Member-only story
The easy answer and the hard answer regarding Trump voters
The standard explanation among Democrats for the existence of Trump voters is that they are, as Hillary Clinton labeled them, deplorables — bigots of all kinds who supported someone who would translate their hatred and rage into national policy. This answer has for the party the value of allowing Democrats to feel superior, morally and intellectually, without having to go any further.
The reality is that there is some truth here, though things are more complex. Some of Trump’s supporters just wanted to continue the Republican socialism for the wealthy and the incorporated. Some were working-class Americans who barely remember or have heard about blue-collar jobs that could give a good life to a family on a single income. But a large percentage, and this is not a mutually exclusive category, were at least sympathetic to hatred of racial minorities and of gender, sexual, and romantic minorities (GSRM), and found these feelings encouraged and developed since Trump rode down his gaudy escalator in 2015.
That being said, if we care about winning more votes for progressive programs and values — something that the Democratic Party has no interest in doing — we have to understand what motivates blocs of voters in the country.
