# Does anyone else have a hard accepting republican voters are decent people lately? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 22, 2017, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514 "2017-10-22T01:06:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/101 "2017-10-23T00:19:00Z")
I’m puzzled why people assume the average Republican loves Trump? Our primary system failed us miserably. Then we were stuck choosing between a much disliked Hillary and a slightly less disliked Trump. No one I know is happy we got Trump. I’m not happy about the right wing Republicans in Congress either. I’ve always favored people who stay in the center of politics. I liked some Democrats and Republicans that positioned themselves that way. They’re getting hard to find. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/102 "2017-10-23T00:39:19Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > No, that doesn’t fly with me. > > Trump tried to get nominated as a Democrat on several occasions. Democrats rejected him. > > Trump then switched to the Republicans. The Republicans embraced him; they nominated him and elected him President. So the Republicans are to blame for the Trump presidency. You will have to remember that this comes from a rather ardent Bernie supporter. My response would be that had the Republican elite followed the example of the Democrat elite and tanked Trump or had the Democrat elite allowed Bernie an equal chance with Clinton ---------- but we can fight about that one for the next 10 years or so. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![nate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nate/32/13085_2.png) [@nate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nate)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/103 "2017-10-23T00:42:45Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’m puzzled why people assume the average Republican loves Trump? > > Our primary system failed us miserably. Then we were stuck choosing between a much disliked Hillary and a slightly less disliked Trump. > > No one I know is happy we got Trump. > > I’m not happy about the right wing Republicans in Congress either. I’ve always favored people who stay in the center of politics. I liked some Democrats and Republicans that positioned themselves that way. They’re getting hard to find. Because according to the latest Gallup polls Trump has a 79% approval rating among republicans. I don’t care if they all love him or not, they voted for him and continue to support the guy. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/104 "2017-10-23T01:08:13Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’m puzzled why people assume the average Republican loves Trump? > > Our primary system failed us miserably. Then we were stuck choosing between a much disliked Hillary and a slightly less disliked Trump. > > No one I know is happy we got Trump. > > I’m not happy about the right wing Republicans in Congress either. I’ve always favored people who stay in the center of politics. I liked some Democrats and Republicans that positioned themselves that way. They’re getting hard to find. Trump has about 80% approval among republicans. About 95% of them voted for him in the general election. You don’t have to love him, but you guys still voted for him to be president and approve of the job he is doing. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/105 "2017-10-23T01:13:24Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > So let’s mark them as different. Let’s make them wear something - a star, perhaps - so we can know who these traitorous people are. Then later perhaps we could encourage them to group together in camps for the safety of the rest of us. After all, they’re physically different, subhuman, aren’t they? Its more the opposite. We on the left are worried about the kinds of people who would vote for a nazi, we aren’t the nazis. Is Trump Hitler? No, not even close. However Trump is dangerously incompetent, doesn’t respect the constitution or democracy, is totally unqualified to be president, is seriously mentally ill, has no understanding of civics, engages in several acts of secrecy and corruption that shouldn’t be tolerated in a free and wealthy society, is hostile to several tenets of liberal democracy (independent judiciary, rule of law, independent congress, free press, etc) and has multiple allegations of serious crimes that need to be investigated by legitimate law enforcement agencies. Those of us who are worried because we live in a country where 63 million people would vote for someone like that is a serious issue. You can’t make this go away by comparing us to Nazis. We are the ones afraid of Nazis and the kinds of people who would vote for one. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/106 "2017-10-23T01:21:16Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > You will have to remember that this comes from a rather ardent Bernie supporter. My response would be that had the Republican elite followed the example of the Democrat elite and tanked Trump or had the Democrat elite allowed Bernie an equal chance with Clinton ---------- but we can fight about that one for the next 10 years or so. 😉 How did the democratic elite crush Bernie? A few emails saying they preferred Hillary is all I’ve seen. Had Bernie won more votes, he would’ve won the primary. He didn’t. Bernie got 13 million votes, Hillary got 17 million. Had Bernie got 18 million votes he would’ve won the primary. The GOP did try to sink Trump in the sense that people like Romney were encouraging people to vote against him, and towards the end the RNC said they wouldn’t fund him. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/107 "2017-10-23T01:22:12Z")
I don’t think he has any chance of being reelected. Unless something changes dramaticaly. Oct 21, 17 > **[Trump's Popularity Plunges Near All-Time Low](https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-approval-rating-popularity-low-latest-polls-690138)** > > No other president in the history of modern polling has been so unpopular at this point in their presidency. > [@](#): > > Notably, Trump’s approval rating neared his all-time low in the Gallup poll. The latest figure in Gallup’s tracking survey, released Thursday, pegged Trump’s approval at just 35 percent, down from 38 percent at this point last week. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/108 "2017-10-23T01:31:02Z")
Re-elected or not we need to treat this like a vaccine for our democracy and strengthen our institutions. Stronger rules for who can enter a primary Make the justice department more independent from the executive Make it easier for other groups to engage in oversight and investigation when congress is the same party as the executive and refuses to engage in oversight or investigations. Remove the executive’s ability to fire special counsels Demand candidates release their tax returns, undergo full medical exams including a full neurological and psychological exam by trained, objective professionals. Eliminate the executive branch’s ability to engage in first strike nuclear attacks etc ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/109 "2017-10-23T01:51:37Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > In my opinion, the problem isn’t that the typical right-wing rank-and-file, base, core-supporter is, let’s say, a racist. It is that he doesn’t care very much about racism. It doesn’t rile him. He figures blacks have got legal equality, and don’t need anything more. He thinks restaurant owners ought to have the legal right to exclude blacks as customers – it’s private property, isn’t it? > > They aren’t evil. They just are able to accommodate themselves to evil. They’re the ones who don’t speak out when “they” come for the Jews, because they are not Jews. “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” > > The right wing, today, consists of those “good people.” I disagree. Xenophobia and tribalism are active traits, not passive traits that I see. The anti-black, anti-latino, anti-muslim, anti-gay stuff I see isn’t passive. It may be indirect (couching anti-gay attitudes in religion, expressing anti-black attitudes by being filled with rage when black people protest police brutality) but its there and its active. They don’t want to put those people in gas chambers or anything, but they do want to make their life more miserable. It has been interesting reading news articles of Trump supporters finally realizing that their health care is on the chopping block too if the ACA is repealed. I think deep down inside a lot of those people voted hoping the government would take health care away from blacks, latinos and people they consider their moral inferiors (various poor people). They wanted to make life harder and more painful for the ‘others’ but what they don’t understand is that in the eyes of the GOP elite, anyone who isn’t rich is one of the ‘others’. Many of them aren’t passive ‘good people’. Many (not all though, but many) wanted to cause pain for various groups they consider their inferiors, but now are finding out they are going to suffer too. I never thought leopards would eat \*\*my \*\*face, said woman who voted for leopards eating people’s faces party. ---
**Author:** ![AI\_Proofreader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@AI\_Proofreader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AI_Proofreader)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/110 "2017-10-23T01:57:02Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > How did the democratic elite crush Bernie? A few emails saying they preferred Hillary is all I’ve seen. Had Bernie won more votes, he would’ve won the primary. He didn’t. Bernie got 13 million votes, Hillary got 17 million. Had Bernie got 18 million votes he would’ve won the primary. > > The GOP did try to sink Trump in the sense that people like Romney were encouraging people to vote against him, and towards the end the RNC said they wouldn’t fund him. The DNC rigged the primary against Bernie and in favor of Clinton, as admitted by the DNC chair Tom Perez: > **[DNC Chair Candidate Tom Perez Admits Democratic Primaries Were Rigged](https://observer.com/2017/02/dnc-chair-candidate-tom-perez-admits-democratic-primaries-rigged/)** > > Former Secretary of Labor’s moment of clarity was brief And as admitted in the court proceedings for the lawsuit that was brought by DNC contributors: > **[Did the DNC Kill Bernie Sanders' Shot for Presidency?](https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-rigged-hillary-clinton-dnc-lawsuit-donald-trump-president-609582)** > > The mainstream media hasn't covered a class action lawsuit charging the DNC with election fraud. > [@DNC lawyer](#): > > the organization’s neutrality among Democratic campaigns during the primaries was merely a “political promise,” and therefore it had no legal obligations to remain impartial throughout the process. Add in Debbie Wasserman Schultz feeding debate questions to Clinton, and the media tacitly ignoring Sanders’ packed stadiums while airing complete, unedited, no-commentary added live feeds of Trump’s empty rooms, and it’s amazing that Sanders still managed to get 47% of the primary vote. The media definitely played a huge role in Trump getting elected. The gave him billions in free air time. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/111 "2017-10-23T02:10:54Z")
> [@AI\_Proofreader](#): > > The DNC rigged the primary against Bernie and in favor of Clinton, as admitted by the DNC chair Tom Perez: > > [DNC Chair Candidate Tom Perez Admits Democratic Primaries Were Rigged | Observer](http://observer.com/2017/02/dnc-chair-candidate-tom-perez-admits-democratic-primaries-rigged/) > > And as admitted in the court proceedings for the lawsuit that was brought by DNC contributors: > > [Was the Election Rigged Against Bernie Sanders? DNC Lawsuit Demands Repayment for Campaign Donors - Newsweek](http://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-rigged-hillary-clinton-dnc-lawsuit-donald-trump-president-609582) > > Add in Debbie Wasserman Schultz feeding debate questions to Clinton, and the media tacitly ignoring Sanders’ packed stadiums while airing complete, unedited, no-commentary added live feeds of Trump’s empty rooms, and it’s amazing that Sanders still managed to get 47% of the primary vote. > > The media definitely played a huge role in Trump getting elected. The gave him billions in free air time. Thanks for that. Changing fundraising rules, organizing debates on certain days, etc. Yeah that is biased for Hillary but it still didn’t rig the primary IMO. It slanted it a bit, but again had Bernie won more votes he would have gotten the nomination. If that stuff is all true it shows a lack of independence from the DNC and it tried to tip the scales but to me rigging is more extreme than that and involves voter suppression or not counting votes properly. Even if those things listed by the DNC hadn’t happened, I don’t think Bernie would’ve overcome his 4 million vote deficit. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/112 "2017-10-23T04:57:36Z")
> [@nate](#): > > I live in a deep red state, work in a deep-red job, surrounded by deep-red voters. I really feel like I’m in some sort of bizzaro world, and while a I used to be able to broach the subject of politics in casual conversations with my co-workers I just can’t now, really for my own sanity. I still overhear them discussing their support of Trump and the literal demonization of democrats, and it just makes my stomach turn. To me, the republican agenda is best described as Bill Maher said, “what would an asshole do in this situation?”, and I’m sorry, but those that support this sort of gov’t are just not good people. It’s really hard to be surrounded by this at work everyday, but I just try to ignore and not get into any political discussions. > > I put a lot of blame on republicans, and I don’t see it “on both sides”. I don’t see democrats appealing to the worst aspects of human behavior for votes.I blame Fox news and right-wing media for giving hateful people a way to feel good about themselves. It seems like there is no “deal breaker” for republican voters, it’s the (R) that matters. And for what? What is the ultimate agenda? It seems everything they bitched about during the Obama administration is happening 10-fold now but they defend it. Deficits only mattered between 2009-2016 it seems. > > I don’t even try to debate the other side now, I just try to understand and find some logic in their reasoning and it usually boils down to the hate for welfare, and not welfare for “those who really need it” but welfare for those others that don’t share the same skin tone. > > I truly believe there is a physical difference in the liberal and conservatives mind. Something about diminishing empathy for increasingly differing DNA. I mean we probably all care more for family than a blade of grass, but the line of diminishing empathy between the two hangs a lot lower for conservatives. > > Sorry, don’t really know where to go with this, I just felt like ranting. > [@septimus](#): > > I’m sure many Republicans are kind intelligent people, whom I might like if I got to know them without discussing politics. It is paradoxical — and very sad — how America has become so polarized over politics. > > Despite that intellectually I know Repubs are often good people who have just been misled, I find myself hating them viscerally. Yet I know many of them think they’re the rational ones, and hate progressive thinkers. I keep thinking “Strange! Don’t they understand how ugly their opinions are, that _we_ are the righteous ones?” But they have the mirror-image viewpoint — it seems paradoxical! > > Conservatives emphasize self and family and other in-groups (their own race, their state, their country), while liberals extend their compassion much more broadly (to all Americans, all humans, even to animals). While I give preference to my own family in day-to-day decisions, I’ll follow Kant’s imperative when exercising my tiny power in the voting booth. > > It is [known that there are, on average, fundamental differences in brain structure between liberals and conservatives.](https://www.salon.com/2016/06/06/study_liberals_and_conservatives_have_different_brain_structures_partner/) Have these been pinned down? Are the brain structures set at birth, or do they develop environmentally? I think I’ve helped popularize the use of “bloated-amygdala” to describe right-wingers, although there is one Google hit from before my first usage. The amygdala is the brain’s center for the emotions of fear and disgust. > > ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ > > As I tried to explain in another thread, in older days the political divide involved factors where _both sides had partisans of both brain types_, cerebral _and_ bloated amygdala. It is recently that the divide is no longer about geography or economic policies — Americans today pick a party based on their cognition mode. > > _ **The political divide is now cerebra versus bloated amygdalae.** _ There are at least two posts in this thread attributing a hated political ideology with genes. That is a fascinating evolution in left wing thinking. ---
**Author:** ![nate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nate/32/13085_2.png) [@nate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nate)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/113 "2017-10-23T07:15:42Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > There are at least two posts in this thread attributing a hated political ideology with genes. That is a fascinating evolution in left wing thinking. I think it’s more that there are studies that point to there being differences in brain structure of liberals and conservatives. The part of the brain that responds to fear tends to be larger and more active in conservatives. The irrationality of conservative views leads me to want to understand why people hold those views. Obviously, it would eventually lead to a physical trait and I’m glad people are studying this. Not to find a “fix” but to gain understanding of other’s way of thinking and what physical differences in brains give us our world view. I work with a guy who claims he literally saw a demon in a corner of a room and managed to cast him out. And when he tells this story, I just stare at him. I would absolutely love for something like that to happen to me, but until it does, I just can not understand what goes on in this guy’s head for him to believe that demons exist, he saw a demon in a corner of his niece’s room, and he was able to cast it out(?) by reciting some bible verse. I mean, I would LOVE for this sort of thing to be possible, to exist, it would make the world much more interesting, but in our universe this is batshit insane. And of course he voted for Trump, Not that his demon casting relates to that, but there is something telling about one’s mind that accepts and believes all sorts of craxy shit religously and well, accepts and believes all sorts of craxy shit politically. I guess my point is, I just don’t get the mentality. I try but I can’t understand it. I came from a conservative family, my parents are in the Trump cult and it just makes it awkward to talk to them knowing that. I’ve never felt like this before. I didn’t care they voted for Bush, McCain and Romney, but voting for Trump and continuing to support his agenda is just a complete enigma to me. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/114 "2017-10-23T08:06:38Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > There are at least two posts in this thread attributing a hated political ideology with genes. That is a fascinating evolution in left wing thinking. Two people define an entire ideology. That is an unsurprising demonstration in your thinking. Oops, I meant to write “thinking”. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/115 "2017-10-23T08:57:14Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > So let’s mark them as different. Let’s make them wear something - a star, perhaps - so we can know who these traitorous people are. Then later perhaps we could encourage them to group together in camps for the safety of the rest of us. After all, they’re physically different, subhuman, aren’t they? No need. Even if they’re not wearing MAGA hats, they give themselves away as soon as the subject of politics comes up in conversation. Some even post sarcastic messages on the 'Net, pretending it’s the other side that behaves like Nazis rather than the subhumans themselves. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/116 "2017-10-23T12:15:10Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Its more the opposite. We on the left are worried about the kinds of people who would vote for a nazi, we aren’t the nazis. You know who also wasn’t a Nazi but worried about them a lot? Stalin. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/117 "2017-10-23T14:02:22Z")
> [@AI\_Proofreader](#): > > The DNC rigged the primary against Bernie and in favor of Clinton, as admitted by the DNC chair Tom Perez: > > [DNC Chair Candidate Tom Perez Admits Democratic Primaries Were Rigged | Observer](http://observer.com/2017/02/dnc-chair-candidate-tom-perez-admits-democratic-primaries-rigged/) > > And as admitted in the court proceedings for the lawsuit that was brought by DNC contributors: > > [Was the Election Rigged Against Bernie Sanders? DNC Lawsuit Demands Repayment for Campaign Donors - Newsweek](http://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-rigged-hillary-clinton-dnc-lawsuit-donald-trump-president-609582) > > Add in Debbie Wasserman Schultz feeding debate questions to Clinton, and the media tacitly ignoring Sanders’ packed stadiums while airing complete, unedited, no-commentary added live feeds of Trump’s empty rooms, and it’s amazing that Sanders still managed to get 47% of the primary vote. > > The media definitely played a huge role in Trump getting elected. The gave him billions in free air time. quoted for truth ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/118 "2017-10-23T15:34:45Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Two people define an entire ideology. That is an unsurprising demonstration in your thinking. > > Oops, I meant to write “thinking”. Is that an attempt at an “insult?” How unkind. Sad that you don’t recognize the irony in your post being in this particular thread. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/119 "2017-10-23T15:36:09Z")
> [@nate](#): > > I think it’s more that there are studies that point to there being differences in brain structure of liberals and conservatives. The part of the brain that responds to fear tends to be larger and more active in conservatives. > > The irrationality of conservative views leads me to want to understand why people hold those views. Obviously, it would eventually lead to a physical trait and I’m glad people are studying this. Not to find a “fix” but to gain understanding of other’s way of thinking and what physical differences in brains give us our world view. > > I work with a guy who claims he literally saw a demon in a corner of a room and managed to cast him out. And when he tells this story, I just stare at him. I would absolutely love for something like that to happen to me, but until it does, I just can not understand what goes on in this guy’s head for him to believe that demons exist, he saw a demon in a corner of his niece’s room, and he was able to cast it out(?) by reciting some bible verse. I mean, I would LOVE for this sort of thing to be possible, to exist, it would make the world much more interesting, but in our universe this is batshit insane. And of course he voted for Trump, Not that his demon casting relates to that, but there is something telling about one’s mind that accepts and believes all sorts of craxy shit religously and well, accepts and believes all sorts of craxy shit politically. > > I guess my point is, I just don’t get the mentality. I try but I can’t understand it. I came from a conservative family, my parents are in the Trump cult and it just makes it awkward to talk to them knowing that. I’ve never felt like this before. I didn’t care they voted for Bush, McCain and Romney, but voting for Trump and continuing to support his agenda is just a complete enigma to me. So physical differences result in differing ideologies? ---
**Author:** ![nate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nate/32/13085_2.png) [@nate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nate)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/120 "2017-10-23T16:35:07Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > So physical differences result in differing ideologies? Well yeah, in a sense. Ultimately, It’s physical all the way down, right? You could probably imagine a stroke victim doing a 180’ on their political views due to brain damage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514.md?page=7)