Interesting common denominator of Trump fans
Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2016 4:12 pmhttp://www.politico.com/magazine/story/ ... ian-213533
My finding is the result of a national poll I conducted in the last five days of December under the auspices of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, sampling 1,800 registered voters across the country and the political spectrum. Running a standard statistical analysis, I found that education, income, gender, age, ideology and religiosity had no significant bearing on a Republican voter’s preferred candidate. Only two of the variables I looked at were statistically significant: authoritarianism, followed by fear of terrorism, though the former was far more significant than the latter.
Authoritarianism is not a new, untested concept in the American electorate. Since the rise of Nazi Germany, it has been one of the most widely studied ideas in social science.
While its causes are still debated, the political behavior of authoritarians is not. Authoritarians obey. They rally to and follow strong leaders. And they respond aggressively to outsiders, especially when they feel threatened. From pledging to “make America great again” by building a wall on the border to promising to close mosques and ban Muslims from visiting the United States, Trump is playing directly to authoritarian inclinations.
Not all authoritarians are Republicans by any means; in national surveys since 1992, many authoritarians have also self-identified as independents and Democrats. And in the 2008 Democratic primary, the political scientist Marc Hetherington found that authoritarianism mattered more than income, ideology, gender, age and education in predicting whether voters preferred Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama.
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This is a dangerous situation actually.
Though I support many of the initiatives proposed by Trump, I can't say that trust him to implement them in a fair way. I wish I could, but I've seen how dictators throughout history use fear to create perpetrators of their real agenda.
Trump has ALWAYS supported Democrat liberals with his money. He is talking out of both sides of his mouth and so few Republicans have noticed because he is playing the authoritarian tune. I'd prefer him over any Democrat candidate proposed so far....but that isn't saying much. I'd vote for a pile of dog poop before them.
And Trump is at least that....
He could be the refreshing change we need in America, or he could be the worst thing to happen since Obama. I'd rather not have to take that risk.
.
My finding is the result of a national poll I conducted in the last five days of December under the auspices of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, sampling 1,800 registered voters across the country and the political spectrum. Running a standard statistical analysis, I found that education, income, gender, age, ideology and religiosity had no significant bearing on a Republican voter’s preferred candidate. Only two of the variables I looked at were statistically significant: authoritarianism, followed by fear of terrorism, though the former was far more significant than the latter.
Authoritarianism is not a new, untested concept in the American electorate. Since the rise of Nazi Germany, it has been one of the most widely studied ideas in social science.
While its causes are still debated, the political behavior of authoritarians is not. Authoritarians obey. They rally to and follow strong leaders. And they respond aggressively to outsiders, especially when they feel threatened. From pledging to “make America great again” by building a wall on the border to promising to close mosques and ban Muslims from visiting the United States, Trump is playing directly to authoritarian inclinations.
Not all authoritarians are Republicans by any means; in national surveys since 1992, many authoritarians have also self-identified as independents and Democrats. And in the 2008 Democratic primary, the political scientist Marc Hetherington found that authoritarianism mattered more than income, ideology, gender, age and education in predicting whether voters preferred Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama.
---------------------------
This is a dangerous situation actually.
Though I support many of the initiatives proposed by Trump, I can't say that trust him to implement them in a fair way. I wish I could, but I've seen how dictators throughout history use fear to create perpetrators of their real agenda.
Trump has ALWAYS supported Democrat liberals with his money. He is talking out of both sides of his mouth and so few Republicans have noticed because he is playing the authoritarian tune. I'd prefer him over any Democrat candidate proposed so far....but that isn't saying much. I'd vote for a pile of dog poop before them.
And Trump is at least that....
He could be the refreshing change we need in America, or he could be the worst thing to happen since Obama. I'd rather not have to take that risk.
.
