this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2025
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68
‘There are a lot of bitter people here, I’m one of them’: rust belt voters on why they backed Trump again despite his broken promises (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 6 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
26 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Summary

Despite broken promises like the return of factory jobs, Donald Trump continues to gain support in Ohio’s rust belt, including Youngstown, a former Democratic stronghold.

Voters feel abandoned by both parties but resonate with Trump’s anti-establishment rhetoric and perceived authenticity.

Economic decline, disillusionment with political elites, and anger over issues like trade deals and student debt forgiveness fuel their frustration.

Many voters believe Trump’s willingness to “tear down the system” aligns with their grievances, even as doubts remain about his solutions.

Their bitterness reflects decades of industrial decline and neglect.

top 26 comments
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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 hour ago

I can get it. These were dyed in the wool democrats, or at least their parents were. The Democrat party hung them out to dry with free trade, and abandoned them through ineptitude or unwillingness to resist decades of Republican strong arm politics, and relied on them as a reliable bloc the whole time.

It's not a choice I could make, but to denegrate working people for having literally no place to turn doesn't seem like it's been working out.

It's the party's duty to serve the people. If they don't do that it's dumb to expect anything in return. Republicans got lucky/had crazy good strategy with making Jesus a Republican. They're lying, but it's working.

Parading around the Cheney family? One upping Republicans on all their talking points on immigration and Israel? Those of that voted against trump sure as shit didn't vote for the Democrats, we just voted for Republican lite.

If the democratic party wants to do something about it, they're going to have to start by differentiating the left from the right.

Trump just called everyone assholes and won the presidency twice.

I don't get how anyone thought voting trump was a good idea. I understand where they're coming from even if I don't get how they got there.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

They complain about jobs being industrial decline due to the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs, but then blame inflation on efforts to increase the minimum wage to a living wage, rather than corporate profit-gouging.

While many of them might not mind living in a country with a class of underpaid manufacturing workers—presumedly the undocumented immigrants they simultaneously want to deport—the better option is to invest in economic development that bolsters the country's modern service economy, or specialized manufacturing facilities that can compete without needing ineffective tariffs.

And when Trump implements those tariffs, rather than recognizing their role in inevitable price increases, those same people will instead blame underpaid workers, inevitable counter-tariffs, or anyone else but Trump.

They also won't recognize that any economic growth in the next four years won't benefit them in the slightest, but rather go straight into the pockets of those responsible for outsourcing jobs in the first place. All the while supporting them, with anyone else just needing to 'pull themselves up' with imaginary bootstraps.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Things aren't fine. Anywhere. 2 years ago. 4 years ago. 10 years ago.

It isn't about the solutions to these people, and why should it be? Both sides have been in power, neither side made a material difference to the situation of the general population in the rust belt.

So all that's even left to resonate is tone, and at least the "This country has been ruined" message from the R's at least aligns broadly with the general angst.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 hours ago

Yeah. Too bad it’s the R’s that fucking helped ruin it. Fucking idiots vote for the very people that screwed then in the first place and then convinced them how bad things have gotten.

[–] [email protected] 45 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Perceived authenticity.... fucking morons

[–] [email protected] -3 points 5 hours ago (4 children)

They're not morons. Trump, Musk, super PACs, and the GOP are spending collosal amounts of money to mislead them. It's not their fault that it's working.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 3 hours ago

These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know... morons.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

I don't care how much propaganda and polished ads you put in front of me. If you can't see Trump for the sleazeball narcissist conman that he is after a DECADE of near constant televised and tweeted unfiltered rants from this dickhead, along with his actual actions when he was in office before, you are a fucking moron. Period. When the guy himself says "I'm going to commit atrocities" and his propaganda machine says "he meant that metaphorically, or he was joking, or he was saying that just to trigger the libs, or he meant it but not the way it sounds, etc.", and then the guy says "no I meant exactly what I said. I will commit atrocities. Bad ones!" You can't go "Well geez, I'm hearing all sorts of conflicting information in the media. Who knows what you can believe? I'll just assume that he meant whatever is most agreeable to me," unless you're a dumbass.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

They literally were wearing diapers for Trump. It's a cult and cult-thinking.

Yes, if you get drawn into a cult, it does say some sad things about you as a person, how undeveloped you are, and how much you desire to be accepted as part of a group above all else. Getting drawn into a cult means you probably seriously lack interpersonal skills, and thus acceptance of any type is a joyous gift to you, even if the acceptance comes from horrible people. Cults prey on these kind of people for a reason.

I'm with you, there's no excuses at this point, it's a kind of mental sickness and it needed to be addressed years ago.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 hours ago

No amount of ads make trump look like anything but the dipshit he is. It's 100% their fault it works on them. It's everyone's responsibility to not be that fucking stupid, because it's within their ability not just to do, but to do easily.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 5 hours ago

40 years ago that excuse would have tenuously worked. But if you never learn. Never do better. Constantly repeating the same bad actions. At some point the blame has to go to you. We are here.

Make no mistake, many of them are 100% intellectually impaired. We know this for a fact. Lead in fuel and lead in paint etc. Absolutely had an impact. Causing mental impairment and violent behavior. To what extent is still a valid question.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

"The establishment" is the only thing keeping red states going...

[–] [email protected] 11 points 5 hours ago

And the "deep state"...

[–] [email protected] 37 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Stupid people voting against their own best interests isn't news.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (1 children)

Their bitterness reflects decades of industrial decline and neglect.

It also reflects their obscene lack of education to think they're doing anything but making their own situation worse.

You can be bitter all you want, it doesn't make you any less of a fucking idiot. Be bitter about it some more, dumbfucks, like I fucking care.

When the authoritarians come for them, I certainly won't stand for them, because they sure as fuck wouldn't stand for me. You reap what you sow, and the only thing these people are sowing is hate and ignorance.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

Their only economic importance is their vote. Now that they've voted they will be neglected, not directly abused. Kinda like a pimp leading his hoes to think he cares about them.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 hours ago

Look no further than Rudy Guilliani. Dude is just entrenched in legal battles. Thats the future for you in MAGA.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 hours ago

The bitter clingers are going to get more bitter and cling even harder.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Voters feel abandoned by both parties but resonate with Trump’s anti-establishment rhetoric and perceived authenticity.

If their impression of Trump includes a perception of authenticity, these people are well and truly lost. I have nothing to say to them, and want nothing to do with them.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 hours ago

They still think he was doing Bigly Important Bidness Stuff (TM) on that goofy game show that he was given....

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 hours ago (3 children)

So I am not familiar with us elections but arent there other candidates then democrats and republicans? Like 3rd party? If they don't think trump will deliver, but dislike democrats, can they not vote someone else? Or spoil ballot? Here we also ended up with so far pretty useless labour but at the very least doing nothing is better than more years under conservatives or worse, racists that musk is keen to promote these days.

Here we have a choice of either useless labour or retarded fucktards, so I vote 3rd party. At least it fucking shows not everyone is looking at the two main ones. But looking at our shit turn out, we have similar apathy

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 minutes ago

Basically no. Due to a variety of factors it has become essentially impossible to run a third party in the US.

[–] the_artic_one 1 points 2 hours ago

While the US doesn't have a parliamentary system, it's functionally impossible to win the presidency without a nation-wide party with a presence in multiple states backing you. This is because the president is elected by the states so you need the infrastructure capable of winning a plurality of voters in multiple states which you can test by your party's ability to win senate seats or governorships. Additionally, you would need support of enough members of Congress to actually implement any policy while during your term.

Most third-party presidential candidates in the US are grifters or fools as evidenced by the fact that they'll run for president every year without even attempting to build out party infrastructure, push for alternative voting via citizen ballot initiatives, or win lower positions necessary to actually be successful.

Making third parties viable in the US is possible, but it will take a lot of work. It's far easier to hijack one of the existing parties the way the Tea Party and later, Trump did.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

A functional voting system that allowed for the success of third parties in the United States would be great. Unfortunately, without ranked choice voting, voting for a third party candidate just means splitting the vote for one's next-preferred candidate. The most recent example of this would be George H. W. Bush's re-election loss in 1992, due in part to Ross Perot's popularity as a third-party candidate.

As things stand, the pragmatic choice is therefore to vote for the lesser of two evils. While I'd vote for a third-party candidate in a heartbeat if they had a realistic chance of winning, when the choice is a isolationist, corrupt, bigoted felon or anyone else, the easy choice is anyone else.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 5 hours ago

Natural selection.