# Note to all the other boiling frogs... **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 23, 2016, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707 "2016-07-23T20:15:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2016, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/21 "2016-07-24T00:55:25Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > I find this true for any Presidential candidate … is Gitmo closed yet? As noted \*\*your \*\*single argument to vote for Trump was shot down, I’m not a single issue voter. > [@watchwolf49](#): > > But that’s another issue … just how much can the President do without Congressional permission? Consider The Donald signing an Executive Order expelling all the Muslims from the United States, there’s got to be one Federal Judge who will slap an injunction on that, and rather quickly. No Muslims will be expelled no matter how much The Donald says he wants too. As others pointed out executive orders can do a lot of harm and I did point at the expense (just in court expenses) and loss of revenue before common sense prevails as reasons not to vote for a guy that will try to do the things that his supporters want that are reprehensible. One has to point at fellow travelers of Trump like racist Sheriff Joe Arpaio that have been found by the courts to be abusing of his power and wasting lots of money from the state of Arizona to get an idea what is coming. Trump will not give a damn if he bankrupts the nation just to get his hateful ideas a start up. (And Trump still loves Arpaio and what he is doing, the media has not to this date demanded Trump to repudiate Arpaio meaning that we do not need to guess, we have a very good idea of what is coming, lots of money to defend hateful actions, more of the stupid war on drugs, more money for jails and less money for science and education) ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2016, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/22 "2016-07-24T03:38:28Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > … For me, it’s about throwing investment bankers into prison when they commit felonies. I think it’s a terrible mistake to create a class of businesses that are “too big to fail”, and thusly “too big to prosecute”… First, though, you have to have laws by which you can prosecute them. Most, if not nearly all, of the previous decades shenanigans were entirely legal. It is pretty challenging to find ways to lock up investment bankers for not doing illegal things. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2016, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/23 "2016-07-24T04:53:07Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > No, it’s like doing that because the seller promises he’ll have that shiny ornament for you next week. True. Trump is all hot air. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2016, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/24 "2016-07-24T06:28:11Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > For me, it’s about throwing investment bankers into prison when they commit felonies. I’m not sure how serious you are here, but Trump himself is a major fraudster. Is the idea “It takes one to know one” and we need an experienced fraudster to crack down on fraud? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2016, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/25 "2016-07-24T07:58:21Z")
The only possible explanation for the ascent of Trump is the emergence of the phenomenon [described in this story](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marching_Morons). Maybe not quite to the same degree, but the same idea. Seriously. The irony of that particular story is that the protagonist was described as a real estate swindler. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2016, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/26 "2016-07-24T08:25:59Z")
No, the rise of Trump can be explained by a worldwide phenomena: the political class has failed, what they thought was best for us and that we were supposedly too stupid to know was good for us turned out to not be so great. There’s a Trump in every Western country, and frankly, their Trumps are a lot better than our Trumps. Americans are so busy worrying about how Trump will play with our allies they are forgetting that Boris Johnson, a guy who said Obama hated Britain because he’s Kenyan, is their Foreign Secretary. Sounds like Trump will not only fit right in, but will be joined by others like him soon enough if current trends persist. It wouldn’t surprise me in the future for historians to recognize that books like, “What’s the matter with Kansas?” were pretty unfortunate. Because the structure that’s been built means a lot more to the elites than to the common man. The common man doesn’t mind burning your whole edifice down, even if it hurts him too. IT’s time to take the wahoos seriously. They get one vote just like the postgraduate degree holders. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2016, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/27 "2016-07-24T11:13:51Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > No, the rise of Trump can be explained by a worldwide phenomena: the political class has failed, what they thought was best for us and that we were supposedly too stupid to know was good for us turned out to not be so great. > > There’s a Trump in every Western country, and frankly, their Trumps are a lot better than our Trumps. Americans are so busy worrying about how Trump will play with our allies they are forgetting that Boris Johnson, a guy who said Obama hated Britain because he’s Kenyan, is their Foreign Secretary. Sounds like Trump will not only fit right in, but will be joined by others like him soon enough if current trends persist … No, although some economic phenomena are worldwide, to consider xenophobia and political demagoguery to be “worldwide” is only true if you consider “worldwide” to be US and Britain right now, with the ascent of Trump and Brexit as the evidence. But it’s more complicated and nuanced than that. Trump is a danger that political leaders all over the world have been subtly and sometimes not-so-subtly warning about. And you might recall [this thread I started last November](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=774286) celebrating the election of a progressive, inclusive, and inspiring new leader in Canadian politics. Six months later, [he’s still riding high in the polls](http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/grenier-quarterly-polls-jun2016-1.3607570), while the former Conservative leader was so badly defeated that he [quietly slunk out of politics altogether](http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/stephen-harper-to-bow-out-from-federal-politics-1.3598913) and is apparently going to work for private equity firms that will no doubt be screwing the public in a prime example of one of the major problems that voters are revolting over. So, no, it’s not a “worldwide” phenomenon. The Ascent of Trump is all the more mysterious because there seems to be very much an ideological alignment of the right with the plutocracy and the capitalist screwing of the middle class, yet to solve this, the idiots are supporting a billionaire real estate swindler. The mind boggles. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2016, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/28 "2016-07-24T11:48:15Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > I find this true for any Presidential candidate … is Gitmo closed yet? > > But that’s another issue … just how much can the President do without Congressional permission? Consider The Donald signing an Executive Order expelling all the Muslims from the United States, there’s got to be one Federal Judge who will slap an injunction on that, and rather quickly. No Muslims will be expelled no matter how much The Donald says he wants too. I’m horrified that I actually feel compelled to answer a question like this – that this is necessary in a society that is democratic and in which information on such consequences is fairly easy to research. Someone else already mentioned the damage done by the decision to invade Iraq, which is enormous. That single decision has created ripple effects that have led to everything from the globalization of Islamic radicalism (and violence) to the rise of Islamism in Turkey, and thus the probable loss of a critical NATO ally – that’s just one decision and those are just two consequences related to it. It also has meant squandered resources that could have been used to stabilize Afghanistan were instead diverted to reversing the likely irreversible collapse of secular but stable Arab states. Over the long run, these ripple effects could lead not only to the complete collapse of US partnerships in the Arab world, but also the collapse of NATO, and beyond that the collapse of the entire post-WWII American geopolitical and economic model. A single decision, with enormous consequences. Like it or not, we live in a world of complex relationships. Ignorance has a very steep price – we’re still paying for a single wrong decision. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2016, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/29 "2016-07-24T11:50:42Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > As noted \*\*your \*\*single argument to vote for Trump was shot down, I’m not a single issue voter. > As others pointed out executive orders can do a lot of harm and I did point at the expense (just in court expenses) and loss of revenue before common sense prevails as reasons not to vote for a guy that will try to do the things that his supporters want that are reprehensible. > > One has to point at fellow travelers of Trump like racist Sheriff Joe Arpaio that have been found by the courts to be abusing of his power and wasting lots of money from the state of Arizona to get an idea what is coming. Trump will not give a damn if he bankrupts the nation just to get his hateful ideas a start up. (And Trump still loves Arpaio and what he is doing, the media has not to this date demanded Trump to repudiate Arpaio meaning that we do not need to guess, we have a very good idea of what is coming, lots of money to defend hateful actions, more of the stupid war on drugs, more money for jails and less money for science and education) Sam Brownback and his band of Kansas republicans are another good example. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAlecCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SmartAlecCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAlecCat)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2016, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/30 "2016-07-24T12:00:52Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > I find this true for any Presidential candidate … is Gitmo closed yet? There is a [Relativity of Wrong](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Relativity_of_Wrong). Just because one is wrong doesn’t mean another is not ‘more’ wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2016, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/31 "2016-07-24T12:31:53Z")
I forget who said it when Dubya was president: “When he said he was going to run the government like a business, I didn’t think he meant one of _his_ businesses.” With Trump, it will be the same, but even worse. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2016, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/32 "2016-07-24T14:14:13Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I am surprised by Trump’s rise, and yet not so surprised in retrospect. The rise of right wing extremism has been steady since the end of the 1980s. It’s little to do with right-wing extremism. It’s much more to do with the disconnect between the elites and the proles. Trump is the ultimate protest vote. The elites simply cannot conceive of the problems the proles are having, and Clinton is perceived as part of the problem, not the solution. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2016, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/33 "2016-07-24T17:10:02Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > It’s little to do with right-wing extremism. It’s much more to do with the disconnect between the elites and the proles. Trump is the ultimate protest vote. The elites simply cannot conceive of the problems the proles are having, and Clinton is perceived as part of the problem, not the solution. Holy crap that makes my head hurt. The elites cannot identify with the problems of the common man, so the common man goes out and supports a man so fucking elite that he has 18K gold spittoons in the parlour in his number eight house. Makes perfect sense. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2016, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/34 "2016-07-24T18:01:31Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > He’s not a Democrat. For some people, that’s the only qualification. > > :smack: Specifically, he’s not Hillary Clinton. THAT’S his only qualification. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2016, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/35 "2016-07-24T18:06:24Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > No, the rise of Trump can be explained by a worldwide phenomena: the political class has failed, what they thought was best for us and that we were supposedly too stupid to know was good for us turned out to not be so great. Nope; you’re wrong here (again). This statement is colored by so much bias that it misses the mark completely. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2016, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/36 "2016-07-24T18:11:33Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > It’s little to do with right-wing extremism. It’s much more to do with the disconnect between the elites and the proles. Trump is the ultimate protest vote. The elites simply cannot conceive of the problems the proles are having, and Clinton is perceived as part of the problem, not the solution. Once again I’m impressed with your American political acumen, **Quartz**. You understand this better than most Americans do, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/37 "2016-07-24T18:53:56Z")
I’m less concerned about Trump than I am about a more skilled and intelligent demagogue waiting in the wings of the GOP. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2016, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/38 "2016-07-24T18:54:03Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > I know that one one level this sounds Captain Obvious turned up to eleven, but… > > I am out of words to describe how horrifying the casual acceptance and approval of Trump is. The man doesn’t seem to have made a rational, reasonable, “presidential” statement since his first announcement… and he can act like an addled, sociopathic cartoon 24/7 and neither do any damage among his followers nor generate much more anger among opponents. He just spews and spews and spews. > > \*\* Once up on a time, any single one of his childish, rude, obnoxious and stupid pronouncements, lies and gaffes would have ended a candidate’s run.\*\* Look at how many genuinely qualified men and women have ended up in the dustbin for one perceived flaw or mistake (Ed Muskie, anyone?) But Trump has been nothing but such horrid, terrifyingly ignorant and racist gaffes for most of a year… and he’s one bad voting turnout away from the Oval Office. > > Just thought I’d point out to my fellow frogs in this crock: Yeah. It’s hot. Don’t lose sight of how effing hot it really is. I am equally baffled and bewildered. Trump isn’t fit to shovel shit from one place to another. So to me, it feels like the entire nation is being punked. But what’s even more horrifying is that it’s become shockingly clear that as much as 40% of the US population either actively advocates or tacitly supports abject bigotry & ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/39 "2016-07-24T19:00:21Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > \*\* Once up on a time, any single one of his childish, rude, obnoxious and stupid pronouncements, lies and gaffes would have ended a candidate’s run.\*\* Look at how many genuinely qualified men and women have ended up in the dustbin for one perceived flaw or mistake (Ed Muskie, anyone?) But Trump has been nothing but such horrid, terrifyingly ignorant and racist gaffes for most of a year… and he’s one bad voting turnout away from the Oval Office. Yeah, this is what I’ve been thinking this whole time. Any single ones of these things, taken in isolation, should disqualify him from the presidency. And yet not only do people not throw him out, they actually applaud him for it. It used to be stuff like Howard Dean’s cheer or Michael Dukakis looking silly in a helmet instantly nuked their election bids. Trump demonstrates he is an incompetent, uneducated, bullying, racist demagogue on a daily basis and people seem to love him for it. > [@asahi](#): > > The right wing has gone on the offensive over the past 30 years and there has been an increase in the spread of undemocratic ideas. And they’re repeatedly lied to aid the spread of these notions. Yep. Trump is fulfillment of deliberate policies the Republicans have promoted for decades. He is like the perfect Republican Frankenstein come to life. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2016, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/40 "2016-07-24T21:30:59Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > It’s little to do with right-wing extremism. It’s much more to do with the disconnect between the elites and the proles. Trump is the ultimate protest vote. The elites simply cannot conceive of the problems the proles are having, and Clinton is perceived as part of the problem, not the solution. Trump _is_ a protest vote - but it’s not really about economics. It’s about the rise of White Nationalist “anti-pc” sentiment. That’s something that extremist right-wing Republicans have been banking on to win elections for decades. That’s why all the Republican candidates tried to tip-toe around calling out Donald at the start, because they didn’t want to drive away the racist right-wing extremists. This study by the American National Election Studies organization (ANES) studies various motives which drive political supporters. [http://www.electionstudies.org/studypages/anes\_pilot\_2016/anes\_pilot\_2016.htm](http://www.electionstudies.org/studypages/anes_pilot_2016/anes_pilot_2016.htm) This inital study was done in January of this year. The results and methodology are at that link above. Here’s a link to an analysis of these results, published at Salon - > **[Yes, Trump's biggest asset is racism: Why bigotry (not the economy) is the...](https://www.salon.com/2016/03/22/yes_trumps_secret_weapon_is_racism_why_bigotry_not_the_economy_is_the_biggest_factor_driving_his_rise/)** > > Many have tried to argue that economic conditions have paved the way for Trump. But that can't tell the full story The analysis found that there was a strong correlation between people who displayed racial animus and Trump voters. Supporters for the other political candidates showed that there supporters were far less likely to hold racial animus. > [@Salon link](#): > > First, it asked respondents how important their race is to their identity. Second, it asked respondents whether they think the words “lazy” and “violent” describe black people, Muslims and Hispanics, “extremely well,” “very well,” “moderately well,” “slightly well” and “not well at all.” Finally, it included several questions meant to measure what scholars refer to as “racial resentment.” Developed by Donald Kinder and Lynn Sanders in 1996, the concept of racial resentment is designed to capture less overt, but still real, forms of racism. The concept is particularly useful for measuring racism these days, when most racism tends to be “colorblind” or “dog-whistle” racism — that is, racist attitudes that are expressed in a way that is seemingly neutral, but still animates racial anger. > > \ > > When analyzing this survey data, we threw in a number of statistical controls for individual race, age, income, education, partisan identification, political ideology, level of political interest, church attendance, perceptions of economic performance, and opinions about free trade and whether government should provide fewer or more services. That was meant to isolate the extent to which respondents’ views on race affected their views on the election. > > On just about every measure, support for Trump increased along with the measured racial animus. As the chart below shows, increased levels of racial stereotyping among white respondents — as measured by belief that black people, Muslims and Hispanics are “lazy” or “violent” — strongly increases support for Trump, even after controlling for other factors. The opposite is true, however, when it comes to support for Marco Rubio. Among white respondents, support for Rubio decreases with belief in racial stereotypes: > The same story is true for racial resentment. The more troubling the respondents’ answers on the four resentment questions were, the likelier they were to support Trump. There is no such relationship between racial resentment and support for Marco Rubio or the other major Republican contenders … The author of that article, Sean McElwee, published a followup last week, looking at some of the data that has emerged lately. Again, it was clear that the main factor in determining support for Donald Trump is racism and white fears of losing advantages. > **[Anatomy of a Trump voter: How racism propelled Trump to the Republican...](https://www.salon.com/2016/07/23/anatomy_of_a_trump_voter_how_racism_propelled_trump_to_the_republican_nomination/)** > > Data shows racism is a powerful predictor of Trump support — far more than economic concern > [@second linked article](#): > > Previous work by myself and McDaniel, as well as others, has shown that “economic anxiety” simply isn’t sufficient to explain the rise of Trump. Young people are among the most economically insecure group, yet few are rushing to Trump. People of color are far more likely to be working class, and yet Trump’s support is almost exclusively white. It’s important to talk about economic and social inequality, but what motivates Trumpism is racism. Indeed, there was virtually no difference between Republicans who supported and rejected Trump in views of government services and spending. In the models I examined, free trade didn’t increase the probability Trump support, nor did perceptions of the economy. Trump supporters were no more likely to pick Social Security as one of their top four issues. Support for the minimum wage did increase Trump support, but support for campaign finance restrictions did not. None of the questions related to opportunity or upward mobility increased the probability of Trump support. In a previous exploration, McDaniel didn’t find strong results examining the terrorism questions, after controlling for other factors. There’s more analysis (with graphs!) in the article. They’re both worth a read. The newest article concludes: > [@Conclusion](#): > > Conclusion > > Few things have been more frequently discussed in the recent months than the rise of Trump. Many commentators have noted the key political and institutional dynamics that gave Trump a path to the nomination (as I did here). Others have noted the ways in which the GOP set itself up for a fall by pandering to the donor class and delegitimizing political institutions (I discussed these here). These are all true. But what sets Trump supporters apart from the people who supported other candidates is their endorsement of vile stereotypes about people of color. Anti-black and -Muslim stereotypes are the strongest predictor of Trump support I was able to find — far more powerful than economic factors. > > Worryingly, research shows that when people support a candidate or party, they tend to move closer to the views of the candidate or party they support. By tacitly accepting Trump’s racism, the GOP has empowered white supremacists and widened the boundaries of racism that their party will tolerate. That will leave a lasting negative impact on American politics. Rightwing extremism in the form of support for racist white nationalism is the determining factor behind the choice of the Republican Nominee, Donald Trump. By choosing to embrace and support Trump, the Republican party is embracing right-wing extremism. The other factors - including economics and income inequality - fade out compared to support for Trump’s racism. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707.md?page=3)