🚨 How did an 80-20 Trump county in rural Kentucky also turn out to be the most anti-school voucher county in the state?
I drove there to find out. đź›»
And the lessons I learned go way beyond the enormous value of public schools in rural communities.
A 🧵 you’ll want to read….
I drove there to find out. đź›»
And the lessons I learned go way beyond the enormous value of public schools in rural communities.
A 🧵 you’ll want to read….
Comments
Answer: The Presidential race is no longer about actual policy, just perception and personality with a sprinkling of racism and misogyny
It lost in all 120 counties. And by 60-40 or worse in all but 9 of those counties
And—it did the worst in Kentucky’s smallest county: Robertson County. Population, 2,033 (as of 2023)
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As context, Robertson County also voted 80-20 for Donald Trump.
And yes, a key plank of Trump’s platform is to extend states’ failed universal voucher experiment to the federal level, which means vouchers could soon show up in all 50 states:
It turns out, Robertson County is about 65 hilly miles away from Cincinnati. The result there interested me so much, I decided to take a road trip:
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And the answers from the conversations (all pleasant) could not have been more clear.
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As I said, its population is 2,033.
The county seat is Mt. Olivet, pop. 347 (in 2020).
Here’s Mt. Olivet City Hall:
96.2% of the county’s citizens are white
84.2% of residents have a high school degree, 12.2% have a bachelor’s degree.
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Here are some photos of the heart (the main intersection) of Mt. Olivet:
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Do they realize they voted against their own (and their children's) best interests by voting for Trump?
My conclusion would be that they voted for Trump based on his persona and promises, and without understanding his stance on issues that will further grind them down.
Glad these people were able to see through it.
How you engage with them is as important as what you’re saying…. There can be no question Trump connected with them, lies or not, he was convincing to them, with a lot of their news support.
“84.2% of residents have a high school degree, 12.2% have a bachelor’s degree.”
trump+18
Abortion legal+16
‪@piperformissouri.bsky.social
So proud of these rural folk and impressed with their knowledge of the issue
👏🏽