I don’t do much political writing anymore, but a fascination with both American and world politics demands that I pay attention. Like most of us, I discuss what is going on with friends and others including people with like and opposing viewpoints.
One of the questions I hear often is, “How can anyone support Donald Trump?”
As a political scientist, I follow two types of voters in the United States, and from my personal experience, one type votes on personality. They will support people they like, and people who do not challenge their views. If they would not choose a candidate as a friend, the odds are that they will not support them. To many, Trump is hard to like.
The other type of voter supports, not people, but policies. They support candidates who promote policies that they agree with, especially policies that they believe will make their household safer or better off. Donald Trump is a hard-assed New York businessman who can be a first-class jerk. But his policies appeal to a lot of people.
The follow up question I often hear is, “How can people of faith support someone with Trump’s baggage?”
What I truly respect in the many who live their faith, is that they recognize that we all have baggage, we all have ugly in our past. They also recognize that a checkered temperament does not mean that we cannot do more good than bad. And people of faith believe in forgiveness.
The electorate seems to be equally divided between those who choose candidates they like and are passionate about remedying perceived injustice and those who pragmatically support policies that they feel help their household and make them safer. Each group represents approximately 30% of the voters. In between is a larger block of voters who, when things are going well for themselves and, in their perception, the country, will vote personality. When these same voters are hurting or just uncomfortable they almost always focus more on policy.
For both, I want to quote from my earlier political writing. America is imperfect, but exceptional. People from Iran, Russia, China, Venezuela and dozens of other countries would love the opportunity to vote for anyone that the elites feel threatened by.