Why people will vote against their own interests--

[dr.strangelove]

31. I don't think it is voting against their interests

I think people just weigh factors or "interests" differently. I don;t vote for the dems because it benefits me financially. I make a good living and do not get the benefit of most of the economic policies I support. But morally I think the Democratic Party, more often than not, supports what I feel is just, so I tend to vote for that party. I suspect the "poor" southerners you are discussing may feel that the conservative right offers them far more support for their moral leanings than their financial. Which honestly is how I think it shoudl be. Vote with what you feel is right, not what will benefit you the most. While I wish more people would share my morality, specifically on equality of all citizens, I am content in seeing a clear trend toward my way of thinking over the past 70 years.