Interesting from Pew... Republican base is largely middle and upper middle voters without college degrees. www.pewresearch.org/politics/202... - ThreadSky

josemarichal.bsky.social • 55 days ago

Interesting from Pew... Republican base is largely middle and upper middle voters without college degrees.

https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/04/09/partisanship-by-family-income-home-ownership-union-membership-and-veteran-status/

Comments

akranda.bsky.social•55 days ago

So what's been discovered is retrumplican voters are basically dumb uneducatecd people who you could bet have a fair amount racist tendencies and a lot of fear about being a white minority

cplourde.bsky.social•55 days ago

And who think everyone else acts in bad faith, justifying their own bad faith.

But most people act in good faith, and so the “smart” GOP base has become an ignorant pox on America.

daviddarmofal.bsky.social•55 days ago

Yes! This is a really important point about the Trump phenomenon and about support for right authoritarian populism more generally. And it's why we err if we think whites without a college degree are the white working class. They're not necessarily working class.

charliesurfs.bsky.social•55 days ago

People enamored of billionaires who actually believe they too will be one, some day…

cam84.bsky.social•55 days ago

Proves a point most of the world is saying about education in the US. That’s why you are where you are today - electing a moron to the highest office of the land.

oweninthefirst.bsky.social•55 days ago

Don't discount a lot of them are in a construction trade union, too.

oweninthefirst.bsky.social•55 days ago

I should have said this is who provided those union wages? It sure wasn't the GOP. The other factor are the bigger farmers, who make it rich on subsidies meant for the little guy. Then let's talk about outright Corporate Farmers. That's a lot of $$.

mattallison.bsky.social•55 days ago

Because those people usually live 1-5 miles from where they grew up; they have no experience or understanding of the world outside of that perimeter.

shaydieblue.bsky.social•55 days ago

I don’t understand the lack of incentive to become aware of the wider world, but I can tell you this is a cultural issue. I was shamed in my hometown for wanting to move away. I was “too good” and “didn’t remember where I came from” . The threat of isolation and exclusion is real.

joemama1990.bsky.social•55 days ago

Religion discourages intellectual curiosity. My very large and hugely successful extended family that prioritized the Catholic Church over education

shaydieblue.bsky.social•55 days ago

That is also true. I was raised Baptist, my father was a pastor for a while, I recall more than one pastor denouncing secular education during a sermon. Men with educated wives were failures unless they were nurses, teachers or service providers. This is a deep cultural issue.

bert73.bsky.social•55 days ago

I simply don't get how anyone with a college degree would vote for a felon who's also been found guilty of rape - His economic "plans" are tarriffs??? (which went out of fashion in the 1920's) and tax breaks for the super rich. His deportation plans will cripple the country. He's a joke.

manhasnoname.bsky.social•55 days ago

My eyes already told me all that shit.

buckleup36.bsky.social•55 days ago

I was 1st exposed to this Jan '08. I went with a friend, who was a bank president, to an expensive resort in Mexico. Half the people there were tattooed, loud, Trump voter types. I was confused. She said they were blue-collar biz owners in the trades with $ - like a lot of her bank's loan customers

sltax.bsky.social•55 days ago

He has nominated as IRS commissioner an individual who has not graduated from college.

rogermiller.bsky.social•55 days ago

Automobile salesmen?

jakewidman.bsky.social•55 days ago

The “local rich,” I’heard them called. The people who own a few car dealerships or have a successful real estate or contracting business.

joemama1990.bsky.social•55 days ago

Townie royalty

bluejori.bsky.social•55 days ago

Duh

oakpotato.com•55 days ago

Those middle and uppers are doing a lot of lifting.

frenchrevolution.bsky.social•55 days ago

The real surprise is the fact that ANYONE with a brain (and less than a million dollars) would support Republicans.

thewiz1.bsky.social•55 days ago

It’s identity problem with the rich pumping these treasonous cunts full of hate while they steel all from the same idiots that vote for them.
The blue states need to stop paying taxes for we know it only goes to support these traitors.

sandadis.bsky.social•55 days ago

Obviously

dburbach.bsky.social•55 days ago

Poking at exit polls 20+ years ago I noticed "high income / low edu" strongly predicted Republican voters, "high edu / low income" Democrats.

profsjw.bsky.social•55 days ago

Yep, I have an example in my family. The son of the couple is also a Trumper, though there's an interesting twist here: he went to private Catholic schools h.s. through college.

outsider805.bsky.social•55 days ago

Yup

lsw616.bsky.social•55 days ago

One of the things one learns in college is to think through what one reads. Without these skills, non-college educated people believe whatever misinformation they read. Hard to convince those who lack the ability to analyze what they read. I think this supports this.

freedomsk8r.bsky.social•53 days ago

Bingo

knittaphd.bsky.social•55 days ago

Shocker

tbas7000.bsky.social•55 days ago

My late husband grew up in a Christian conservative Republican home. When he got to college, he noticed something fascinating: all the NICE people were Dems and/or progressives. Which is when he gave up his upbringing and became a progressive Democrat.

otts3000.bsky.social•55 days ago

We know

praynow.bsky.social•54 days ago

No surprise there. You’d have to be uneducated to think Shitler will solve your financial problems.

sockpuppetpundit.bsky.social•55 days ago

I live in Georgia. I could have told you that. All you have to do is look at our maps. Those ‘rural’ areas aren’t rural and they aren’t poor.

knittaphd.bsky.social•55 days ago

Where’s that republican “economic anxiety” starter kit meme with the white family, giant house, huge truck, boat, and guns??

mattallison.bsky.social•55 days ago

Yep. I remember it as the 2020 meme “Oppressed by Government Tyranny Starter Pack”

knittaphd.bsky.social•55 days ago

This is quite literally the dude down the street from me (with the addition of a giant RV) who had the temerity to fly a “Mean tweets and $1.89 gas” Trump flag.

knittaphd.bsky.social•55 days ago

Yes!

timodee.bsky.social•55 days ago

It’s government by the stupid.

acwig.bsky.social•55 days ago

It’s pretty obvious to anyone who lives in a red state. Journalism has really failed us in defining who these voters are.

discorob.bsky.social•55 days ago

Yes and no…
The poor reds are very loud, which makes them more seen which makes it appear there are more of them than there really are.
But…for the rest of them with money, they are still in fact the uneducated idiots we think they are.

acwig.bsky.social•55 days ago

I found them to be just racist.

discorob.bsky.social•55 days ago

Yes, and very racist.
Often misogynistic.
Probably very few have travelled outside of the US/Canada/Mexico…with many never outside the US.
Etc…

brendafw.bsky.social•55 days ago

We must stop saying trump voters are not educated that is simply not true. Many of them are educated many are not poor and many are young. We lost because we lost some of the coalition that elected President Biden. Better broaden our base. Use the different medias to reach people.

shaydieblue.bsky.social•55 days ago

I agree. The dismissive tone and disparaging comments are not endearing people to the message of inclusion. Harris talked about Trump being a billionaire then trotted one out on stage in a pandering attempt The queen B message did not resonate with people who were looking for authenticity.

betsmc.bsky.social•55 days ago

Small business owners who want to pay zero tax and also eliminate all employee protections.

hangingon.bsky.social•55 days ago

The “without college degrees” does it for me

spenceman58.bsky.social•55 days ago

Textbook "bored fascism" - people whose lives are generally decent becoming extremist because they're dissatisfied with their own mediocrity.

4purpose.bsky.social•55 days ago

This is a useful frame to understand what we see

true-bird.bsky.social•55 days ago

📌

sadie728.bsky.social•55 days ago

This kind of data is why they're trying to destroy higher education, unfortunately.

gotdocg.bsky.social•51 days ago

and the reason why the @democrats lost... they pandered to the "educated"... denigrating the 60% of the population with "only" a HS Diploma. WITHOUT a $300,000 degree, after 4-5 years of apprenticeship, an electrician can easily earn north of $150,000,... same for plumbers and mechanics...

gotdocg.bsky.social•51 days ago

sooooo, smarts wins over intelligence every time...

chriseichhorn.bsky.social•55 days ago

Downwardly mobile, would be my argument.

columbojones2.bsky.social•55 days ago

Gee I feel so special, a poor college educated dem. I might as well have majored in bowling ( my required P E credit). I only had to change my shoes.

darodger.bsky.social•55 days ago

The smarter you are, show that you have better judgement and more morals.🤔

kitty73990.bsky.social•55 days ago

This is actually quite fascinating. I grew up in 2 households that were both republican for very different reasons: moms side purely economic, dad's side conservative alt right loony conspiracy theorist. As I got older & eventually got an education I went from the top to the bottom of this chart.

kitty73990.bsky.social•55 days ago

To be clear on the top I was a republican & on the bottom I became a Democrat

rockycuriosity.bsky.social•55 days ago

Interesting data

pamelajane.bsky.social•55 days ago

Hubs and I (Dems) both have college degrees. Doing well financially. But we know several couples socially who are well off financially without degrees. They are Trumpers. They have worked very hard for their success, what we used to call "by their bootstraps". No handouts. I understand that.

profjasonbostick.bsky.social•55 days ago

This makes perfect sense. Successful business owners who didn't need a college degree, i.e., what Patrick Wyman dubbed the "American Gentry" are the real core of Trump's base.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/09/trump-american-gentry-wyman-elites/620151/?gift=C3a2a6-IypohuQ2TDC_7uw6N0dA82R0dlQns593E3eE&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

seanparham.bsky.social•55 days ago

Came here to comment on the same. Here’s another from Wyman’s Substack: https://patrickwyman.substack.com/p/american-gentry

seanparham.bsky.social•55 days ago

Also this from Adam Serwer: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/01/thoroughly-respectable-rioters/617644/?gift=FwG4qA9vcsBN7pndSubbhU54EYhbEKHzjMkWD4hnmmk&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

leibovitz.bsky.social•55 days ago

There’s another group, too: the “hustler class”, ie, a large number whose livelihood involves sales and selling (whether it be cars, insurance policies, or their own personal brand). This is an under appreciated piece of the Trump coalition.

josemarichal.bsky.social•55 days ago

Agree

mullinshere.bsky.social•55 days ago

I've been wearing out my voice trying to convince people I know that his base *isn't* toothless people living in trailers with no income. All you have to do is look in the parking lot of one of his rallies: those are shiny new expensive trucks. They fly from rally to rally.

cocjeanie.bsky.social•55 days ago

Yes, true. And when I drive around my area the Trump flags usually sit in front of a big house on property with a motorhome in the driveway. And I live in a CA coastal town. It's very expensive here but low wages compared to cost of living. One of the places with immigrants working in ag.

stiffelman.bsky.social•55 days ago

Or just bigots, nutjobs, misogynists and assholes.

14milesaway.bsky.social•55 days ago

When they rail against ‘elites’ it’s not against wealth, it’s resentment towards education or intellectuals

mel-33.bsky.social•55 days ago

I think it’s likely envy.

hollymcpgh.bsky.social•55 days ago

I want to dive into this to see how it cross-sections with all the prosperity gospel mega-church folks.

brownswords.bsky.social•55 days ago

“I love the poorly educated.”

bemoangamble.bsky.social•55 days ago

Based on my area of residency, the Upper/Upper Middle with Some College or less leaning Republicans could be small business owners, farmers, restaurateurs and skilled contractors who often use Subchapter S corporations for IRS/Tax treatment. Trump’s dislike of tax audits & regs resonates with them.

sailorjourno.bsky.social•55 days ago

Every fairly well-off or wealthy person I’ve ever known is & always has been a GOPer & now a Red Hatter.

dr299.bsky.social•55 days ago

Your circle must be pretty small. There are plenty of moderates and progressives among those who are well off financially in this country.

jswca.bsky.social•55 days ago

Not surprising. What they care most about is lowering their own tax liability & making sure newcomers don’t succeed.

lukeywalsh.bsky.social•55 days ago

The Republican base is ANYONE that owns property and supports supply side or any right of Keynes economic policies

Party Affiliation
- is merely binary gerrymander
- effects no change in the number of virtuous voters
- supports the human right to a choice of economic left or right party

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