# Uneducated Voters Are Republican **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 18, 2021, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uneducated-voters-are-republican/950894 "2021-09-18T23:13:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uneducated-voters-are-republican/950894/1 "2021-09-18T23:13:46Z")
This thread is prompted by the current Twitter trend about the 'diploma divide" in the California recall and how much more pronounced it is compared to the original gubernatorial race only a few years ago. > But this is only a case of a trend being bolstered by new evidence. There are a ton of other studies and polling data that show how those with a college education skew Democratic while those without skew Republican. This transcends other divisions such as gender and it exacerbates it in cases of race. - Why do uneducated people prefer the Republican party? - What does it say about the Republican party that people who are educated are not Republican? - How can the Democratic party appeal to the uneducated, or would they even want to? - Is it good for democracy that one of the two major parties appeals to the uneducated? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uneducated-voters-are-republican/950894/2 "2021-09-18T23:23:22Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > How can the Democratic party appeal to the uneducated, or would they even want to? The better tactic is to help the uneducated become educated. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uneducated-voters-are-republican/950894/3 "2021-09-18T23:27:22Z")
What a ridiculous thread. 1)Do the uneducated in the inner cities prefer the Republicans? 2)No people who are educated are Republican? Really? 3)They dont want to appeal to those same inner city voters? 4)What? This is really a rant. ---
**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:** [September 18, 2021, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uneducated-voters-are-republican/950894/4 "2021-09-18T23:29:56Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > 2)No people who are educated are Republican? Really? Who said _this?_ ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uneducated-voters-are-republican/950894/5 "2021-09-18T23:30:50Z")
Bullet point #2 in the OP. ---
**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:** [September 18, 2021, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uneducated-voters-are-republican/950894/6 "2021-09-18T23:33:59Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Bullet point #2 in the OP Sure…if you ignore the rest of the OP and the link, which talks about trends. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uneducated-voters-are-republican/950894/7 "2021-09-18T23:37:20Z")
No it doesnt. The bullet points are the ‘debate’. The premises are flawed and factually inaccurate. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uneducated-voters-are-republican/950894/8 "2021-09-18T23:40:47Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > What does it say about the Republican party that people who are educated are not Republican? According to various talk shows, it means that the college educated have been brainwashed by higher education’s Marxist agenda. More seriously, it is evidence of the loss of Democratic support among their former FDR base of “the average working man”. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uneducated-voters-are-republican/950894/9 "2021-09-18T23:42:51Z")
> [@whitetho](#): > > More seriously, it is evidence of the loss of Democratic support among their former FDR base of “the average working man”. I agree with this. The divide between traditional white collar and blue collar workers continue to grow. Changes in the economy are exacerbating the difficulties of blue collar workers. ---
**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:** [September 18, 2021, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uneducated-voters-are-republican/950894/10 "2021-09-18T23:43:35Z")
I understood that bullet point to exist in context with the previous statements > But this is only a case of a trend being bolstered by new evidence. and > There are a ton of other studies and polling data that show how those with a college education skew Democratic while those without skew Republican. That last statement was not an absolute. There is no reason to think the bullet point exists by itself; it refers to the previous statements. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uneducated-voters-are-republican/950894/11 "2021-09-18T23:45:05Z")
The bullet points are actually well-poisoning and again a couple are simply factually inaccurate. ---
**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:** [September 18, 2021, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uneducated-voters-are-republican/950894/12 "2021-09-18T23:45:50Z")
Then show that. ---
**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:** [September 18, 2021, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uneducated-voters-are-republican/950894/13 "2021-09-18T23:56:00Z")
this is my understanding - the education gap only really exists among white people. there really isn’t an education gap among Latinos, blacks or Asians. - the education gap has nothing to do with income. 538 did a study controlling for income and found that at all income levels, high school educated people/whites are 30-50 points to the right of college educated ones. poor, middle class, upper middle class etc. - the education gap is fairly recent. over the last few decades college educated whites moved left and high school educated whites moved right. I believe several decades ago the education gap was reversed, college educated whites were more gop. - this part is important. the education gap isn’t about education, it’s about bigotry and authoritarianism. when you control for various forms of bigotry (anti black racism, Islamophobia, nativism, sexism) and authoritarianism the education gap among whites disappears. - as the gop becomes more bigoted and authoritarian they drive away those lower on these traits and attract people higher in these traits. this is the root of the education gap among white voters. ---
**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:** [September 19, 2021, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uneducated-voters-are-republican/950894/14 "2021-09-19T00:04:05Z")
> **[Analysis | The education gap among whites this year wasn’t about education....](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/11/16/the-education-gap-among-whites-this-year-wasnt-about-education-it-was-about-race/)** > > Race isn't the only factor. But it's a big one. > **[Even Among The Wealthy, Education Predicts Trump Support](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/even-among-the-wealthy-education-predicts-trump-support/)** > > Last week, my colleague Nate Silver used census data to show that education, not income, determined the shift from Republican to Democratic votes in the 2016 el… ---
**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:** [September 19, 2021, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uneducated-voters-are-republican/950894/15 "2021-09-19T00:16:01Z")
One reason may also be that Republicans thrive on simple, clear, bumper-sticker type messaging that doesn’t require complex nuance or thought. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uneducated-voters-are-republican/950894/16 "2021-09-19T00:19:02Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > - the education gap only really exists among white people. there really isn’t an education gap among Latinos, blacks or Asians. This isn’t an enormous gap, but: [Black men shift slightly towards Trump](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/black-men-drifted-democrats-toward-trump-record-numbers-polls-show-n1246447) > [@](#): > > About 26 percent of Black men who had a high school diploma or less supported Trump. But 22 percent of Black men with bachelor’s degrees and 20 percent of Black men with advanced degrees also supported him. I think the education gap is because of the recent GOP shift towards populism. If Trump finally loses by a landslide in 2024, maybe it will go away along with populism. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uneducated-voters-are-republican/950894/17 "2021-09-19T03:14:30Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > the education gap only really exists among white people. there really isn’t an education gap among Latinos, blacks or Asians. That’s starting to change. Trump and the Republicans did better in 2020 with certain segments of the various Latino and Black groups compared to how he did in 2016. This was most prominent along the Texas border and in South Florida. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uneducated-voters-are-republican/950894/18 "2021-09-19T06:10:42Z")
> [@whitetho](#): > > According to various talk shows, it means that the college educated have been brainwashed by higher education’s Marxist agenda. More seriously, it is evidence of the loss of Democratic support among their former FDR base of “the average working man”. In 1940, 5.5% of American men finished 4 years of college or more. In 2020 it was 36.7%. (Fewer women in 1940, more in 2020.) This doesn’t include 2 year degrees and those who went to college but did not get a degree. So Republicans should worry about this gap. I suspect a lot more college grads were Republicans in 1940 than today. Cite: [Percentage of the U.S. population with a college degree by gender 1940-2022 | Statista](https://www.statista.com/statistics/184272/educational-attainment-of-college-diploma-or-higher-by-gender/) ---
**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:** [September 19, 2021, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uneducated-voters-are-republican/950894/19 "2021-09-19T20:09:09Z")
IMHO, it is because college education tends to reduce racism among whites. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uneducated-voters-are-republican/950894/20 "2021-09-19T21:28:41Z")
First of all, you have to stipulate that exceptions do not invalidate the rule. Yes, there are some very educated people who vote Republican and some uneducated people that vote Democratic. Education is a good but not infallible predictor of political affiliation. College graduates tend to have higher developed critical thinking skills. You gain an appreciation that not everything is black and white and not every problem has a simple solution. Unlike most high school experiences, in college you’re exposed to a variety of people of all backgrounds, ethnicity, beliefs, and so on. It’s this appreciation for shades of gray and the value of scientific knowledge that has been stripped from modern day Republicanism. To the modern GOP, every issue has to fit on a bumper sticker. Facing a complex issue like global warming? Forget about it! Pretend it doesn’t exist. Don’t want to face the reality of white supremacy? Whine about statues of confederates being torn down. Angry that gas prices go up? That’s simple, blame Biden for stopping that pipeline that would have carried filthy Alberta shale oil. The uneducated are much easier to win over for Republicans since they make no effort to win them over with cold logic. They respond much better to fear of others and instilling the idea that their perfect worlds were ruined by letting people who don’t look like them, pray like them, or love like them be different then them and be different openly. One party sells hope and ideas, the other sells fear and hatred. It’s no accident that the messages of fear and hatred resonate so well among the uneducated. That’s a design feature, not a bug. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uneducated-voters-are-republican/950894.md?page=2)