# 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:** 9
**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, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/161 "2017-10-23T20:56:40Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Do you know who else used to say “Now look what you made me do?” after flailing around madly and destroying whatever project he was on at the time? > Oliver Hardy. That’s interesting but I’m not sure if the analogy is accurate. Trump’s election didn’t happen in a vacuum and the conditions that made it possible are the result of many variables. Those who voted for Trump may not feel any responsibility for the variables that led to a possibility of Trump. That’s not necessarily blame. That’s just a recognition that the landscape is complex. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/162 "2017-10-23T20:59:45Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > I gave my reply to you at #149 > [@](#): > > They tell me these people have had no political representation, no regard, no respect, no democracy in their lives for a long time. They had no hope. With all due respect, that’s a bizarre way for them to feel. They have the same political representation, regard and respect as the rest of us. In other words, not a whole lot. You go to the polls every two years or so, disappointed with your choices, and pick the one you like a little bit, and that one often loses. Do they feel entitled to more? ---
**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, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/163 "2017-10-23T21:00:54Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Why is it that, for the most part, people that are members of “Party Of Personal Responsibility” on this message board will not take personal responsibility for the election of Trump? I see the blaming of the primary system, the Democratic Party, Mrs. Clinton and various other parties, and sometimes an occasional “I just stood back and let others vote him”…but not much “I voted for Trump out of enthusiasm for his platform and his record-He was the best candidate!” Republicans have never been about personal responsibility. That was just a dog whistle for them being callous and cold blooded when locking up criminals and cutting people out of the social safety net (usually, in their minds at least, black people in both groups). Personal responsibility was a talking point to avoid having to feel empathy for (Street) criminals and the poor. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/164 "2017-10-23T21:03:17Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > Trump represents many things but in capturing the white poor vote he attracted the truly desperate, the thoroughly disenfranchised. Why were poor whites more susceptible to Trump seduction than poor non-whites? “Draining the swamp” seems like it should be a color blind interest. Any real reason we should suppose poor whites have a hankering for this more than other groups? And what about all those white middle class folks who voted for him? We shouldn’t overlook the fact that the majority of white voters—both poor and rich—came out for this idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/165 "2017-10-23T21:07:10Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > That’s interesting but I’m not sure if the analogy is accurate. Trump’s election didn’t happen in a vacuum and the conditions that made it possible are the result of many variables. Those who voted for Trump may not feel any responsibility for the variables that led to a possibility of Trump. That’s not necessarily blame. That’s just a recognition that the landscape is complex. Are any of the factors you believe were in play the massive amounts of Russian propaganda, or the popularity of political rallies where people were allowed, and even encouraged, to hate “the enemy” openly? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/166 "2017-10-23T21:19:24Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Are any of the factors you believe were in play the massive amounts of Russian propaganda, Massive? Not true. All of [$100k](https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/6/16263704/russia-election-hacking-facebook-ad-spending), apparently. That’s under 1%, down in the noise. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/167 "2017-10-23T21:25:58Z")
Trump campaigned on building a wall along our southern border and “a total and complete ban on Muslims” from entering the country. There are a LOT more racist simpletons in this country than meets the eye. Not all of 'em attend white power rallies. Most of them just quietly vote for the racist when they can, and bide their days grumbling about protesters and regulations and such. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/168 "2017-10-23T21:28:29Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Massive? Not true. All of [$100k](https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/6/16263704/russia-election-hacking-facebook-ad-spending), apparently. That’s under 1%, down in the noise. There was only one single source of Russian propaganda? ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/169 "2017-10-23T21:29:04Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > Why were poor whites more susceptible to Trump seduction than poor non-whites? Minorities badly need ‘to drain the swamp’ they just don’t want to make American great again because it never was for them. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/170 "2017-10-23T21:32:07Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > And what about all those white middle class folks who voted for him? We shouldn’t overlook the fact that the majority of white voters—both poor and rich—came out for this idiot. tbh, my interest is the working class, working and non-working poor. I saw stuff, like everyone else, on the squeezed middle class. I felt there was a whole different set of dynamics going on with that group, some of it financial some of it nationalistic, some social. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/171 "2017-10-23T21:34:44Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > With all due respect, that’s a bizarre way for them to feel. This reads as arrogant. And patronising and dismissive. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/172 "2017-10-23T21:40:11Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > This reads as arrogant. And patronising and dismissive. That’s why I added “with all due respect.” I’m sorry if it comes across that way, but it’s baffling that so many could be so stupid. It’s one thing to vote for Romney, or even GWBush. Sure, we can debate the merits of such a thing. But when someone votes for Trump, Dennis Rodman,or a three legged ox, people are going to wonder what the hell is going on. ---
**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, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/173 "2017-10-23T21:41:06Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Trump campaigned on building a wall along our southern border and “a total and complete ban on Muslims” from entering the country. There are a LOT more racist simpletons in this country than meets the eye. Not all of 'em attend white power rallies. Most of them just quietly vote for the racist when they can, and bide their days grumbling about protesters and regulations and such. Border control is not automatically racist. Why should a nation have de facto open borders? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/174 "2017-10-23T21:41:08Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > This reads as arrogant. And patronising and dismissive. Where the hell was all this right-wing sensitivity during the campaign? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/175 "2017-10-23T21:42:58Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Border control is not automatically racist. Why should a nation have de facto open borders? If we aren’t for that ridiculous wall we must be supporting de facto open borders? ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/176 "2017-10-23T21:47:14Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > It’s one thing to vote for Romney, or even GWBush. Sure, we can debate the merits of such a thing. But when someone votes for Trump, Dennis Rodman,or a three legged ox, people are going to wonder what the hell is going on. They didn’t vote; generationally, familialy, they had long since stopped participating in the democracy. Consequentally they weren’t on anyone’s radar, inc. the east/west coast media. Trump lured them back, of course on false pretenses but nonetheless they registered in hope - and in numbers sufficient to alter balance. These people are long past a Democrat/Republican dichotomy. The swamp is the swamp, they’ve experienced it all ways. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/177 "2017-10-23T21:59:08Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Border control is not automatically racist. Why should a nation have de facto open borders? Because no one is calling for a Canadian wall? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/178 "2017-10-23T22:08:11Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Because no one is calling for a Canadian wall? Oh come on now, the amount of illegal immigrants from the southern border vs. the northern border is remotely close in numbers? I’m not in favor of the wall, but bullshit is bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/179 "2017-10-23T22:19:08Z")
A wall is a wall. If the issue is legality of ppl in the United States, let’s be fair and wall off Canada as well. I mean, there’s over 100k of those freeloaders, living off America’s tit. 😃 > **[Northern aliens: Around 100,000 Canadians live under the radar in U.S. as...](https://nationalpost.com/news/world/northern-aliens-around-100000-canadians-live-under-the-radar-in-u-s-as-illegal-immigrants)** > > If illegals from Canada have had a comparatively easy ride to date, that may be about to change with Trump’s determination to crack down on unauthorized… ---
**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, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514/180 "2017-10-23T22:22:37Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > They didn’t vote; generationally, familialy, they had long since stopped participating in the democracy. Consequentally they weren’t on anyone’s radar, inc. the east/west coast media. > > Trump lured them back, of course on false pretenses but nonetheless they registered in hope - and in numbers sufficient to alter balance. > > These people are long past a Democrat/Republican dichotomy. The swamp is the swamp, they’ve experienced it all ways. OK, so they voted for him and he won. But now they still support him and approve of the job he is doing. He promised a health care bill ready on day one that would give everyone better coverage for less money. He didn’t come close to delivering. I seem to recall republicans (still) losing their shit over Obama’s “…if you like your plan, you can keep it…”, but Trump gets a pass. Republicans lost their shit over the deficit and debt from the beginning to the end of Obama’s terms. Now the Republicans want to pass a tax reduction that, at it’s absolute best republican-magic growth performance, will add over 1.5 trillion to debt. I guess deficits don’t matter again. He promised not to touch medicaid, medicare and SS, but has tried repeatedly to cut these entitlements, but I hear no pushback from his voters. Republicans constantly bitched about Obama taking vacations or playing golf, but Trump does this at 10x the rate Obama did and suddenly that’s OK. Republicans bitched that the unemployment rate published during the obama administration wasn’t the “real” rate. But now they embrace the same metric. The scandal of the decade, according to right-wing media, was Hillary’s e-mails that may have contained classified information that someone could have hacked into and stolen and given to our adversaries. Trump invites Russians into a private, no-media meeting in the oval office and later admits to telling them military-planning top-secret classified information about our intelligence sources. Again, nothing but support from his supporters on this. It’s the hypocrisy that makes me angry, but that pales in comparison to the sadness I feel with my loss of faith in humanity that happened on election night. That, in general, in aggregate, we want to do what is right and don’t actively and intentionally make anyone’s life worse. I no longer can say that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-hard-accepting-republican-voters-are-decent-people-lately/799514.md?page=10)