Why do lower middle class whites vote Republican?

[Gunny]

No, you didn't. You referenced Biden bumper stickers and your COO's position. But you're also referencing your conversations.

no, further up the page.

 

[Mark Hunts FIST]

Haha. I guess we can't if you are going to jump to the conclusion I said every illegal immigrant when I didn't. If you are just going to make stuff up this is going to be a pointless conversation.

Ok. Cool. My bad.
Help the forum out..
Give us some other types of jobs you think illegal immigrants work.

 

[DivineMind]

Lmao at naming yourself Divine Mind, and spitting out a pile of rubbish sentences with no dept and RANDOM capitalized words here and THERE to emphasize your POINT.

Almost as if your mind is shit tier and NOT divine.

Almost as if you received an average of SIXTY percent in high school and that made you feel your MIND was DIVINE.

WHEN will OPs learn that you can write entire PARAGRAPHS instead of just one sentence explanations on extremely complex issues before moving on to the next point?

Lol what are you babbling about?

You're complaining that I CAPITALIZE words for emphasis ?

And that I didn't write enough ? What?

The point of this thread was to ask a question, and consider the responses. I thought many were good points, though I pushed back on a couple responses with more than enough substance to make my point of disagreement clear. This isn't a position paper, I'm for the most part not taking a stance on anything.

You sound like a moron, no offense.

 

[Ophydian]

Ok. Cool. My bad.
Help the forum out..
Give us some other types of jobs you think illegal immigrants work.

Why change the subject? I feel you are acting in bad faith here.

 

[scorpipede]

Some are quite vocal. Many others have bumper stickers, hats or other political paraphernalia at their stations. Others are all over social media making their politics known. It’s not at all difficult getting a picture of where the workforce leans

 

[robotsonic]

Why? Because many Democrats openly hate the history and institutions of the USA and Republicans don't. It is that simple.

 

[spamking]

From a policy standpoint someone at that level would be a little better off under Democrats, but from a kind of spiritual standpoint, they see having Republicans in power is a big f-you to the lower castes and might make them feel bigger.

I just want to say that as a registered Republican that I have never held that spiritual standpoint you mentioned. Regardless of how you view Republicans, we aren't all cut from the same cloth. I vote Republican for the same reasons several folks have listed in the thread, but my main reason is protection of the 2A. I have enough to worry about in my own life so I don't have the time to try and keep anyone else down or look at them as less than me.

 

[Mark Hunts FIST]

Why change the subject? I feel you are acting in bad faith here.

Nooooooooo. Of course I am.
Because now you're stuck in the position of having to name a bunch of different jobs that illegals work so you don't look racist. But then that only proves my origianl point that you responded to.
Quite the struggle

I'm busting balls. no hate here

 

[Ophydian]

Nooooooooo. Of course I am.
Because now you're stuck in the position of having to name a bunch of different jobs that illegals work so you don't look racist. But then that only proves my origianl point that you responded to.
Quite the struggle

I'm busting balls. no hate here

I know dick. We are just playing with each other. I appreciate the ease in which you’ve made it clear because this could have become a circular stupid discussion.

 

[Mark Hunts FIST]

I know dick. We are just playing with each other. I appreciate the ease in which you’ve made it clear because this could have become a circular stupid discussion.

Edit. Moving on

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

Neither resentment nor spite. It's just the reality. You've been an employer long enough to know that. Very few people will openly argue politics with their boss.

Very few people argue politics with their coworkers in general.

That said, I hired and fired people for 10 years and had plenty of political disagreements with people I could shitcan. Openly and in the office. Maybe it's just how you run things and think everyone intimidates their employees into lying about their views.

 

[iwannabeadored]

Because the left does nothing for us . Simple answer really.

Lol and the right does what exactly ?

financial meltdown of 08
No healthcare plan
Obstruct?

there’s a reason why you’re broke. Gotta change that little mind you have

 

[Seano]

Lol and the right does what exactly ?

financial meltdown of 08
No healthcare plan
Obstruct?

there’s a reason why you’re broke. Gotta change that little mind you have

Somebody already asked me this so let me spin it- what do you believe the left does for a person like me who goes to work and makes just enough money to not qualify for any sort of welfare or social benefits?

 

[Jack V Savage]

I just want to say that as a registered Republican that I have never held that spiritual standpoint you mentioned. Regardless of how you view Republicans, we aren't all cut from the same cloth. I vote Republican for the same reasons several folks have listed in the thread, but my main reason is protection of the 2A. I have enough to worry about in my own life so I don't have the time to try and keep anyone else down or look at them as less than me.

I don't think that the fear you have is well-founded, but fair enough.

 

[HOLA]

Because they're temporarily embarrassed multi-millionaires who would take their rightful place as CEO of Goldman Sachs if only the Mexicans stopped stealing their jobs and purple-haired liberals stopped making up genders.

 

[luckyshot]

You'd think their own economic interests would be top priority for a group like that. For this question let's forget Trump and focus just on Dem/Repub parties.

In a strong economy, I understand that conservatives place a high value on independence and freedom from onerous regulation. Their sense of self reliance and entrepreneurship would thrive in such an environment.

But the economy is actually getting worse over time. And it's turning into an economy for highly skilled workers (tech, engineering, finance) exclusively; low skill well paying jobs are gone. And you have monopolies pretty much running the show (Amazon for one). Its a tough climate for opening your own business and/or surviving by pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. Even hard work is rewarded far less than it used to be.

These lower middle class whites could GREATLY benefit from a jobs bill and MORE benefits (healthcare for one) and public goods and antitrust regulation.

The Republican party is pretty honest about trying to get rid of benefits for workers and protections for them, i.e. it's their platform to do the opposite of what is needed to uplift this demographic economically. And Republicans are not against globalism and trade bills - that's an exclusively Trump phenomenon (if he's serious about it, which with Trump is doubtful).

Democrats are pretty much on the same page but they have to pretend to be for workers, so they're a less bad choice, technically. At the very least, they'll strip worker benefits and protections more slowly, and they're more likely to pass a jobs bill.

So what say you ? Why vote Republican if you're a lower middle class white? What part of Republican economic policy appeals to you?

I am very sympathetic to the argument that they are both horrible parties that are terrible for this lower middle class white demographic. In that case, I'd still be curious why you think Republican is a marginally better choice.

If you're a rich asshole feel free to participate but remember : I'm interested in getting to know how the poor whites are thinking on this, I don't want your personal opinion.

Also, let's keep this about economics for the most part. We all know socially why they vote Republican.

UPDATE: / EDIT:

Here's what I've gleaned from the answers in tl:dr format:

Dems and Repubs in practice aren't that different in the economic dimension (both in practice have failed to deliver anything that increased the prosperity of the middle class) so lower middle class whites instead vote Republican on the basis of social issues.

Immigration may undercut LMC earnings.

Benefits passed by Democrats have gone historically to the poor while lower middle class whites don't see a dime of benefits and see their taxes go up.

Republicans are probably slightly better for small business owners on regulation. (Though both parties honestly couldn't give a damn if the small guys get crushed in favor of the big companies, in my view).

LMC whites have fallen for corporate talking points on self-reliance, individualism, and aversion to "handouts". This is obviously propaganda since rich people have no such aversion to handouts for themselves.

So, it's a mix of social issues, some valid economic concerns, some misguided beliefs conditioned by propaganda.

Good OP and edit.

I think a lot of it also just comes down to messaging. The fact is that the GOP relies on a much more monolithic group of voters than the Democrats, and this gives them a definite messaging advantage. It is much easier for them to paint a picture of "us vs. Them" (both obvious and subtle) without worrying that they are potentially alienating votes that they need. Democrats have to contend with all the difficulties of being a "big tent" party.

 

[armbared]

Proximity.

 

[panamaican]

Very few people argue politics with their coworkers in general.

That said, I hired and fired people for 10 years and had plenty of political disagreements with people I could shitcan. Openly and in the office. Maybe it's just how you run things and think everyone intimidates their employees into lying about their views.

I didn't say he was lying, I said it's unlikely that he's going to get a true representation of his employees political views. Relax - my employees love me.

 

[spamking]

I don't think that the fear you have is well-founded, but fair enough.

I hope you're right . . . I'm fed up with ignorant politicians and people pushing misinformation from all sides.

When AR-15 was trending on Twitter earlier this week it was mind blowing how many stupid people who know nothing about guns and eat up everything Beto tells them. Folks are so set in their ways that kind correction is seen as an attack.

 

[ElKarlo]

Left elites in Cali have grown so bold they believe they can pass any extreme tax or environmentalist policy because there's no chance of them getting voted out for it. They're blind to the damage being done in their communities and how they're slowly eroding the business machine that powers their GDP.

Their solution? Raise taxes... again. It's going to eventually hit a negative feedback loop where they won't be able to escape. It's such a gorgeous state with everything most people want in nature... beaches, mountains, etc.... It's seems to be only only thing holding it together.

This. We rolled out of California in 87 despite being there since 87, 1787 that is. California still has a lot going for it but that's inertia and not actual momentum. As you said they'll shatter that with all their nonsense. And the middle class can't afford to live there. It's an unsustainable mess.
BTW my parents sole our house for 250k back then. I'll zilliow it later and se what it goes for now. Probably close to a million. Meaning it's overly expensive on top of the crazy taxes and utility fees that are 50% higher than other states