# Why People Vote for Trump - help! **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 5, 2016, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-people-vote-for-trump-help/754027 "2016-05-05T21:59:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-people-vote-for-trump-help/754027/21 "2016-05-08T10:14:29Z")
RE: the “why vote for Trump” part. I voted for Trump in the primary. It was kind of a throwaway vote, but I was thinking at the time that he would be easier for Hillary Clinton to defeat in the general election. That may not be true, but Trump carried my state by such a wide margin, it doesn’t matter who I voted for. I am a registered Democrat who has always voted Democrat in the primaries, but the guy named Todd Young running on the Republican ticket for the vacant senate seat that Dan Coathanger is leaving, scares the hell out of me and I wanted to vote for his Republican opponent in the primary. He won anyway. In the general, I will vote for Baron Hill, the Dem senate candidate who was unopposed in the primary. I will also vote for whoever the Democrat candidate is, but I hope to hell it’s Clinton. I wonder if Trump’s numbers are artificially inflated by crossover voters in the primaries. In other words, he can’t count on everyone who voted for him in the primaries to vote for him again in the general, in significant numbers. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-people-vote-for-trump-help/754027/22 "2016-05-08T11:19:59Z")
Do Americans even get either “Old Age Pension” or “Guaranteed Income Supplement”? Those are Canadian government payments to pensioners, I think. How do US citizens qualify? Shouldn’t this be the simplest thing to disprove of all? Or do US citizens have programs named exactly the same? ---
**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:** [May 8, 2016, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-people-vote-for-trump-help/754027/23 "2016-05-08T11:58:31Z")
> [@Pearl\_Clutching\_Provocateur](#): > > The USA has plenty of people waiting to be productive like the people who lost their jobs at Carrier in Indiana but they’ve been tossed to the side by elitists limousine liberals who look down anyone with a tool belt. They can be productive in Syria or Mexico or Venezuela the shining example of socialist values. This is fatuous. It is the Republican party that has tossed them aside. The only thing that interests them is to repeal ACA and lower the taxes on their real consiituents–the people who contribute to their reelections. The Democrats are better, though not much. They are also beholden to the big money men but most of them will spare a thought for the unemployed. But too many of the working class still vote Republican because they always have and are now in revolt and they show this by supporting Trump. What they will do if Trump were elected and still didn’t do anything for them is anybody’s guess, but it won’t be pretty. As long as HR remains in control of the Republicans, nothing will change no matter is elected president since they regard compromise as selling out. ---
**Author:** ![Pearl\_Clutching\_Provocateur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pearl\_Clutching\_Provocateur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pearl_Clutching_Provocateur)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-people-vote-for-trump-help/754027/24 "2016-05-08T15:37:42Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > This is fatuous. It is the Republican party that has tossed them aside. The only thing that interests them is to repeal ACA and lower the taxes on their real consiituents–the people who contribute to their reelections. The Democrats are better, though not much. They are also beholden to the big money men but most of them will spare a thought for the unemployed. But too many of the working class still vote Republican because they always have and are now in revolt and they show this by supporting Trump. What they will do if Trump were elected and still didn’t do anything for them is anybody’s guess, but it won’t be pretty. As long as HR remains in control of the Republicans, nothing will change no matter is elected president since they regard compromise as selling out. The Left’s vilification of television personality Mike Rowe Dirty Jobs gives one a true understanding of their mentality. Here is a guy who is simply advocating that some people should go into the trades such as plumbing and mechanical work yet the Progressives treat him as a pariah. I think Leftist elitists have their self-worth so tied into their college educations that they can’t acknowledge those who perform practical endeavors. I also think Leftists have a problem with masculinity and thus embrace the likes of Obama and Sanders who seem a bit effeminate. ---
**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:** [May 8, 2016, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-people-vote-for-trump-help/754027/25 "2016-05-08T15:51:25Z")
> [@Pearl\_Clutching\_Provocateur](#): > > The Left’s vilification of television personality Mike Rowe Dirty Jobs gives one a true understanding of their mentality. Here is a guy who is simply advocating that some people should go into the trades such as plumbing and mechanical work yet the Progressives treat him as a pariah. I think Leftist elitists have their self-worth so tied into their college educations that they can’t acknowledge those who perform practical endeavors. I also think Leftists have a problem with masculinity and thus embrace the likes of Obama and Sanders who seem a bit effeminate. Is it just me or is this post projecting? ---
**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:** [May 8, 2016, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-people-vote-for-trump-help/754027/26 "2016-05-08T15:57:35Z")
> [@Pearl\_Clutching\_Provocateur](#): > > The Left’s vilification of television personality Mike Rowe Dirty Jobs gives one a true understanding of their mentality. Here is a guy who is simply advocating that some people should go into the trades such as plumbing and mechanical work yet the Progressives treat him as a pariah. I think Leftist elitists have their self-worth so tied into their college educations that they can’t acknowledge those who perform practical endeavors. I also think Leftists have a problem with masculinity and thus embrace the likes of Obama and Sanders who seem a bit effeminate. Wow, you’re good! Do you write for The Onion? ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-people-vote-for-trump-help/754027/27 "2016-05-08T16:51:09Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Do Americans even get either “Old Age Pension” or “Guaranteed Income Supplement”? > > Those are Canadian government payments to pensioners, I think. How do US citizens qualify? > > Shouldn’t this be the simplest thing to disprove of all? Or do US citizens have programs named exactly the same? That is the easiest first move on the board, but I like tracking down the equivalent numbers as well to help with the refutation / education of dear old mom. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-people-vote-for-trump-help/754027/28 "2016-05-08T16:57:33Z")
> [@Valteron](#): > > Leaving aside for a second whether the figures are right (they usually are NOT) let’s just ask why the amounts available to a refugee should be identical to the old age pension anway.??? This is a standard tactic of people playing the game of disparate pay outrage: From the Left: “Compare X to what a teacher makes” From the Right: “Compare X to what a Soldier/Sailor/Airman/Marine makes” In this case, it is “Compare X to what a hard-working retiree makes”, where X = refugee but is also apparently interchangeable with illegal immigrant who has anchor babies. In the past it would have been welfare moms or the “Welfare Queen” of the 1980s. First get some outrage, to properly rally outrage compare it to an unassailable example of America (e.g. Teachers or Military). Make sure that you over estimate the amount that the denigrated example on the other side of the equation receives to make the comparison even more outrageous. You see a lot of it with the minimum wage hikes going on as well. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-people-vote-for-trump-help/754027/29 "2016-05-09T02:44:48Z")
> [@Pearl\_Clutching\_Provocateur](#): > > The Left’s vilification of television personality Mike Rowe Dirty Jobs gives one a true understanding of their mentality. Here is a guy who is simply advocating that some people should go into the trades such as plumbing and mechanical work yet the Progressives treat him as a pariah. I think Leftist elitists have their self-worth so tied into their college educations that they can’t acknowledge those who perform practical endeavors. I also think Leftists have a problem with masculinity and thus embrace the likes of Obama and Sanders who seem a bit effeminate. Nice handle. Descriptive. I like it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-people-vote-for-trump-help/754027/30 "2016-05-09T05:40:19Z")
Only two questions here… Would a doctor really type “illegal’s”? And Punctuate randomly For No apparent reAson? And since when was Mike Rowe villianized? I swear, I miss all the important stuff at our Elitist Leftist meetings. ~ Says the housekeeper ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-people-vote-for-trump-help/754027/31 "2016-05-09T14:06:29Z")
But surely no further refutation is required beyond: He starts off talking about Medicaid and SSI, (100% American entitlements, nonexistent in Canada), and ends by comparing to OAS and Guaranteed Income Supplements, (100% Canadian entitlements, non existent in America)! And it’s actually a rage against the funding Canadian tax payers provide refugees arriving in our country. (And was nonsense when originally written!) Y’all don’t have like programs, as far as I know. How is this not enough evidence that the whole thing is tripe? Who would require more evidence that it’s completely nonsensical? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-people-vote-for-trump-help/754027/32 "2016-05-09T15:49:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Why People Vote for Trump You know how dumb the “average person” is? Well, half of them are dumber than _that_! ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-people-vote-for-trump-help/754027/33 "2016-05-15T19:08:34Z")
The reasons I have considered if I should vote for The Donald: 1] He said he’d prosecute Wall Street Bankers if they commit crimes 2] He reminds me of my all-time favorite TV character … ALF 3] Republicans who I don’t like, don’t like The Donald … “The enemy of your enemy is your friend” 4] I stand a far better chance getting more tax breaks Why I won’t vote for The Donald: A] Inexperienced B] Not a mother C] The Republicans I don’t like simply _loath_ Hillary D] I stand an almost as good a chance at them tax breaks I want either way Give me a chance to vote for a woman to be POTUS, I’m going to vote for that woman. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2016, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-people-vote-for-trump-help/754027/34 "2016-05-15T20:10:43Z")
One point that the guys at the conservative _ **The Weekly Standard** _ are making: [Trump is _ **radically unqualified** _.](http://www.weeklystandard.com/unity-uber-alles/article/2002390) That was the 11 minute pod cast that points to this editorial: [http://www.weeklystandard.com/for-who-for-what/article/2002381](http://www.weeklystandard.com/for-who-for-what/article/2002381) > [@](#): > > Republicans considering whether to endorse Trump should ask themselves, honestly, whether they possess the same imperviousness as Trump. Because they’re going to need it. Over the next six months, any Republican running for election who is supporting Trump is going to be importuned to defend every insane utterance, every lie, every dangerous idea that emanates from the man. They’re going to be pestered, every day, at every campaign stop, to either endorse or disavow everything noteworthy Trump says. > > That’s the flip side to the “unity” arguments Trumpkins such as Mike Huckabee are mounting. It’s easy for Huckabee to be pro-Trump—he’ll never stand before voters again. But people with careers need to understand that there are no good alternatives in a Trumpist GOP, only less-bad ones. The choice isn’t whether Republicans unite behind a guy who became a Republican five minutes ago and holds almost no views in common with theirs. It’s whether Republican office-seekers should preserve some independence or yoke themselves to a perpetual scandal machine. > > Republicans in the past have proved clear-eyed about such things. Remember Todd Akin’s 2012 Missouri Senate campaign? Akin was one of those everyday politicians—the kind who can end their career with a single, stupid remark. He chose to dilate on the subject of “legitimate rape” during an interview with a local TV station. > > … > > That NRSC press release about Akin makes for fascinating reading today. In it, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, and the Wall Street Journal—all of whom have conspicuously demanded Republican “unity” behind Trump—were cited, calling on Akin to give up his legitimately earned Senate nomination and drop out of the race. > > The Journal lamented that “Mr. Akin has sunk his own ship.” Coulter said that “Republicans can’t risk these kinds of mistakes” and that if Akin didn’t give up his nomination and withdraw she would “officially” “hate” him. Hannity implored Akin to understand that “elections are bigger than one person.” So much for unity. > > Any Republican running for office who supports Donald Trump is pledging their honor, their dignity, and their political life to this man. So before they make that choice, they ought to ask themselves: For who? For what? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-people-vote-for-trump-help/754027/35 "2016-05-15T23:06:00Z")
> [@Pearl\_Clutching\_Provocateur](#): > > I’m a minority and nothing Trump has said has alienated me. Liberals and Progressives think they can control minorities by screaming racism at everything the opposition says and they’ve had some success. But when you are truly confident in yourself, you don’t respond to demagoguery. People hear what they want to hear. Which only indicates that some huge number of people in the U.S. lack self confidence as the numbers of people supporting the obvious demagogue, Trump, make clear. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-people-vote-for-trump-help/754027/36 "2016-05-15T23:16:19Z")
> [@Pearl\_Clutching\_Provocateur](#): > > What sold me on Trump was his condemnation of George Bush and the Iraq war. Do you buy his steaks, fly on his airline, or attend his university, too" [Trump’s anti-Iraq War claims are just campaign rhetoric, not reality.](http://www.factcheck.org/2016/02/donald-trump-and-the-iraq-war/) ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Call_Me.Tim)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-people-vote-for-trump-help/754027/37 "2016-05-17T02:46:15Z")
Had Pearl Clutching Provocateur made the claim that Trump condemned the Iraq war prior to its launch you might have a point, but he did not make such a claim. It is not helpful to attack a strawman in this fashion. The actual claim that he made (that Trump has condemned George Bush and the Iraq war) is easily supportable. He did so rather strongly in [one of the debates](http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/02/14/trump-booed-reminding-gop-bushs-911-failure-and-iraq-war-lies). I’m no fan of Trump, but that condemnation of the Iraq war was one of the few times when he seemed like the sane person in the room. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-people-vote-for-trump-help/754027/38 "2016-05-17T04:19:21Z")
> [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](#): > > Had Pearl Clutching Provocateur made the claim that Trump condemned the Iraq war prior to its launch you might have a point, but he did not make such a claim. It is not helpful to attack a strawman in this fashion. > > The actual claim that he made (that Trump has condemned George Bush and the Iraq war) is easily supportable. He did so rather strongly in [one of the debates](http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/02/14/trump-booed-reminding-gop-bushs-911-failure-and-iraq-war-lies). > > I’m no fan of Trump, but that condemnation of the Iraq war was one of the few times when he seemed like the sane person in the room. Now that the Iraq War has been unpopular for ten years, he came out and condemned it in a debate. Wow. If he was not opposing the Iraq War before the invasion or prior to June, 2003 when Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” speech was a month old, or, at minimum, before the Fallujah fiasco, then his claims of having condemned the war are nothing but sound bites intended to get in front of a moving parade. (The debate claims were not popular with the Republican audience, but they played well with the people outside the audience whom Trump was trying to impress.) My specific statement was accurate: Trump’s anti-Iraq War claims are just campaign rhetoric, not reality. It is a bit like someone who never spoke in public from 1954 through 1974 coming out and condemning the Vietnam War, after it had long become a distasteful topic among the American people. Note the opening paragraph of the site to which I linked and its reference to Trump’s rhetoric: > [@](#): > > Donald Trump has repeated throughout his presidential campaign that he opposed the Iraq war before the March 19, 2003 invasion, often taking credit for his judgement and vision — claiming he knew it would destabilize the Middle East. Trump has made those claims and he has lied. ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Call_Me.Tim)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-people-vote-for-trump-help/754027/39 "2016-05-17T05:25:42Z")
Excellent, so you agree with Pearl Clutching Provocateur that Trump has condemned George Bush and the Iraq war, which was the statement that you quoted. You also accurately point out that doing so ‘played well with the people outside the audience whom Trump was trying to impress.’ which sounds like you’re acknowledging a possible link between that condemnation and the subject of this thread, “Why people Vote for Trump”. All of the rest of your post seems to be an argument with a claim that no one has made about the details of the chronology of when such a condemnation may have occurred. Does this chronology have any relevance to the topic of this thread? You haven’t shown anyone who cites this alleged chronology as a reason to vote. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-people-vote-for-trump-help/754027/40 "2016-05-17T05:30:30Z")
> [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](#): > > Excellent, so you agree with Pearl Clutching Provocateur that Trump has condemned George Bush and the Iraq war, which was the statement that you quoted. No. I have pointed out one more lie that Trump has told, and questioned Pearl why that lie would cause him or her to support Trump. That is consistent with the topic of this thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-people-vote-for-trump-help/754027.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-people-vote-for-trump-help/754027.md?page=3)