# Sneering progressives are driving young white men into the arms of the GOP **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 4, 2018, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneering-progressives-are-driving-young-white-men-into-the-arms-of-the-gop/813566 "2018-05-04T09:14:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneering-progressives-are-driving-young-white-men-into-the-arms-of-the-gop/813566/141 "2018-05-04T20:54:00Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > There are much, much worse things said on twitter about black men than “mediocre”, with many likes and retweets. The black vote is already pretty much maxed out Democratic, so it makes relatively little difference. Going from 96% to 98% Democratic won’t sway things much. But if certain white groups have swayed by double digits, that’s something, especially since there are five times as many white people in America as black people. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2018, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneering-progressives-are-driving-young-white-men-into-the-arms-of-the-gop/813566/142 "2018-05-04T20:54:01Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Is “equity hire” ever an accurate description? Never heard that term, and not sure what it means. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneering-progressives-are-driving-young-white-men-into-the-arms-of-the-gop/813566/143 "2018-05-04T20:58:16Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > The genuflecting, even self-flagellating white man who is always at the ready to provide intellectual support for identity politics. You overreached with that line, man. Own goal. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneering-progressives-are-driving-young-white-men-into-the-arms-of-the-gop/813566/144 "2018-05-04T20:59:56Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Is “equity hire” ever an accurate description? I don’t know what you mean by that. Are you talking about affirmative action? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneering-progressives-are-driving-young-white-men-into-the-arms-of-the-gop/813566/145 "2018-05-04T21:08:54Z")
Yes, it’s along those lines. So is “an Affirmative Action hire” usually used as a reasonable comment? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneering-progressives-are-driving-young-white-men-into-the-arms-of-the-gop/813566/146 "2018-05-04T21:34:55Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > The real problem with our political culture is that white men are just too silent and don’t speak up in support of white men enough. Poor disenfranchised voiceless white men. I weep for us I do. This analysis is so shallow it’s ridiculous. There are a lot of white straight men in this country, as well as “two of the three.” There are voices who laud white straightness and support white straightness as a matter of course. Those voices have electoral appeal. _And they’re not on your side._ I _strongly dislike_\*\* SlackerInc\*\*. I am suspicious of this thread simply because it’s his. But there is a problem if both the left and moderates consistently play into the trope that we take white/straights/men for granted. We won’t just lose a dangerous number of young men from the left, but from the center as well. We need a lot more positive reinforcement of non-toxic, non-gay masculinity. We need some kind of positive answer for the plight of the American white. Even “Go back to Europe” would be better than “Fuck you, white boy, it’s our time.” ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneering-progressives-are-driving-young-white-men-into-the-arms-of-the-gop/813566/147 "2018-05-04T21:37:05Z")
> [@](#): > > Yes, it’s along those lines. So is “an Affirmative Action hire” usually used as a reasonable comment? Just guessing, but “equity” as a negative means “in service to some vague ideal about equality”. “Hire”, in that sense, means that probably the employee was not actually the best qualified, but see above. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneering-progressives-are-driving-young-white-men-into-the-arms-of-the-gop/813566/148 "2018-05-04T21:40:47Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > … We need some kind of positive answer for the plight of the American white. Even “Go back to Europe” would be better than “Fuck you, white boy, it’s our time.” How about “NO one is entitled by the mere demographic accident of birth to better opportunities than others get” …? (Note that this formulation uses ‘opportunities,’ not outcomes.) ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneering-progressives-are-driving-young-white-men-into-the-arms-of-the-gop/813566/149 "2018-05-04T21:41:18Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Yes, it’s along those lines. So is “an Affirmative Action hire” usually used as a reasonable comment? From what I’ve seen it’s meant as a dismissive insult, but what’s your point? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneering-progressives-are-driving-young-white-men-into-the-arms-of-the-gop/813566/150 "2018-05-04T21:43:32Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Just guessing, but “equity” as a negative means “in service to some vague ideal about equality”. “Hire”, in that sense, means that probably the employee was not actually the best qualified, but see above. Uh, yes. That is all exactly what phrase is generally meant to imply. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2018, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneering-progressives-are-driving-young-white-men-into-the-arms-of-the-gop/813566/151 "2018-05-04T21:48:28Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > We need some kind of positive answer for the plight of the American white. Even “Go back to Europe” would be better than “Fuck you, white boy, it’s our time.” Is the “American white” suffering more than Americans in general? I know that a lot of working class people of all races have had tough times, and it would be great if we could address that with more than meaningless slogans (MAGA) and counter productive policies (recent tax cut). I don’t hear a lot of “Fuck you, white boy” from any serious Democrat or progressive. To the extent anyone has that attitude, it shouldn’t be seen as a reason to vote Republican (which, I think, is what this thread is about). ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneering-progressives-are-driving-young-white-men-into-the-arms-of-the-gop/813566/152 "2018-05-04T21:53:22Z")
Gosh, I don’t know how to feel about all these hard luck white guys who just can’t catch a break now that women and minorities are taking all the good jobs. I’m supposed to feel sympathy for them, listen to their concerns and join their demands to rip back all the progress we’ve made so that they won’t feel so bad about themselves? Well that won’t happen. Again, I’m a 55 year old white guy, solid middle class, worked in IT most of my adult life. There is no part of this country, our local world, that is biased against me by fact of me being a white male. There is significant bias against black men, women and other minorities. Giving them the same rights, the same opportunities as me does nothing to harm me excepting in the general manner of enlarging the labor pool and increasing my competition for good jobs. But that’s the ticket, right? Those qualified women and black people taking the job I as a white man should feel entitled to? That’s the entire thing, the entire complaint. “They don’t deserve it, I do”. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneering-progressives-are-driving-young-white-men-into-the-arms-of-the-gop/813566/153 "2018-05-04T21:53:56Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Actually, I cited them on the first page. But hey, who’s counting? Me. My misses. Two. In this thread alone. Still the relevance of that data is worth highlighting a third time in the context of not only elevating one internet poll to Truth but presuming some causations that both do not fit the data and that fly in the face of real world special election results. As far as being perceived as the “anti” … given the GOP party of no that is pretty rich but we live in a world that artificially colored artificially flavored salted sugar water is successfully sold as a healthy drink for athletes, so marketing is capable of lots. No argument from me that the Dem side needs to market better what \*positive \*visions they are _for_ and to help those less educated white men who _are_ being left behind in the current and the future economy that the positive vision _includes them_. **Velocity** share of vote is one thing. _Turnout_ is another. Going from your 96 to 98% (or 80 to 93% which was HRC '16 to Obama '12) is one thing. Going from 66 to 59% turnout in that demographic is another. Trump’s victory did NOT hinge most on greater turnout among whites, voting for him; it hinged most on the [drop in Black turnout](http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/332970-voter-turnout-dipped-in-2016-led-by-decline-among-blacks), back to the level before Obama. White turnout was up, but only 1%. > [@](#): > > White voters were most likely to turn out; 65.3 percent of whites told Census Bureau surveyors they voted in 2016, more than a full percentage point higher than their participation rate in 2012. > > But voter turnout among black voters fell almost seven percentage points, to 59.4 percent, the Census figures show — after hitting an all-time high of 66.2 percent in 2012. [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/omribenshahar/2016/11/17/the-non-voters-who-decided-the-election-trump-won-because-of-lower-democratic-turnout/#60c1ae8453ab) put it well. The _nonvoters_ decided the last election. > [@](#): > > Trump did not win because he was more attractive to this base of white voters. He won because Hillary Clinton was less attractive to the traditional Democratic base of urban, minorities, and more educated voters. This is a profound fact … > > … very simple: the Democratic base did not turn out to vote as it did for Obama. Those sure-Democrats who stayed home handed the election to Trump. > Take Michigan for example. A state that Obama won in 2012 by 350,000 votes, Clinton lost by roughly 10,000. Why? She received 300,000 votes less than Obama did in 2012. Detroit and Wayne County should kick themselves because of the 595,253 votes they gave Obama in 2012, only 518,000 voted for Clinton in 2016. Mote than 75,000 Motown Obama voters did not bother to vote for Clinton! They did not become Trump voters – Trump received only 10,000 votes more than Romney did in this county. They simply stayed at home. If even a fraction of these lethargic Democrats had turned out to vote, Michigan would have stayed blue. > > Wisconsin tells the same numbers story, even more dramatically. Trump got no new votes. He received exactly the same number of votes in America’s Dairyland as Romney did in 2012. Both received 1,409,000 votes. But Clinton again could not spark many Obama voters to turn out for her: she tallied 230,000 votes less than Obama did in 2012. This is how a 200,000-vote victory margin for Obama in the Badger State became a 30,000-vote defeat for Clinton. > > This pattern is national. … As for **SlackerInc** ’s exhortation for us all to police the speech of others who somehow dis straight white men. The voices that saying those things to those turned off by them? Most often likely Millennials’ … speaking to Millennials in fora that us old Boomers don’t frequent much. And odds are different fora than where the undereducated white male Millennials are hanging too. We cannot police it. And my adult voting kids, all straight white males … they I think are more likely to agree with the disses than to police it. To _whatever_ degree it occurs in those places I don’t frequent, it is dumb and counterproductive. And it has nothing to do with anything that gets labelled as “PC” or “progressive.” The lack of marketing a message, a vision, that is inclusive of the real issues that the less educated white male demographic experiences is a fail, yes, but trying to compete with the GOP in pandering to resentment would be a bigger fail. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneering-progressives-are-driving-young-white-men-into-the-arms-of-the-gop/813566/154 "2018-05-04T22:03:49Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > I wasn’t saying “It’s the same thing”. But do you not think that a low income white kid might feel the same way about “mediocre white man” comments as a low income black kid might feel about an “equity hire black man”? Both are saying that he got the job for his skin color. Both are probably never gonna get that lucky. Really good point. I hadn’t thought about it quite that way, but you’re right. Note too that “mediocre” is implicitly the ceiling for the quality of white men, as this term is generally reserved for men high up in business, politics, or entertainment—not for shoe salesmen or small town accountants. It strikes me that this word was chosen because it was understood that a certain minimal level of competence has to be acknowledged when someone has, for instance, created a successful and critically-acclaimed TV show. > [@Gyrate](#): > > Solutions? I don’t have one, and I don’t have a lot of confidence that the Democrats fully understand the problem, let alone have a solution either. But I’m pretty sure “Let’s stop calling out ignorant assholes for being ignorant assholes” isn’t their top priority, particularly as the ignorant asshole vote isn’t really up for grabs at the moment. Was this meant for a different thread? What does this have to do with my opposition to calling out people for the gender and ethnicity they were born with, regardless of how ignorant/assholish they may or may not be? > [@RTFirefly](#): > > Speaking of sneering, [this Senate candidate](https://apnews.com/469b03649353498db43c227843bf0be4) questioned the “cognitive thought process” of veterans who consider voting for the other party. > > The Senate candidate is Republican, and the other party is of course the Dems. > > I see shit like this from the right, about Dems, day in and day out. > > But I’m sure that that’s drowned out by all the podcasts. Again, what the actual fuck does this have to do with the topic of this thread? “Republicans do stuff that is worse” is not an argument. I mean, of course they do—but that hasn’t prevented them from winning a lot of elections up and especially down the ballot. I’m concerned about managing our own house. I have four kids, and “Jayden does worse stuff at her house” is not an argument that will get my kids out of trouble. > [@DSeid](#): > > Credit to **wolfpup** for sourcing Pew first. > > And since I am doubleposting - how, **SlackerInc** , do you square this alleged sudden abandonment of the Democratic party to the GOP by white male Millennials with the special election results we’ve seen? I don’t know. I used to be a pretty good political prognosticator, but then I was so wrong about 2016. So I’m not sure what to expect. Those special election results are very promising, but the dwindling of the generic ballot is worrisome. I don’t know which to trust. What I do know is that white men are a very large cohort of voters, and millennial white men are the ones who have the greatest number of elections ahead of them over the next few decades. So getting them on the right track while their political orientation is still fluid is very important. And what I don’t know, but strongly suspect, is that they would be much more like their female millennial peers in their voting preferences if they were made to feel more welcome. (Because, again per Pew, it’s not just about black and white but male and female: that millennial gender gap is ginormous.) ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneering-progressives-are-driving-young-white-men-into-the-arms-of-the-gop/813566/155 "2018-05-04T22:04:17Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > … That’s the entire thing, the entire complaint. “They don’t deserve it, I do”. No. _Completely wrong._ The complaint is that the rural communities that many of these people live in are in an ongoing crisis. The complaint is that they are not just doing less well than their parents did but are in a downward spiral, falling out of middle class and into an entrenched lower class. They are the ones being hollowed out from the middle downwards. The issues are real. Give them a vision that _includes_ some understanding of the real problems _they_ are facing, a vision that \*includes \*a path for them to _also_ be part of a secure middle class, not fearful that the next technologic or trade shift will have them unable to pay the bills, and they might sign on. Message that they are not a concern, only “others” are, well that’s what makes the product of resentment an easy sale. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneering-progressives-are-driving-young-white-men-into-the-arms-of-the-gop/813566/156 "2018-05-04T22:09:37Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > …Trump’s victory did NOT hinge most on greater turnout among whites, voting for him; it hinged most on the [drop in Black turnout](http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/332970-voter-turnout-dipped-in-2016-led-by-decline-among-blacks), back to the level before Obama. White turnout was up, but only 1%. > > [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/omribenshahar/2016/11/17/the-non-voters-who-decided-the-election-trump-won-because-of-lower-democratic-turnout/#60c1ae8453ab) put it well. The _nonvoters_ decided the last election. > > … trying to compete with the GOP in pandering to resentment would be a bigger fail. Yes. A possible Democratic message–that has the advantage of being true–is that no straight white Christian male _ **with self-respect** _ wants to succeed based on the accident of his birth: he wants to succeed based on his own merits. As you say, the numbers tell the story: Trump didn’t win by bringing out the disaffected, resentful white males. He didn’t bring them out in any numbers greater than they’d come out for previous GOP candidates. Trump won because the non-white and other traditionally Democratic voters decided not to show up. So pandering to insecure people by saying _‘we will ensure that no one will ever criticize you and you will receive the deference to which your birth entitles you’_ would be utterly useless. Those voters did not decide the 2016 election. (And, yeah: there’s no point in mocking or ridiculing anyone. Of course if the more entitled types choose to interpret non-mockery as mockery, there’s nothing anyone can do about that.) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneering-progressives-are-driving-young-white-men-into-the-arms-of-the-gop/813566/157 "2018-05-04T22:13:48Z")
Rural communities have been on a slow decline since farm machinery greatly reduced the need for farm labor. There is no plan to save rural small towns because to do so would require putting industries back in those areas. Sorry, the farms don’t need that much labor and Toyota isn’t building a plant in Podunk, Wisconsin. If they build one, it will be closer to a larger population center where they can find the labor and skills. Don’t want rural America to be passed by? Then support higher minimum wages so that your entire county isn’t living on $9 an hour jobs at the SuperAmerica station and the Dollar Store. Don’t NIMBY every damned offer of a new mine or factory. The solution to rural poverty is as old as mankind. You move to the city to find work. Mesopotamians were doing that over 6,000 years ago. You can’t sit in rural bumfuck West Virginia, where the mines have closed, and whine about how the entire world owes you a new job in the same town because you refuse to move. No one owes you that job, just the same as your party has been saying for decades. Besides the fact that every single one of you came from immigrant stock, and your own ancestors moved there for the jobs, from somewhere they didn’t have a job. Do the same. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneering-progressives-are-driving-young-white-men-into-the-arms-of-the-gop/813566/158 "2018-05-04T22:42:59Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > … the dwindling of the generic ballot … The [generic ballot](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-generic-ballot-polls/?ex_cid=rrpromo) has been within noise range and not dwindling at all. Today D+7, a month ago D+8, three months ago D+5, five months ago D+8 … Yes some spikes and valleys. Spiked up to D+13 end of December and down to D+5.5 end of March. But overall pretty flat and no “dwindling” apparent. Now the switch to LV polls will shake it up some, who knows what way, but that is yet to come. Again though … you think the millennial white male is the most _likely_ midterm voter? **Chimera** , it was poorly marketed but actually Obama’s administration had some decent rural initiatives that given some time and support could help some, starting out with improved connectivity, small business loans, and better education. In any case if I was a rural white millennial male, or even a blue collar one, not highly educated, no IT skills for example, now dropping lower and lower from safe middle, the vision you are selling? Sign me up for them GOP phone banks! At least they pretend to care about my problems. They may be selling me a bill of goods but they at least aren’t calling where I live bumfuck and telling me that my community doesn’t matter and isn’t worth making an effort to save. Yeah, I, with my High School diploma and no skills, should move to the great city where I know no one and have no family and no supports and no job. Everything solved! Great plan. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneering-progressives-are-driving-young-white-men-into-the-arms-of-the-gop/813566/159 "2018-05-04T22:55:36Z")
Okay, this will be my last post before going offline for my regularly scheduled weekend “Internet fast”. I’ll check back Monday afternoon or evening. > [@DSeid](#): > > As for **SlackerInc** ’s exhortation for us all to police the speech of others who somehow dis straight white men. The voices that saying those things to those turned off by them? Most often likely Millennials’ … speaking to Millennials in fora that us old Boomers don’t frequent much. Probably so for you and many others reading. If that describes you, then my exhortation is not for you. > [@DSeid](#): > > The lack of marketing a message, a vision, that is inclusive of the real issues that the less educated white male demographic experiences is a fail, yes, but trying to compete with the GOP in pandering to resentment would be a bigger fail. I’m tempted to question how saying that progressives shouldn’t be faulting someone for characteristics they are born with is “pandering to resentment”. But more importantly, I see we’re getting into the whole “downtrodden/disaffected rural blue collar whites” discussion, which was not my aim at all. Not that I can stop you, but I’ll try to at least give a better idea of who I have in mind—and that’s the white boys from the other side of the tracks. The ones who grew up in affluent suburbia, who are heading to good colleges and then presumably on to good jobs in large, dynamic, growing urban areas. We have gotten so used to paying attention to the new type of Republican, who is a “poorly educated” rural white person, that we forget that the educated, affluent white man was traditionally the rock-ribbed cornerstone of the GOP. And there’s no guarantee they won’t go back there if we don’t tend to them a little better. It may make you ill to even contemplate being concerned with the egos of young white men with good jobs, but there are a lot of votes there that we need to keep. That doesn’t mean changing important policy positions or throwing people of color under the bus. The kind of men I’m talking about aren’t thirsting for that anyway. Just put out the welcome mat for them if they are willing to be progressive or at least center-left. The non-college educated rural white guys, OTOH, are a much tougher “get” at this point—and I’m not convinced we should even expend much effort on them. > [@Velocity](#): > > The black vote is already pretty much maxed out Democratic, so it makes relatively little difference. Going from 96% to 98% Democratic won’t sway things much. > > But if certain white groups have swayed by double digits, that’s something, especially since there are five times as many white people in America as black people. Exactly right. Andy misses an important point: those right wingers are saying nasty things about a group of people who make up hardly any of the votes Republicans rely on to win elections. There is little penalty to be paid for alienating them en masse. The same is not true for Democrats and white men! And then of course there’s the basic idea “two wrongs don’t make a right”. > [@foolsguinea](#): > > We need a lot more positive reinforcement of non-toxic, non-gay masculinity. We need some kind of positive answer for the plight of the American white. Even “Go back to Europe” would be better than “Fuck you, white boy, it’s our time.” I’m as nonplussed as you are to find us in agreement on this. And I love your phrasing: “Fuck you, white boy, it’s our time” nails it. And I’m sympathetic to why this might be tempting to think this way! But it is an impulse that has to be resisted. > [@Chimera](#): > > Gosh, I don’t know how to feel about all these hard luck white guys who just can’t catch a break now that women and minorities are taking all the good jobs. Here we go, another comment that has exactly fuck-all to do with this thread. You sound like a primitive progressive chatbot that only knows how to say a few stock phrases, regardless of context. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneering-progressives-are-driving-young-white-men-into-the-arms-of-the-gop/813566/160 "2018-05-04T23:02:57Z")
Shit, missed the edit window. ETA: If the generic ballot is not in fact “dwindling”, my mistake. (I only really started following politics again in December, so I took that as the starting point.) Then you can substitute “anemic” for “dwindling”. We need a double digit lead to be in solid position to retake the House, per 538. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneering-progressives-are-driving-young-white-men-into-the-arms-of-the-gop/813566.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneering-progressives-are-driving-young-white-men-into-the-arms-of-the-gop/813566.md?page=9)