Why do so many people vote Republican ?

[kentuck]

Obviously they are a Party that really represents only a small percentage of the American people. Most folks that vote Republican actually vote against their own interests. For example, the Party's latest ideas are to cut Medicaid, foodstamps, mortgage interest deductions, and taxes for the wealthy. Ten percent of the people at most, benefit from Republican policies. Yet, they maintain close to 50% of the voters that go to the polls? How do you explain that ?

[Vincardog]

1. CAn you spell BBV?

[shance]

53. Thanks Vicar. I think you are spot on and I think America has been

duped for at least five years, namely due to those handy dandy little electronic voting machines which are tabulated by Republican owned private companies.

Its a myth that Republicans are anywhere close to being a majority.

The challenge is to have Democratic leadership step up to the plate and address this issue head on.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

2. Because they are childishly greedy.

And that is what the repukes play to. They don't deliver shit on that account, but they don't talk about that.

[noahmijo]

3. because the queers must not marry and we're killing ragheads

and by CHRIST! we shall recieve our ficticious tax cuts!! and also the democrat liberals want to make my daughter lose her virginity!!


::note I am currently drunk so please disregard a nything offensive that I may say::

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. The common misconception that the GOP represents family values

small government and strong military.

[billbuckhead]

10. The PuKKKes are very good at turning white middle class guys into victims

Charlton Heston
Former NRA President

"Mainstream America is counting on you to draw your sword and fight for them. These people have precious little time and resources to battle misguided Cinderella attitudes, the fringe propaganda of the homosexual coalition, the feminists who preach that it is a divine duty for women to hate men, blacks who raise a militant fist with one hand while they seek preference with the other …"

"I remember when European Jews feared to admit their faith. The Nazis forced them to wear yellow stars as identity badges. It worked. So what color star will they pin on gun owners chests? How will the self-styled elite tag us? There may not be a Gestapo officer on every street corner, but the influence on our culture is just as pervasive."

"On the other hand, I find my blood pressure rising when Clinton's cultural shock troops participate in gay-rights fundraisers but boycott gun-rights fundraisers and then claim it's time to place homosexual men in tents with Boy Scouts, and suggest that sperm donor babies born into lesbian relationships are somehow better served and more loved." --Speech to Free Congress Foundation


" I was astounded to read these courageous remarks by Charlton Heston. I am thankful to hear a man with such high esteem say essentially the same things for which I have been reviled by the liberal media. His words should be reproduced and put into the hands of every American."
--DAVID DUKE's response to Heston's speech
<http://www.nraleaders.com/charlton-heston.html>

[patrice]

5. Part of it is that many people vote for who they expect to win.

It's a little power trip, more important to vote for the winner than to vote for whoever is right, which you can't figure what is right anyway, so just go with the one you expect to win. In our society it's more important to be a winner than it is to be good.

[YDogg]

6. Ghod told them to?

Or at least that's what the preacher says.

[rockymountaindem]

7. The Republicans have a much, much better PR machine.

I don't know if it was 10, 20, 30 or 50 years ago when they started building it, but the Dems sure missed the boat on that one. The Republicans know how to tap into the collective unconsious of America that the Democrats haven't been able to match.

You can't get people to vote against their own self interest without a good PR machine. Unfortunately, that's exactly where the Republicans have put most of their efforts. Great at campaigning, not at governing.

[Hippo_Tron]

19. There was no necessity for a good PR machine when dems were in power

FDR and John Kennedy didn't need a PR machine to get people to vote for them. People knew that they were strong leaders who were determined to take the country in the right direction. Perhaps being in power for as long as we were made us complacent and allowed the Republicans to get the better of us with their PR abilities. Clinton was the only person who beat them at their own game, but he wasn't able to govern like a real Democrat.

[VPStoltz]

25. This is I'm saying.

You tell a lie enough times - especially when the oppostion doesn't call you on it like it should - and people will believe it. The Repukes are the masters of the repeated lie. And as someone said, (I wish I could remember who) "Reagan makes us comfortable with out prejudices." And by association, that is true of all Repukes. It's easier to be greedy than generous.

[OhioBlue]

51. yes - well polished, well disciplined PR machine

backed up by conservative think-tank studies which are paid for by the corporations and cited as resources.

[marmar]

8. Fear...

Fear of blacks and Latinos "leapfrogging" lower income whites, even though the Repukes are doing the same things to them they're doing to blacks and Latinos...

Or fear that once gay marriage becomes law, heterosexuals are going to be wiped out and the whole nation will be gay.

Or fear that immigrants are going to take all the jobs and replace English with Spanish or Mandarin Chinese as the official language.

Or fear that the push toward secularism will wipe out Christmas as a nationally observed holiday.

and so on and so on.

It's a bunch of fear, and irrational fear at that.

[Yupster]

43. I think fear is right, but

a different kind of fear. A fear of change.

People grew up in a different world than we have today.

I'm talking about myself here, but when we grew up we took our bikes out in the morning during the summer, and were gone until dinner time. We didn't have cellphones either, and mom didn't particularly worry where we were.

We watched tv at night and dad didn't worry about what we were watching.

The greater number of kids lived with their moms and dads, and things seemed to work. They were the good old days which were probably never really that good, but as an old codger, I can say that a lot of things really were a lot better then than they are today, though I'm sure a lot of things are worse too.

Then things changed.

Sex and drugs and rock and roll.

I read something a while back somewhere that said that if you ask a single question "Were the changes of the Sixties mostly good or mostly bad," you can do a pretty good job picking Republican and Democratic voters. I think there's probably some truth to it.

Democratic voters are likely to point to women's rights, minority rights, and social progress like medicare, medicaid and food stamps.

Republican voters are likely to point to drug abuse, broken families, and a million and a half abortions a year.

It's a true and serious disconnect as neither side really understands or makes any attempt to understand the other.

I do think the Republicans in general do a better job of avoiding the utterly stupid, as they have learned to talk about the importance of a social safety net while they cut it.

The Democrats on the other hand amaze me with the stuff they do to seemingly aggravate on purpose the large number of people who feel their old way of life is being taken from them.

Let's attack prayers at football games, the Boy Scouts, the Pledge of Allegiance. Fight for drug legalization, and voting rights for convicted rapists. Let's trot out Larry Flynt and hear what he has to say.

This stuff is poison to millions of Americans who might agree with Democratic candidates on economic issues, but when it comes down to thinking their way of life is under attack, economic issues are not going to be important to them.

Can we not be smarter on the issues we spend our time on?

I will not be surprised if in 2008 80 % of the people believe the USA is on the wrong track, and yet a Republican wins the presidency. I'm not saying it will happen, but I'm saying I won't be surprised if it does.

[marmar]

9. Dupe delete

[napi21]

11. I can tell you what all the people around here tell me.

They vote Pub because of abortion and gay marriage.

I can get them to agree with me on every other point of contention. They admit, financially, it would be better for the Dems to be in office. They absolutely WON'T budge on the abortion and gay marriage issues!

My argument to them is that I hate abortions too, but that's MY decision and the Feds have no reason to even be involved!

I lose them every time.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

20. *sigh*

I remember when Georgia didn't have so many batshit crazy folks. Which undoubtedly gives away my age.

I miss that time. I miss it because America didn't have so many batshit crazy folks, as a whole, either.

[eallen]

12. Actually, I think the new GOP has a significant sized base.

The most important political issues to the religious right are those of social conservatism: opposition to abortion, opposition to gay rights, teaching of religion in public schools, government recognition of religion, etc. I figure the religious right accounts for about a third of all voters, and that they are almost 100% loyal to the new GOP.

Your political priorities are economic: which fiscal policies benefit which groups. Others will have different priorities, accounting for different alignments.

:hippie:

[Broken_Hero]

31. I agree with that...

There are a lot who still strongly disagree with abortion but vote dem, much like the poster, who says its his/her decision, not the fed govts. I think they vote repub because they feel apart of them, and because they "want" to believe that its not "their" fault that life is hard, its the minorities, the gays, the matra of "always being underattack...its weird, but in some cases, its very much true.

[wisteria]

13. It's all about the money, getting it, keeping it and making more of

it and using it to gain power.

[1620rock]

14. Because;

The PNAC has developed and uses with great success a form of brain washing called "Perception Management." Thats why they bought up the MSM starting in the 90's, and initiated 24/7 HATE radio talk.
Couple that with the "dumbing down of America" and Viola you have Republican voters everywhere who are wetting themselves with joy to vote against their own self interest's. :banghead:

[joemurphy]

16. Because Republicans Don't Think Like Us

They’re People Who Don’t Share Our Values.

"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."
John Kenneth Galbraith

“Old-fashioned values may count when conservatives appear on the stump, but once conservatives are in office the only old-fashioned situation they care to revive is an economic regimen of low wages and lax regulations. Over the last three decades they have smashed the welfare state, reduced the tax burden on corporations and the wealthy, and generally facilitated the country’s return to a nineteenth-century pattern of wealth distribution. Thus, the primary contradiction of the (conservative) backlash: it is a working-class movement that has done incalculable, historic harm to working class people.”
Thomas Frank, Author
“What’s the Matter with Kansas?”

They’re People Who Don’t Think Like Us.

George Lakoff, a linguist, tries to explain the difference between Democratic and Republican thought patterns this way:

“Well, the progressive worldview is modeled on a nurturant parent family. Briefly, it assumes that the world is basically good and can be made better and that one must work toward that. Children are born good; parents can make them better. Nurturing involves empathy, and the responsibility to take care of oneself and others for whom we are responsible. On a larger scale, specific policies follow, such as governmental protection in form of a social safety net and government regulation, universal education (to ensure competence, fairness), civil liberties and equal treatment (fairness and freedom), accountability (derived from trust), public service (from responsibility), open government (from open communication), and the promotion of an economy that benefits all and functions to promote these values, which are traditional progressive values in American politics.

The conservative worldview, the strict father model, assumes that the world is dangerous and difficult and that children are born bad and must be made good. The strict father is the moral authority who supports and defends the family, tells his wife what to do, and teaches his kids right from wrong. The only way to do that is through painful discipline — physical punishment that by adulthood will become internal discipline. The good people are the disciplined people. Once grown, the self-reliant, disciplined children are then on their own. Those children who remain dependent (who were spoiled, overly willful, or recalcitrant) should be forced to undergo further discipline or be cut free with no support to face the discipline of the outside world.”

Lakoff contends in his book, "Moral Politics" that these competing worldviews extend into politics and accounts for the philosophical differences between Democrats (Liberals and Progressives) and Republicans (Conservatives and Libertarians).

[Silverhair]

28. Very astute. Sums it up very well !! NT

[dchill]

38. The Galbraith quote is right where it ought to be...

right at the top of your post.

My view is that Democrats vote the way they do because they feel that basically, everyone else in the world is a lot like they are.

On the other hand, Republicans vote the way they do because they fear that basically, everyone else in the world is a lot like they are.

In other words, it's a deep psychological divide - feel versus fear.

[Silverhair]

26. Nobody is being FORCED to listen to RW radio.

Unless somebody else has it on and won't shut it off. Other than that, people control their own dials. This isn't North Korea, where radio sets are wired for only the one gov't station.

People listen to Rush of their own free choice. That is a very important thing to remember. That means that RW radio was saying something that the listeners wanted to hear.

[xray s]

15. The Blowjob

their brains melt thinking that someone got a blowjob. it drives them nuts.

[patrice]

23. How right you are!!! That's no joke.

I think that really does happen.

Unfortunately, they'll never take the cure, which is to go out and get a blowjob every day, or every week, or whatever, until you regain your self-control.

On edit: I know there are feminists who would regard that as exploitation, but let's assume we're talking about two, free, autonomous individuals here.

[Darkhawk32]

17. They're dumbshits. n/t

[mermaid]

18. Because

First...about 40 to 50 percent of this country BELIEVES they are in the top ten to twenty percent. They have to believe that. It makes them feel better about themselves.

So they think they are voting in their self-interest, not against it. They don't want to hear the reality that they are more likely in the second or third quintile, they have to believe they are in the top quintile. Their psychology will not allow them to believe otherwise.

Secondly, there are a bunch of "moral-issues" voters that care more about stopping those scary gayo-Americans from getting married, than they care about their own self-interest, financially, and are willing to cut their noses off to spite their faces.

That and black box voting takes care of the rest.

We liberals are the legitimate majority, and we know it. The problem is getting thru to those who believe themselves to be in a higher quintile than they really are, and getting them to accept the reality that they are voting against their own self-interest...that they have been duped and tricked.

No one wants to admit they were tricked, outsmarted...that they have been had. We have to find a way to break it to them gently, and let them know it isn't their fault, they were not stupid...the ones who tricked them were just really smart. We have to let them know that it is okay to not be in the top quintile, that they are still worthwhile and valuable people, even if they are not in that top quintile.

And we have to let the "moral issues" people know how badly they are hurting themselves, in order to hurt enemies of their own choosing...and how little it will really affect them, or their personal lives, if they simply let go of their hatred, and their fear, and their prejudice...and just stop worrying about what others do in their own bedrooms...that the things they fear are irrational, gay relationships have existed since the dawn of time, and will continue to exist...and, in fact, the more you try to suppress it, the more power you give to it.

In short, most people who vote Republoican do so because they have been tricked or duped...or they have fooled themselves into thinking that voting R was in their best interest, by artificially placing themselves into an economic quintile that they really are not members of.

[Silverhair]

21. Here are some other issues to add to the list:

Tort Reform.

People see the legal system as out of control. There was a recent 253 MILLION DOLLAR decision for some guy against a drug company. And of course, the lady that spilled the hot coffed on her self and got huge millions from McD has entered the status of legend. The general public does not see those cases as just, but as having turned the justice system into a lottery.

Guns.

Republicans have proved that they are the party of individual gun ownership and of shall-issue CCWs. And many of them want those guns for self defense.

Anti-Gay Marriage

The fact is that the general public just does NOT support this issue. Maybe in 30 years, but they don't now.

[The Backlash Cometh]

22. Selfish interests.

Let's see, the Republicans have managed to market for the selfish individual.

A) As long as you go to church and denounce Liberal immorality, you can consider yourself a good Christian.

B) As long as you consider yourself a good Christian, you can do whatever you have to do, to make money in business.

C) As long as you make money in business, you're a success and should save yourself the tax dollars by voting Republican.

[okieinpain]

24. fear of black people, ie dems are soft on crime.

[Mend]

27. Status symbol for manhood

to be a repuke means you are white, Christian, working, tough, patriotic, don't have your hand out, independent, strong, manly, don't take shit from women.

[YoungDemocrat]

29. Two Americas

People vote Republican against their own interests because they're confused. They think that Republicans are the party of the common man because the Republicans have really good grassroots that allow them to mislead people. Democrats need to build a similar infrastructure if we are to succeed.

[agincourt]

30. If I had unlimited financial resources,

unlimited access, and all the time I want, I could convince half the American population that we never went to the moon. They would be thinking LBJ spent it all on welfare cheats. Humans are not such lofty creatures, they are computers without a reboot button. Garbage in, garbage out, and it's been nothing but well orchestrated corporate garbage everywhere since 1975, if not sooner. A full court press of RW garbage in TV, papers, books, Rambo clone movies and don't forget flag wavin' CW music. They get 45% of the vote, and for the rest, there's Diebold

[leftofthedial]

32. they maintain close to 50% of the *reported* vote,

NOT 50% of those who go to the polls.

Plus, half of all Murkans are of below average intelligence.

[manic expression]

33. Delusion n/t

[tabasco]

34. The corporate rulers spend billions on propaganda.

Not just Scaife and Murdoch, but all the leaders of multinational corps that are draining our treasury right now.

It works. The RW tries (and largely succeeds) to make working class white folks feel like victims, and blames somebody else for all the problems (minorities, liberals, foreigners). This allows working class white folks to feel better, knowing they are perfect, and all the problems are somebody else's fault. The propaganda exploits man's most base emotions, such as hatred for foreigners and anyone different. People like to be told that they are superior, and that others are inferior.

[TheFarseer]

35. They market their ideas well

and they have some kind of magical ability to sell you dog sh*t laced with rat poison and make you think you are getting a good deal. Their ideas will hurt you but they have you convinced you will benefit from them. They sell you one thing, deliver something totally different and still manage to convince you they delivered what they promised! Bait and switch. I don't know how long they can keep so many people in the dark. I hope not much longer.

[PurityOfEssence]

36. because they're posturing tough guys

It's the old Reaganite ubermasculine crap: I'm successful; I don't need no government. People who aren't making it are just lazy.

They'll swagger around huffing about how successful they are even when they're inches away from financial ruin. It's the disdain of others and a need to be superior; it's not enough to have more money and things than one can use, one has to get even more and have inferiors around to remind oneself of one's superiority. A true Republican can't feel really satisfied at a sumptuous banquet unless he can throw his bones at a toothless beggar or harass and belittle the help. It's a fuck you mentality, and it revels in the domination and marginalization of others.

(There are many other reasons, of course; conservatism is basically selfishness. Racism, sexism and fear of change play big parts, too, but I thought I'd just point out a different dynamic since so many others have nailed these.)

[Awsi Dooger]

39. That's what I see and hear

Last summer I was eating in a pizza restaurant outside Saratoga. While waiting for my order, the delivery guy started mouthing off about what a "bigtime Republican" he was. I started to laugh, and tried to explain he was voting against himself. The young guy, who was driving a beat up old '80s truck, wouldn't listen to a word and basically echoed everything you wrote, about how successful and tough and independent he was going to be, and didn't want government to get in the way.

I'm afraid that's the white American male in a nutshell, at least the majority of them, and pointless to pretend otherwise. It's why our ceiling is so low in national elections. Guns are also a huge factor. When Clinton was elected, I know a handful of redneck genuises who stocked up on every type of weapon, convinced Clinton would ban them within months.

[Leftest]

37. I Absolutely Believe

That if "We The People" had the monopoly on the media instead of the corporations. Republicans would best be classified as endangered species.

[npincus]

40. that's exactly what my husband says...

like a mantra.

I don't know the answer. Inbreeding?

[Stinky The Clown]

41. The big 'Values' lie

I think that's it in a nutshell. The current party has great research and marketing skills. They know what the 'little people' like to hear and they freely tell them.

[doc03]

42. The are not voting for Republicans they are voting

against gun control, gay marriage and abortion. The Republicans have successfully framed elections on these issues for the last 25 years. They are experts at multiplying by dividing.

[nickshepDEM]

44. Honestly? People think its cool to be 'conservative'.

Im 21 years old and majority of my friends are Republicans. They fall into the mold of... "Democrats are pussy liberals who give into and cuddle w/ terrorists." They also believe that Democrats are nothing, but money hungry tax and spenders. They could care less that Republicans just cut and spend, cut and spend. They dont care about the national debt, they dont care about the dead soldiers, and they really could give two shits less about Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid because 'it doesnt affect them'. Thats basically why most of my friends are Republicans.

Oh yeah, most people think they are rich, too. When in reality they're just as poor as me, you, and the next guy. No one wants to admit it, but we're all strungling just to get by.

[mermaid]

45. Yep

Exactly like I said in my own post, Number 18. People like to think they are rich, even if they aren't.

[formernaderite]

46. Drumroll please.....because the democrats often come off acting like

elitist snobs. That's it. As much as I liked Kerry, I knew deep down he seemed quite pompous and overly verbose. The truth is both parties have a limited number of voters to cater to, these voters for the most part already belong to a party. The answer to winning is attracting the other half of America that doesn't vote because they haven't heard anything remotely familiar to vote for.
I still believe that had the democrats shown some courage and nominated Dean, we might still have gone down in flames...but everyone in America would have remember the campaign. It would have had a lasting impact on how people perceive the democrats.

[Ally McLesbian]

47. Having grown up a neocon...

I know the rational as to why certain ethnic minorities vote Republican (it's a severe problem with Latinos and Asians in Southern California), something that makes absolutely no sense to the average white liberal.

The argument is that by fattening the lazy asses of inner-city minorities on welfare, the Democratic Party is keeping them lazy asses, giving them no incentive to work and improve. After all, if having a zillion kids out of wedlock can net you enough AFDC payments to afford a Cadillac (there goes that Reagan crap again), why work? The Republican Party will FORCE them to work for honest compensation, and improve themselves in the process.

The underlying Republican philosophy here though is that one must be kept at the edge, with severe punishments for mistakes and only marginal rewards for good deeds, in order to keep them at maximum productivity. And this is a philosophy that I can never agree with. With marginal rewards, there is no incentive to work more than necessary for survival, because even one minor mistake will get you fired, despite your loyalty to your boss. This will bring productivity back down to Communist levels - Commies had similar problems with loyalty and productivity. Well-rewarded workers in other countries actually work harder and smarter, and crank out better products and services. There is a reason why American cars are crap now, and so are US based airlines. The average American is at a breaking point.

[freestyle]

48. The most important factor is fear, followed by greed.

The republican social platform is all about control or punishment of everyone who is not people like them. A large portion of the population has been convinced, usually with religion and bigotry at the foundation, that the republicans will protect them from all those scary people of color, gays, empowered women, foreigners, etc. Greed is also a large part of it, with people believing in much more social mobility than is possible. Something like 15% of people think they are in the top 1%. The combination is devastating.

We Democrats have to put forth a serious program of economic populism and advocacy for freedom and equality to draw in non-voters who feel no one speaks for or works for them. It is way past time to expand the pie instead of fighting for some mythical slice of the middle.

[HughBeaumont]

49. Hatred or fear of someone or something . . .

. . . the card of which Dickpublicans have played from the bottom of the deck for the past 25 years. Really, that's the simple answer. Usually, these issues have bupKIS to do with actual governing, but for some reason, these Jedi mind tricks fool the weak-minded EVERY time.

[Robeson]

50. Guns, God, and Taxes....

...are the big three. Also, they hate welfare. They're xenophobic. They're patriarchal. And the .05% who actually run this country, use those fears and issues by playing them to a crowd of people who are susceptible to them.

[gulliver]

52. Valid desires, but desperate, foolhardy, and low methods.

The vast majority of Republicans intend to be good people. They feel driven to desperation.

They act selfish, but make unselfish gestures. They act mean, but give their unused canned goods to food pantries on Thanksgiving. They don't care that much about Christian values, but they have the jewelry and T-shirt.

The scarier and less comprehensible the world is, the more people want to fight one another, snub one another, and even dispense with one another.

The more competitive the world gets, the less one wants to help others no matter how helpless they are. Deep down, some Republicans would really rather have a poor black kid end up in prison than compete (via educational help from the state) with their own kids.

They are medium intelligences and near-sighted to the point of blindness. They can see the (pool) shot, but not the leave. They think God's gonna let them off in the long run no matter how many mistakes they make. (They've even made God say it.)

They've gone seriously astray and don't know it. They are normal, good hearted, scared rabbits that bite (to use Jerry Spence's metaphor). They feel backed into a corner of failure by their own TV-induced expectations of success.