4 ms·

One of the two major parties has economic policies that are so wildly unpopular (see e.g. https://www.vox.com/21502189/preexisting-conditions-trump-republicans

by m12k 6y ago

One of the two major parties has economic policies that are so wildly unpopular (see e.g. https://www.vox.com/21502189/preexisting-conditions-trump-republicans https://www.vox.com/21502189/preexisting-conditions-trump-re... ) that they've resigned themselves to using gerrymandering, bigotry, voter suppression and inherent weaknesses in the US democratic system (votes in rural areas count more when electing presidents and senators) to rule using votes from an angry minority instead of a majority. It doesn't seem sustainable.

arcticbull 6y ago
"Wildly unpopular" ~= 49% of the voters approve [edit for clarity: of the party]. There's truly deeper systemic issues in the United States than the Republican's economic policies.
- Bud 6y ago
  Your figures are hilariously off, there. If you look at Republican social policies, they're even more off.
  - arcticbull 6y ago
    The Republican platform is remarkably narrow and well defined. They are the party of 'free speech,' God, guns and eliminating abortions. The rest is ancillary to their voters. When you cast your opponents as God-hating, Christmas-fighting, Gun-stealing, baby-killing potheads, people don't really care about your economic policies, they're just voting to stop the anti-Christ. The Democratic tent on the other hand is stretched about as broad as it possibly can be, and they don't really commit to anything. If they cast themselves as too progressive they risk alienating their right flank and the 'centrist undecideds' (I mean my lord who can't make up their mind about this). If they cast themselves as too conservative, they risk alienating the Bernie bros (who IMO swung the election for Trump last time). So, they stand as a big blob. They espouse a kind of wink-wink-nudge-nudge progressivism: no clear support socialized medicine, a refusal to answer questions about court packing, and immigration doesn't even come up. Maybe more DACA? Where we just throw the problem under a rug again, instead of actually addressing it. I personally wish the Democrats were half as progressive as Republicans are trying to make them out to be, but they're not. Not even close. Half of what the Republicans accuse them of I'm like damn, that's solid center to center-left policy, I wish the Dems were on board with that!
    - aweiland 6y ago
      As of this year Republicans officially have no enumerated platform.
      - arcticbull 6y ago
        Oh you haven't been watching nearly enough FOX if you think that :) Take that from someone who now has a Tucker Carlson shaped brain aneurism.
        dvtrn 6y ago
        I believe what parent comment means is that the RNC has no national platform that they have adopted, advertised and articulated for their National Convention delegates to deliberate and vote on leading up to the election. Which is a correct and true statement, the RNC hasn’t published a party platform as they have in years prior. https://www.vox.com/2020/8/24/21399396/republican-convention-platform-2020-2016 https://www.vox.com/2020/8/24/21399396/republican-convention...
        arcticbull 6y ago
        Ahh, I misunderstood, thanks for the clarification!
- alpha_squared 6y ago
  > "Wildly unpopular" ~= 49% of the voters approve. Citation? While it's possible there's ~49% support of the party, that doesn't necessarily mean an equivalent amount of support for the economic policy.
- m12k 6y ago
  Policy proposals such as "the rich should be taxed more" routinely get approval from ~65% of voters. Thankfully for that party, they've found a way to get people to vote based on fear, racism, abortion, guns and other divisive issues instead of economic policy.
  - mizzack 6y ago
    _That_ party? Those are wedge issues specifically because they apply to both parties. > fear "LGBTQ lives are at risk" vs. "rioters are burning down our cities" > racism "systemic racism is a problem" vs "critical race theory is a problem" > abortion, guns self explanatory.
- TOGoS 6y ago
  > 49% of the voters approve. I wouldn't assume that 100% of voters even know the economic policies of the people they're voting for, let alone approve of them. It seems like people mostly vote because they've been told the party they're voting against is evil[1], not because they actually support the policies. [1] Of course those of us who think they're both evil are not left with much motivation to vote for either, which partly explains (along with voter suppression, gerrymandering making voting less effective, etc) why half the country doesn't bother to vote at all.
- sg47 6y ago
  What % of the 49% are single issue voters? I think their economic policies are the last reason why voters support Republicans.

by m12k 6y ago

arcticbull 6y ago

"Wildly unpopular" ~= 49% of the voters approve [edit for clarity: of the party]. There's truly deeper systemic issues in the United States than the Republican's economic policies.

Bud 6y ago
Your figures are hilariously off, there. If you look at Republican social policies, they're even more off.
- arcticbull 6y ago
  The Republican platform is remarkably narrow and well defined. They are the party of 'free speech,' God, guns and eliminating abortions. The rest is ancillary to their voters. When you cast your opponents as God-hating, Christmas-fighting, Gun-stealing, baby-killing potheads, people don't really care about your economic policies, they're just voting to stop the anti-Christ. The Democratic tent on the other hand is stretched about as broad as it possibly can be, and they don't really commit to anything. If they cast themselves as too progressive they risk alienating their right flank and the 'centrist undecideds' (I mean my lord who can't make up their mind about this). If they cast themselves as too conservative, they risk alienating the Bernie bros (who IMO swung the election for Trump last time). So, they stand as a big blob. They espouse a kind of wink-wink-nudge-nudge progressivism: no clear support socialized medicine, a refusal to answer questions about court packing, and immigration doesn't even come up. Maybe more DACA? Where we just throw the problem under a rug again, instead of actually addressing it. I personally wish the Democrats were half as progressive as Republicans are trying to make them out to be, but they're not. Not even close. Half of what the Republicans accuse them of I'm like damn, that's solid center to center-left policy, I wish the Dems were on board with that!
  - aweiland 6y ago
    As of this year Republicans officially have no enumerated platform.
    - arcticbull 6y ago
      Oh you haven't been watching nearly enough FOX if you think that :) Take that from someone who now has a Tucker Carlson shaped brain aneurism.
      - dvtrn 6y ago
        I believe what parent comment means is that the RNC has no national platform that they have adopted, advertised and articulated for their National Convention delegates to deliberate and vote on leading up to the election. Which is a correct and true statement, the RNC hasn’t published a party platform as they have in years prior. https://www.vox.com/2020/8/24/21399396/republican-convention-platform-2020-2016 https://www.vox.com/2020/8/24/21399396/republican-convention...
        arcticbull 6y ago
        Ahh, I misunderstood, thanks for the clarification!
alpha_squared 6y ago
> "Wildly unpopular" ~= 49% of the voters approve. Citation? While it's possible there's ~49% support of the party, that doesn't necessarily mean an equivalent amount of support for the economic policy.
m12k 6y ago
Policy proposals such as "the rich should be taxed more" routinely get approval from ~65% of voters. Thankfully for that party, they've found a way to get people to vote based on fear, racism, abortion, guns and other divisive issues instead of economic policy.
- mizzack 6y ago
  _That_ party? Those are wedge issues specifically because they apply to both parties. > fear "LGBTQ lives are at risk" vs. "rioters are burning down our cities" > racism "systemic racism is a problem" vs "critical race theory is a problem" > abortion, guns self explanatory.
TOGoS 6y ago
> 49% of the voters approve. I wouldn't assume that 100% of voters even know the economic policies of the people they're voting for, let alone approve of them. It seems like people mostly vote because they've been told the party they're voting against is evil[1], not because they actually support the policies. [1] Of course those of us who think they're both evil are not left with much motivation to vote for either, which partly explains (along with voter suppression, gerrymandering making voting less effective, etc) why half the country doesn't bother to vote at all.
sg47 6y ago
What % of the 49% are single issue voters? I think their economic policies are the last reason why voters support Republicans.