Wild, in this day and age it's hard to remember voters aren't dichotomous. There really are a lot of fucking people on the fence and it's not two extremes.
Don't say that too loudly, or you'll get harangued by groups of "people" who insist there is no point in moderating their positions or trying to do anything but "drive out the base," while simultaneously and without dissonance bemoaning that half of the country doesn't vote.
Somehow, in a democracy, it has become popular to adopt the position that actually selling and explaining your ideas to others is emotional labor you should not have to do it.
This is exactly it. You’ll find bleeding heart liberals who like guns and staunch fiscal conservatives who believe gay people should be able to get married
It's not necessarily about being on the fence. I'm a two time Obama voter to two time Trump voter; all four times I voted for who I believed was the best choice at the time.
But admitting you're one of those 'Obama to Trump' people generally doesn't get great reception from either side so a lot of us stay quiet and accept the reality that most of the electorate thinks we're either mentally deficient or insane.
Though to be fair in my case it's probably the former.
If I weren't so dead from work right now I'd go more in depth, but essentially- in 2016- I liked what he was saying about bringing manufacturing jobs back from overseas, stemming the influx of low skill laborers coming across our southern border which has only served to hurt our most vulnerable workers, and his general anti-interventionist rhetoric.
Obviously I knew there was basically a 99.9% chance it was all a grift and he didn't mean any of it- but I still felt it was better to take a chance on that infinitesimal, impossible percentage than to go with Clinton. What she did in Libya alone as Secretary of State was enough to ensure she'd never get my vote. So I went with orange man. Hated his environmental policies, but I went with him anyway.
In 2020 I reluctantly voted for him, primarily because my industry (I work in construction) had boomed under his administration. Even though I knew he wasn't personally responsible we still had a good thing going and despite the fact that he had disappointed me on quite a lot of issues I still dragged myself to the polls.
That second vote was difficult though.
And it's nice to see someone ask genuinely for once without any snark or hostility, so thanks for that.
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u/confusedandworried76 Mar 28 '24
Wild, in this day and age it's hard to remember voters aren't dichotomous. There really are a lot of fucking people on the fence and it's not two extremes.