Quote:
Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski
Intellectual honesty is important in an echo chamber- the T man won the district by a shit ton, so maybe the base turned? What were the 3rd party votes in that district? Is that where sebby lives?
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That's Pittsburgh.
I'd say the Trump base that is focused on economic issues is constantly turning. They're seeking a magic ticket, and when they don't see it materializing, they pull the other lever. (How else does one vote for Obama, then Trump?)
They believe the President and Congress control the economy. When they don't "get them jobs back," they attribute it primarily to policy decisions.
And the Trump base is too small to lose any sub-group and remain effective at the ballot box.
Trump will always have his base in hopeless places like Missouri, or the bowels of Ohio. Those dead enders are true believers, thick with the Jesus, high on revisionist history of lost white 'Mericana.
But Pennsylvania is not ideological. It's got no real personality, no real ethos. It's sole resources have been fossil fuels and cynical pragmatism. They aren't about improving, just surviving.
Democrats and Republicans in PA have traditionally been in the Party of Me. They're interested solely in power, because in a state with next to zero economic growth, filled with geriatrics, govt money is often the only money. (Because it's Commonwealth, PA is actually dozens of mini states at the county level, run mostly by a mix of incompetents and opportunists.) PA will flip blue in a huge way in the midterms. But then, when the Democrats don't deliver any more than Trump did (as they'll be gridlocked), don't be surprised if PA flips red again in 2020.
These back-and-forths are the death rattle of low information voters, and Pennsylvania is filled with them. I think they'll keep voting against the incumbent party that hasn't given them what they want for few more cycles before the realization of the act's futility permeates their skulls.
