# I don't understand what voters Trump could've picked up between 2016 and 2020 **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 4, 2020, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-what-voters-trump-couldve-picked-up-between-2016-and-2020/924722 "2020-11-04T08:30:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-what-voters-trump-couldve-picked-up-between-2016-and-2020/924722/21 "2020-11-04T12:12:06Z")
You mean those **SOCIALIST** countries where the citizens let the gummint tell them what to do?? That shit don’t work here. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-what-voters-trump-couldve-picked-up-between-2016-and-2020/924722/22 "2020-11-04T12:15:14Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > We wouldn’t have to have the fucking lockdowns if people could exercise basic precautions like distancing and mask wearing. Other countries that can behave like adults have much less reliance on lockdowns. France is in lockdown again, England goes into lockdown tomorrow, Germany has a partial lockdown, Italy has new restrictions starting today, Spain has a nationwide curfew, Belgium, Portugal, Netherlands, etc, etc all have new restrictions. The US isn’t unique here. Winter is coming, cold and flu season, the virus is getting worse again. Sure, Trump could have done better, the people could do better, but other countries also have stupid people and bad leaders, and the virus won’t go away if Trump loses the election. The US isn’t uniquely awful, so don’t lose hope. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-what-voters-trump-couldve-picked-up-between-2016-and-2020/924722/23 "2020-11-04T12:17:24Z")
Their thresholds for triggering lockdowns are a lot lower than ours. What we have as our normal activity now would be a fucking disaster by their current standards. But also look at countries that were super responsible and decent to their fellow human beings like Japan, who, despite having crazy population density, lots of public transit, etc. has almost no COVID at all because they weren’t fucking stupid on purpose. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-what-voters-trump-couldve-picked-up-between-2016-and-2020/924722/24 "2020-11-04T12:19:46Z")
Japan is a very collectivist society. That has upsides and downsides, but it’s not at all comparable to the US. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-what-voters-trump-couldve-picked-up-between-2016-and-2020/924722/25 "2020-11-04T12:25:40Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > But also look at countries that were super responsible and decent to their fellow human beings like Japan, who, despite having crazy population density, lots of public transit, etc. has almost no COVID at all because they weren’t fucking stupid on purpose.- I know I don’t need to tell you this, but the culture of Japan values the well-being of the group, of society as a whole. The individual’s needs/wants are secondary. We OTOH are a nation of individuals who demand the right to carry guns in case we encounter someone who needs to be shot. And legally armed individuals **have** shot people who suggested they put someone else’s well-being _temporarily_ ahead of their own by wearing a mask. Or stabbed them, if a gun wasn’t handy. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-what-voters-trump-couldve-picked-up-between-2016-and-2020/924722/26 "2020-11-04T12:28:29Z")
I’ve come to accept Trump’s appeal is an enigma that can only be viewed through the prism of WWE. Everyone who watches WWE knows it’s fake, very stupid and way over the top. But they tune in for the entertainment of seeing people get in the mud. Trump used to be a WWE guest and he uses that persona to demonstrate phony bravado and machismo towards nationalistic sentiment which appeals to people who aren’t policy wonks or politically interested but like the tribal side of beating the other guys. Trump’s not a social conservative. He’s not a fiscal conservative. Yet he’s reaching out to these people more than classical establishment conservative politicians who come across too stiff for the general public. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-what-voters-trump-couldve-picked-up-between-2016-and-2020/924722/27 "2020-11-04T12:51:24Z")
Trump new voter attraction: - Fear of socialism - Fear of abortion - Fear of LGBT lifestyles - Fear of blacks and Mexicans - Faith - Flag - Family - Firearms ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-what-voters-trump-couldve-picked-up-between-2016-and-2020/924722/28 "2020-11-04T12:53:06Z")
I think city folk under-estimate how much of it is flags and guns. I think those trump all the others combined. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-what-voters-trump-couldve-picked-up-between-2016-and-2020/924722/29 "2020-11-04T12:58:29Z")
Agreed - Look at the impact of flags at the Nuremberg rallies ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-what-voters-trump-couldve-picked-up-between-2016-and-2020/924722/30 "2020-11-04T13:15:49Z")
I’m definitely more in the Trump camp than you, but his idea of “falling upward” may be the best way to put it. There is some “going to the crossroads” thing about DJT. He’s been hit hard both from his enemies and his own many, many failing and he might still win it. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-what-voters-trump-couldve-picked-up-between-2016-and-2020/924722/31 "2020-11-04T13:17:32Z")
He got a lot more latino votes, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-what-voters-trump-couldve-picked-up-between-2016-and-2020/924722/32 "2020-11-04T13:21:20Z")
Cubans perhaps, Mexicans and Puerto Ricans unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-what-voters-trump-couldve-picked-up-between-2016-and-2020/924722/33 "2020-11-04T13:44:39Z")
Not my Cuban relatives. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-what-voters-trump-couldve-picked-up-between-2016-and-2020/924722/34 "2020-11-04T13:51:54Z")
I agree. I think there are a lot of people out there who do not like Trump personally, but when there was a rash of demonstrations and violence over the summer, they REALLY did not like the Democrat response to it. I kind of think that for a lot of people it really was a **[Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs](https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html)** type situation, where security, safety and law & order came to the forefront when they felt threatened by the protests and riots earlier this year. Trump’s incompetent, a liar, a cheat and a bully, but that becomes less important when he’s the one saying that he wants to use all the government’s resources to keep people safe, _when people are scared._ It’s not even racist; huge protests and associated rioting are NOT generally part of the American experience, not even in big cities. Again, lots of otherwise sympathetic people threw that sympathy out the window the moment the rioting started, and gravitated to the law and order side of things. And the moronic slogan “Defund the Police” did nothing but push them faster and further to that side. You’ll note there were virtually (maybe even literally) NO reports of election night violence or intimidation. Trump’s people know this- that’s why they behaved themselves last night. Basically Biden & the Democrats were dealing on the top of the Needs pyramid, while Trump was appealing to the bottom, right at the point when people were literally scared. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-what-voters-trump-couldve-picked-up-between-2016-and-2020/924722/35 "2020-11-04T13:55:42Z")
He clearly picked up some voters who were scared of his racism in 2016 but ended up liking his strident positions on controversial issues. Looking especially at Florida, where he probably won over some ultra-Zionists with his positions on Israel and won over anti-commie votes as well. I was also reading about the Indian vote, the “Hindutva”. I mean every little vote can make the difference. But I suspect a lot of people concluded that Trump just wasn’t that bad – to them. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-what-voters-trump-couldve-picked-up-between-2016-and-2020/924722/36 "2020-11-04T17:18:14Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Mail in ballots being more common meant it was easier to cast a vote, so maybe there were people who would’ve voted for Trump in 2016, but were too lazy, but decided to vote for Trump in 2020 with the mail in ballot? Given that Trump is extremely polarizing, and if you support him you tend to wildly support him and would go to the polls for him, this seems unlikely to me too. It’s not quite this - I’m sure there were people who would have voted for Trump in 2016 who didn’t bother voting because they were certain Clinton was going to win. I don’t know anyone who was so certain of the 2020 outcome that they didn’t bother voting for that reason. Even people in NY ( which was absolutely going Biden) voted because there weren’t certain about the other races. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-what-voters-trump-couldve-picked-up-between-2016-and-2020/924722/37 "2020-11-04T17:56:06Z")
You may find this hard to believe–I do. On Monday or Tuesday, the NY Times printed a letter from a woman who said that she had voted for Clinton in 2016, but would vote for Trump this time. “Because, he cares for the little people.” So, FWIW, there is one answer. Someone who has paid so little attention that they think he cares for the little people. He has never hidden his contempt for them. ---
**Author:** ![Enjoy\_Slurm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enjoy_slurm/32/3937_2.png) [@Enjoy\_Slurm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enjoy_Slurm)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-what-voters-trump-couldve-picked-up-between-2016-and-2020/924722/38 "2020-11-04T18:21:54Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > Trump new voter attraction: > > - Family All those damn Trump supporters caring about family is what is ruining America. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-what-voters-trump-couldve-picked-up-between-2016-and-2020/924722/39 "2020-11-04T20:50:12Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Where was the National leadership? Why wasn’t there strong condemnation of the BLM and Antifa violence? Defunding the police, packing the Supreme Court, and the other issues that scares the hell out of middle America? Pretty much everywhere but on Fox and other right wing media outlets. > [@aceplace57](#): > > Yeah, I know the Right is out on the streets too. That’s the entire point. The Democrats couldn’t take advantage of the violence from the right. The Democrat’s house is on fire too. Because they are not reporting the right wing violence on Fox and other right wing media outlets. > [@aceplace57](#): > > Like it or not violence and civil disorder is the image many people equate with Democrats. Because that is what they are telling the people that watch Fox and other right wing media outlets. > [@aceplace57](#): > > The National Party controls funding and infrastructure for campaigns. They don’t control Fox and other right wing media outlets. > [@aceplace57](#): > > The DLC would have done everything possible to present a united and coherent party platform. Give voters a reason to vote democrat. But the DLC is gone. I don’t see any leadership that was supposed to replace it. They did, but any division in the message was amplified by Fox and other right wing media outlets. > [@aceplace57](#): > > You have so many voices shouting different things. That’s part of _not_ being a hive mind. That’s a good thing, IMHO. But it is turned into a bad thing by Fox and other right wing media outlets. > [@aceplace57](#): > > This was yet another blown opportunity. There should have been a sweeping out of any candidate associated with Trump. Agreed. And informed and engaged voters tried to do so. Those who chose to consume Fox and other right wing media outlets did not. > [@DemonTree](#): > > Republican identity politics: > > (To majority voters.) Other people are bad and wrong and are causing the problems in America. Vote for us and we’ll fix your problems! Yep, that’s what those who choose to consume Fox and other right wing media outlets heard. > [@DemonTree](#): > > Democrat identity politics: > > (To majority voters.) _You_ are bad and wrong and are causing the problems in America. You don’t have problems, you just need to be re-educated. Vote for us so we can tax you in order to fix other people’s problems! This too is the message that those who choose to consume Fox and other right wing media outlets received. > [@DemonTree](#): > > One of those messages is rather more attractive than the other… True, the lie is always more attractive than the truth. > [@SenorBeef](#): > > I say this not as a joke, but the closest I’ve ever come to believing in the supernatural is Trump’s uncanny ability to convince half the world that he’s the exact opposite of what he is, and no matter how badly he fucks everything up, always fail upward. Trump did not do it himself. He had a whole lot of help from Fox and other right wing media outlets. > [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > Certainly, I didn’t see it very much from the Biden campaign. That was exactly the message of the Biden campaign. Get the pandemic under control, then we can repair the economy. > [@Omniscient](#): > > I think city folk under-estimate how much of it is flags and guns. I think those trump all the others combined. Yeah, but _which_ flag? > [@bump](#): > > I kind of think that for a lot of people it really was a **[Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs](https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html)** type situation, where security, safety and law & order came to the forefront when they felt threatened by the protests and riots earlier this year. And why did the people in suburbs feel threatened by the protests in the cities? Because of Fox and right wing media. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-what-voters-trump-couldve-picked-up-between-2016-and-2020/924722/40 "2020-11-04T20:53:43Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > And why did the people in suburbs feel threatened by the protests in the cities? Because of Fox and right wing media. I don’t know that you can say that with any certainty. It looked kind of scary even not watching Fox or right-wing media, even if in my city (Dallas), not much of anything happened. I mean, all you saw was flames, cops in riot gear, and a lot of angry people yelling for several nights on end. I can totally see fearful people thinking that this is out of the pale, and needs to be dealt with harshly. Especially if they’re not so “woke” and don’t quite understand the reasons for the protests in the first place. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-what-voters-trump-couldve-picked-up-between-2016-and-2020/924722.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-what-voters-trump-couldve-picked-up-between-2016-and-2020/924722.md?page=3)