyone interesting in being president should wish to have mastered — but only one of which any human being could hope to have time to master in one lifetime: domestic (inside), foreign (outside) and Washington, DC (unless your name is Clinton maybe, but not necessarily that well for lack of practical motivation).
From reading Todd Chuck’s book I don’t think Obama had mastered a single one — brilliant as a Clinton as he might me.
I think it is to do with tired of GOP president, Obama attracted some on the inconsistent “no to Iraq (Authorization to Use Military Force) war”, the economic bubble……….. hard to see more than 8 years of one party in White House.
geez, when ilsm can answer your question you should not have asked it.
You keep assuming people change the parties they vote for, they don’t. All about turnout. By the way, the Voting Rights Act was still in effect in 2008. And 2012. But no longer.
But they did vote Dem once — why not change back give if we want to give them their union power back. Come to think, if the issue catches enough (should be the hottest issue ever given it affects everybody’s life so deeply) why couldn’t Republicans run on it — it’s all about a really free market?
I pay no attention to those kind of polls, I pay attention to election results.
Meanwhile, I need you to explain to me how Dems hurt unions which drove people to vote Rep despite the fact that Reps have attacked unions about a thousand times more than Dems.
This is ludicrous thinking. Which party is responsible for right to work laws in the states? Which party actually has presented a federal right to work law? Which party filibustered card check?
It appears this woman has built a career interviewing Obama to trump voters(sic) that some people believe changed the election. If that is true, why does she have to make them up?
“You might not know who Salena Zito is off the top of your head, but you’re almost certainly familiar with her work. She writes in publications such as the New York Post and the Washington Examiner about such varied topics as “Why Democrats in Western Pennsylvania Are Voting Trump,” “Why the Generation After Millennials Will Vote Republican” and “Why the Rust Belt Just Gave Donald Trump a Hero’s Welcome.” Or maybe you read her September 2016 piece in The Atlantic in which she famously pointed out that Donald Trump supporters took the candidate seriously, not literally, while the national press did the reverse.
Seriously, not literally: a nice phrase, and a bit of a conjuring trick. It flipped around the usual dynamics of our political culture; the voters had wised up beyond any care for truth, and the simple-minded media were being played for suckers.
The observation hasn’t held up well — Trump has literally done what he literally said he would do — but analytical rigor wasn’t really the point. This was about excusing Trump voters, part of the media’s excruciating and relentless project to understand the mind of the Trumper without ever talking about racism. Zito was more than happy to provide the liberal world with countless portraits of rational, eloquent, Democratic-curious Trump voters who are always just this close to going blue. She even got a book deal and a Harvard teaching fellowship out of it.
Unfortunately, as people have been pointing out with increasing frequency, a lot of it appears to be bullshit…..
Much of her gimmick rests on the idea that her interlocutors are apostate populist Democrats who swung to the Republican Party. This is the story many conservatives prefer to tell about Trump — that he is a populist phenomenon, not the product of regular country-clubs-and-chambers-of-commerce Republicanism. Certainly these left-to-right populists exist in America, but Zito has a knack for finding the ones who, apparently unbeknownst to her, have become Republican Party officials. This is why the criticisms of her are so damning.”
As I’ve said many times, and I truly believe, I am certain there are an insignificant number of people who voted for Obama and then voted for trump. Totally insignificant number. Which is a good thing, because if there were that many our mental health system would be overwhelmed.
Senator McCain’s death has reminded me that the blue collar, midwestern states voted for black Obama over a white, military hero and even (for a Republican) economic moderate in 2008.
I usually like to repeat NY Times Nate Cohn’s analysis that Trump won by taking Obama’s place:
presumably economic populist (wrong) Obama versus Wall Street Romney — compares with — acting-like economic populist (need I say) versus Wall Street Hillary.
But why did (relatively) economic moderate McCain lose midwestern whites to Chicago south side African American Obama. Improved thinking: they were so used to having their troubles ignored that they would go for anyone who looked like change. Obama certainly did not turn out to be that so they went for the Republican sociopath teenager (that’s different!).
Take that EMichael!
* * * * * *
I think there are three areas of knowledge anyone interesting in being president should wish to have mastered — but only one of which any human being could hope to have time to master in one lifetime: domestic (inside), foreign (outside) and Washington, DC (unless your name is Clinton maybe, but not necessarily that well for lack of practical motivation).
From reading Todd Chuck’s book I don’t think Obama had mastered a single one — brilliant as a Clinton as he might me.
Denis,
I think it is to do with tired of GOP president, Obama attracted some on the inconsistent “no to Iraq (Authorization to Use Military Force) war”, the economic bubble……….. hard to see more than 8 years of one party in White House.
Dennis,
geez, when ilsm can answer your question you should not have asked it.
You keep assuming people change the parties they vote for, they don’t. All about turnout. By the way, the Voting Rights Act was still in effect in 2008. And 2012. But no longer.
EMichael,
Kevin Drum mistakenly agrees with you
https://www.motherjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/blog_wwc_lean_democratic_1992_20161.gif
But they did vote Dem once — why not change back give if we want to give them their union power back. Come to think, if the issue catches enough (should be the hottest issue ever given it affects everybody’s life so deeply) why couldn’t Republicans run on it — it’s all about a really free market?
Chart of the Day: Democrats and the White Working Class
Kevin Drum Aug. 29, 2018
https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2018/08/chart-of-the-day-democrats-and-the-white-working-class/
I pay no attention to those kind of polls, I pay attention to election results.
Meanwhile, I need you to explain to me how Dems hurt unions which drove people to vote Rep despite the fact that Reps have attacked unions about a thousand times more than Dems.
This is ludicrous thinking. Which party is responsible for right to work laws in the states? Which party actually has presented a federal right to work law? Which party filibustered card check?
It appears this woman has built a career interviewing Obama to trump voters(sic) that some people believe changed the election. If that is true, why does she have to make them up?
“You might not know who Salena Zito is off the top of your head, but you’re almost certainly familiar with her work. She writes in publications such as the New York Post and the Washington Examiner about such varied topics as “Why Democrats in Western Pennsylvania Are Voting Trump,” “Why the Generation After Millennials Will Vote Republican” and “Why the Rust Belt Just Gave Donald Trump a Hero’s Welcome.” Or maybe you read her September 2016 piece in The Atlantic in which she famously pointed out that Donald Trump supporters took the candidate seriously, not literally, while the national press did the reverse.
Seriously, not literally: a nice phrase, and a bit of a conjuring trick. It flipped around the usual dynamics of our political culture; the voters had wised up beyond any care for truth, and the simple-minded media were being played for suckers.
The observation hasn’t held up well — Trump has literally done what he literally said he would do — but analytical rigor wasn’t really the point. This was about excusing Trump voters, part of the media’s excruciating and relentless project to understand the mind of the Trumper without ever talking about racism. Zito was more than happy to provide the liberal world with countless portraits of rational, eloquent, Democratic-curious Trump voters who are always just this close to going blue. She even got a book deal and a Harvard teaching fellowship out of it.
Unfortunately, as people have been pointing out with increasing frequency, a lot of it appears to be bullshit…..
Much of her gimmick rests on the idea that her interlocutors are apostate populist Democrats who swung to the Republican Party. This is the story many conservatives prefer to tell about Trump — that he is a populist phenomenon, not the product of regular country-clubs-and-chambers-of-commerce Republicanism. Certainly these left-to-right populists exist in America, but Zito has a knack for finding the ones who, apparently unbeknownst to her, have become Republican Party officials. This is why the criticisms of her are so damning.”
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/columnist-salena-zito-trump-swing-voters_us_5b8581afe4b0162f471cf3ac
As I’ve said many times, and I truly believe, I am certain there are an insignificant number of people who voted for Obama and then voted for trump. Totally insignificant number. Which is a good thing, because if there were that many our mental health system would be overwhelmed.
EMike,
Opinionated……….