'I failed my fellow Americans': the white women defecting from Trump

[catbyte]

Adam Gabbatt



After four years of tumult, there are signs Trump hasn’t been able to hang on to college-educated white women in crucial swing states

Donald Trump’s 2016 election win may have been propelled by white working-class men, but another key group in that narrowest of victories was white women with college degrees.

After heavily favoring Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, enough of these voters broke ranks to help Trump over the line, tipping the balance in crucial states in the midwest and elsewhere.

In 2020, however, after four years of tumult, there are signs that Trump has not managed to hang on to that constituency.

snip

“I really failed my fellow American citizens,” said Claudia Luckenbach-Boman. “I’m extremely disappointed in myself, and sometimes I am really afraid to talk about it."

“If I were to vote again for Donald Trump in 2020, it would be just as much a failure as an American, but also a failure as a human being.”

snip

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/29/women-who-voted-trump-who-regret-decision

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No shit, Sherlock. I will never, ever forgive the women who voted for that piece of filth. Never. Ever.

[liberalmuse]

1. I fit in this demographic.

But will never understand how any woman of any color could ever vote for Trump. Throw in the college degree and I’m baffled unless it was from a religious college.

[Lochloosa]

6. That baffles me even more. How any "Christian" vote for that man is beyond me.

[liberalmuse]

16. Now that doesn't surprise me.

I was briefly a born again Christian after leaving Mormonism. A group of “Christians” I went on a retreat with ran to a horrible accident up the road and told the badly injured man he’d better accept Jesus now or go to hell if he died (my brother witnessed this). Par for the course as far as my experience. Of course they’d vote for Trump and worship him.

[yuiyoshida]

33. One would have thought the ACCESS HOLLYWOOD TAPE would have been his undoing but it didn't even phase

him. They are cult followers... those who love Trump. They are in for a big disappointment in November, ...to which I say "good."

[calimary]

67. I'll be right there with you.

Those who will be disappointed if he loses - GOOD!

And I’m kinda sorry about that. I must say.

I know I’m supposed to forgive. If Jesus dying on the cross could forgive His tormentors, shouldn’t I do likewise?

Yes. That’s what I was taught all through Catholic school.

But it’s DAMN HARD, DAMMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s so damn hard I don’t know if I can ever get there.

[yuiyoshida]

68. As a Buddhist... sometimes I just have to chill or walk away...

but my Samurai blood...and my Polynesian blood sometimes get me fired up... We all want to do the right thing...
which in this day and age... we don't see many good examples however lots of Good Trouble.

[Midnight Writer]

47. People who worship an authoritarian God will follow an authoritarian leader.

[Botany]

8. Outside of his base aka uneducated white bigoted gun toting assholes I don't understand how ....

... anybody voted for that mobbed up (never heard too much about that / lots on the made up
Hillary email crap), mentally ill (just look @ his clownish make up) sexist women abusing (grap
'em by the pussy), failed businessman, reality TV star (he was never a billionaire and Russia was
helping to fund the Apprentice), racist (Hey boy let me see your papers aka birth certificate),
and bone stupid asshole in the first place in 2016.

But at the end of the day Russia stole it for him and a # of other republicans because enough
white women and other dumb asses voted for him to keep it close enough for Russia to steal.

BTW I think if we could ever see the real #s from 2016 Hillary blew his doors off.

[yardwork]

20. Remember that white men are Trump's largest voting bloc.

White men chose Trump by the highest margin of any group. And most white men still support Trump, according to polls.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

26. Add in women, other demographics, Trump loses....

There is no way in hell Trump wins with White men alone.

[Botany]

37. What is the matter with us?

Racism and sexism is deep in the core of many white men. One thing that the right/rich have been
successful @ is feeding and naturing the dumb fucks to vote against their own best interest. Reagan
got rid of the fairness doctrine 2.5 generations ago and people have been soaking in, bathing in, and
sucking in straight up lies as "news" since then and the killing of public education too and that has
helped to make a lot walking cancers of bullshit called white men.

One of my sons friends grew in a house where Bill O'reilly was a God. In some cases I think death
alone can cure "the stupid."

Did you know that Hillary had somebody killed to hide Bill's cocaine ring?

[yardwork]

41. I know. As a middle aged white woman I feel appalled all the time.

Just this weekend, I suddenly saw an uptick of stupid things posted on people's Facebook pages. I'm from mid-Ohio (I think you are too?) and while I rarely post on FB, I do belong to some groups from my old home town. OMG. Did you know that all the doctors and nurses are hiding how effective hydroxychloroquine is just because Trump suggested it? Did you know that mail-in voting means that anybody can vote hundreds of times because there's no registration required?

And when I point out facts they get mad.

[Bluepinky]

50. I work with two college educated white women who still support Trump.

And there may be more in the office, but we’re not allowed to discuss politics, so I’m not sure where some people stand.

I do talk about politics with one of these women sometimes, when no one else is around. I’m appalled that she and her friend still strongly support Trump. She believes all the crap she hears from right wing sources: repeat studies on hydroxychloroqine show that it works to combat the virus, antifa is a terrorist group that’s promoting violence around the country, Biden will ruin the country with his socialist ideas and policies.

I told her antifa stands for anti-fascist and I’m an anti-fascist, but I don’t think she knows what fascism is. I told her I was at a Black Lives Matter march/rally with over 2,000 people; everyone wore masks and it was completely peaceful. When she started telling me about the terrorist groups backing BLM, I suggested we no longer talk about politics, that we aren’t going to change each other’s minds.

I believe that some of these women are motivated by fear; they fear that big bad terrorists are going to take over, so we need strong men with guns and swagger running our country to protect us.

[yardwork]

52. Fear is a powerful motivator.

The Republicans have used fear in their propaganda for decades. The anti-Biden ads Trump is running right now are all designed to create fear.

[Bluepinky]

60. Yep, and the fear factor works on many people.

[CaptainTruth]

53. Using fear, just like GW Bush & WMDs. Repugs keep using the fear playbook...

...over & over, & gullible low-information people fall for it over & over.

[Bluepinky]

61. They use it because it works.

Some people are afraid of “others” and will vote for the candidate who acknowledges their fears and promises to protect them.

[Botany]

55. I bet a lot of them are Russian Bots or Astroturfing spammers for the right wing.

Don't waste much time on them.

BTW why the sudden push for HCQ? Trump and Kush-Turd are sitting on
10s of millions of doses and deep down and on the surface too they know
a historic ass kicking is coming and so they are pushing all the buttons to
try to unload that crap. BTW that crap does have legit medical uses too.
Malaria and Lupes.

[yardwork]

57. These are real people I've known all my life.

They really believe these things. This election is going to be close.

[Botany]

62. EDIT I still would NOT try to engage them

Last edited Sun Aug 2, 2020, 06:34 PM - Edit history (2)

And if they ask why tell 'em they are brain dead idiots helping Trump to destroy America and the world too.

But if you must asK 'em why the CDC, the V.A., the WHO, and many nations have banned the use of HCQ?


BTW not unless they do major league rat fucking, vote switching, and removing people from voter
rolls Trump is gonna lose in probably the biggest landslide in history.

[yardwork]

63. I hope you're right.

I have to say that reading the willful ignorance is discouraging. These people are clinging to an entire belief structure and they won't let go. Some of them are my age and they were hippy progressives back in the day.

Interestingly, others who were lifelong Republicans have seen the light.

[Botany]

65. I think every death must cost Trump at least 10 votes.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213843626

'I failed my fellow Americans': the white women defecting from Trump


“There’s a straight line between his election and 140,000 dead Americans, that didn’t need to die.
It just makes me incredibly sad. And regretful.” Ms. Claudia Luckenbach-Boman.

(And a straight line between you vote for Trump and those 150,000 dead Americans too Ms. Claudia
Luckenbach-Boman.)

[AlexSFCA]

54. because of it I am always suspicious of white men I don't know

this stat is always at the back of my head.

[Dream Girl]

58. Me too. I assume they are Trumpists unless shown otherwise.

[iluvtennis]

46. Well said Botany! nt

[Botany]

56. Thank you

I have my moments. Not very many.

[Orrex]

9. It's utterly baffling

When confronting such assholes on social medial I often ask something like

"What is it about the many-times accused rapist Trump--the self-declared sexual predator, the misogynist who brags about barging in on naked children and who has publicly expressed sexual attraction to his own daughter--that most appeals to women like you?"

To date, not one has given an answer, and I've asked dozens. It's almost as though they're afraid of the question, or something.

[brush]

13. Good job with that question.

[liberalmuse]

18. I think he's their golden calf.

Or orange hog. They really can’t tell you why they worship him. It’s like the worst part of them groomed to come forth and become dominant by Fox News and right wing radio over the course of decades recognizes the voice of their master.

[yardwork]

22. I know why they support him. They're racist and they don't want to pay taxes.

Why does Trump appeal to so many right-wing fundamentalist Christian evangelicals? They're racist.

[Orrex]

49. I would say that you've hit the stupid orange nail right on the head.

Hit it again a few times.

[Bluepinky]

51. That's funny. And after she's done, I'll whack it again a few times!

[Hortensis]

2. "I'm extremely disappointed in myself,..." Good for her.

"and sometimes I am really afraid to talk about it." But now she is.

I've been wishing that eventually people in her position might form on-line counseling and other self-help groups (like reading groups) where people could go to reconnect in a sympathetic atmosphere with truth and traditional conservative principles and goals that had become subverted or abandoned. They'd need to be vetted memberships of course.

[CTyankee]

19. Sorta like Alcoholics Anonymous.

They must apologize and be sincere. They must look at their own steadfast (sometimes secret) beliefs that have led them to be so detrimental to their fellow American. They must renounce those beliefs once and for all.

[meow2u3]

36. Not only do they have to apologize sincerely

They also have to make amends for the harm they've done others. Mere renunciation is insufficient.

Last I checked, making amends for the harm an addict has done to others is part and parcel of recovery from addictions.

[CTyankee]

38. OK, that sounds like it would apply here.

They are addicted to a very strong drug that exists in their brains. They have caused their fellow human beings an inordinate amount of suffering. Post Nazi Germany and South Africa had to make amends. I wish we could do that here...but I think it is a First Amendment issue.

So, I know "fight bad ideas with good ideas"...not sure this works any more

[FM123]

3. Yes, and you should be!

“I really failed my fellow American citizens,” said Claudia Luckenbach-Boman. “I’m extremely disappointed in myself, and sometimes I am really afraid to talk about it."

What you did to us was like giving the car keys to your drunk boyfriend then saying you're sorry after he plows over everyone on the sidewalk. Not everyone survived.

[Siwsan]

4. Nothing new has been revealed about trump*'s character, or rather lack there of

I'm really sick to death of these people now coming out and saying "I had NO IDEA how bad he would be!!!" Well, his vile reality has been out there, undisguised, for decades.

[catbyte]

5. Exactly.

Willful ignorance and blind hatred of Hillary Clinton is what got us here. And that I just can't forgive.

[brush]

14. And what was so bad about Hillary? She was the most qualified...

candidate ever. Was it a case of some women being misogynists themselves, hating to see another woman get ahead? I don't get it, especially against a self-proclaimed sexual predator and moron like trump.

[betsuni]

17. This is what I want to know: what the hell was wrong with Hillary Clinton?

Nobody ever has an answer.

[CTyankee]

39. You are right! It's just an eyeroll, like they know something you don't or you should know.

My guess it's just Bill and Benghazi...

[Nexus2]

59. Same here

No one could give me an answer, sometimes I got partial sentences and mentions of Benghazi, same thing when I asked WHAT should she be locked up for.

[Doodley]

7. Let the enemy of our enemy be our friend.

[riversedge]

10. I am glad she spoke out publicly. Confessions like these help the person and the USA.

[ooky]

40. I think she speaks for many when she says she's afraid to speak about it.

He has been so bad, it has to be embarrassing for so many to admit that they drank his kool-ade. What is amazing is that there were so many signs of what was coming. But I guess the Fox News watchers didn't get the exposure to the signs we were seeing.

[durablend]

11. But how many will vote for Biden?

"Oh I made a TURRIBLE mistake voting for Trump but Biden will kill babies and give 'those other people' all the goodies"

Spare me, Karens.

[Botany]

12. Claudia Luckenbach-Boman

“There’s a straight line between his election and 140,000 dead Americans, that didn’t need to die.
It just makes me incredibly sad. And regretful.”

And a straight line between you vote for Trump and those 150,000 dead Americans too Ms. Claudia
Luckenbach-Boman.

[42bambi]

15. She openly admitted she voted for Trump, and is now acknowledging

that she was wrong for that vote; it takes courage to admit a mistake, especially knowing she will probably be ostracized by some in her family, and possibly lose friends as well. Now I'm remembering what John Lewis would want us to say and do ... 'nuff said.

[Skittles]

66. all it took was, what, hundreds of thousands of people DYING for them to see the light?

[musclecar6]

21. Better

Late than never, although you do think how could any woman with any brains in her head ever vote for a despicable woman hater like this guy.

[sandensea]

23. We shouldn't forget - but forgiveness is a must

White women are the single most powerful bloc of swing voters in America.

They went for Orange Amin narrowly in 2016 - and their voting for Biden even narrowly this time can make all the difference.

What matters is the here and now.

[Raftergirl]

24. I think it was

they bought into the lie that a “successful businessman” is what this country needs. And they ignored everything else.

These suburban college educated are not Evangelicals.

[paleotn]

25. Two broad issues drive Trumpers today....

First, racism and hate. Scapegoating for perceived slights and loss of cultural supremacy.

The other is the so called "culture war." Fundies think he's their last, best hope of turn the tide on LGBTQ and abortion. Without him in the white house, they know they'll fall deeper and deeper into irrelevance. So, they're willing to put up with his antics and pandering to the first group. Or course, there's lots of overlap between the two.

Beyond that, there's absolutely no reason for Americans to support a self pronounced fascist and screw up artist.

[luvtheGWN]

28. They also bought the lie that government should be run

like business.

No, it should not, and it can not. Government is by the people and for the people, meaning that it's supposed to be a non-profit enterprise.

The same goes for healthcare. All the folks who say that healthcare is a "business" just like any other business miss the mark entirely. I can choose to buy a car (or not); I can choose to buy a house, or rent one; I can choose to purchase a 60"plasma TV ( or not). What I cannot choose is to break a leg, develop cancer, or have a heart attack.

The same way a government can not hold back a hurricane or forest fires which cause untold damage and force evacuation. Money must be found to help pay for it. Same with a pandemic. If government were to run like a business, it would soon declare bankruptcy.

[Hugin]

30. +1

Yep. A government is a sovereign institution which should be driven by the needs of the people.

[ProfessorGAC]

64. That's The Dumbest Justification For Voting R!

I've actually asked people who say that "Why?"
I have gotten an answer less than 50% of the time.
The answers I've gotten are generally silly, but one I've hear a few times is "because you'd review every expense."
My answer "Don't they do that to ensure a profit?". They say yes.
I ask them:
What's the profit motive for the military, building roads, stopping terrorist from getting on planes, and ensuring the food supply?". Crickets...
I end with " There is no profit motive in an awful lot of what governments do. How you going to run that as a business?"
More crickets.

[paleotn]

27. And I have real trouble forgiving as well, but....

I do admire character. And it takes character to admit loudly and publicly that you've royally fucked up.

[dlk]

29. When a woman chooses to vote for an admitted sexual predator, seriously, what does she expect?

“Failure as an American” is an understatement. Let’s see what these women actually do in the upcoming election before we rush to forgiveness. Their decision has continued to cost enormous suffering and death, and perhaps, the end of our democracy. Whether or not we forgive them, we must never forget what trauma and destruction they have wrought, and that goes for every single Trump voter, men and women, not just white, college-educated women

[CTyankee]

43. I dunno what John Lewis would say but I do know that the worse the sin, the more it is

necessary to love the sinner who has "come to Jesus." Those revivalist hymns are big on that. I've been listening to several of them on youtube and have been impressed with the sincererity of remorse for sins committed in them.

[dlk]

45. That's really great and I hope it's true

For now, I’m choosing to wait & see. There is nothing more disheartening and discouraging than watching and experiencing the consequences of women getting sucked in by the prevailing misogyny. As college-educated, they should know better. Let’s wait & see if they actually do better.

[Texin]

31. I was gobsmacked at that demographic post-election*.

To this very day I cannot imagine ANY woman would be able to cast her precious vote for that misogynistic, staggeringly stupid buffoon. He is a blight on the universe.

[oldsoftie]

32. he's losing '16 votes. He's gaining very few, if any, new votes.

IMO,
Rule #1 of getting reelected is keeping what you had.
Rule #2 is get more of the new voters than the other guy

I just dont see trump doing either of those. A big turnout should result in a humiliating defeat.
But there are still things that can go wrong. I'll make my final prediction around the end of Oct

[Javaman]

34. This is my sister

But here’s the rub, she’s doubled down on support of him.

She’s all in purely out of spite for the left. She’s a dead ender.

This is the same person I knew that was protesting for women’s rights and abortion rights back when.

Now she’s a complete kool-aid drinking moron☹️

[The Wizard]

48. They're not drinking Kool-Aid

It's now Clorox.
We're not tired of the winning. We're tired of the whining.

[Illumination]

35. Look at his teeny tiny rallies...His support is dying & disappearing right before our eyes! Poof!

[Midnightwalk]

42. I didn't mean to be a collaborator

I'd bet my bottom dollar that each one of these people were hurt personally. They didn't really change. Again and again they say but Hillary blah blah blah. In person I'd be a hypocrite and supportive and do my best benign version of "bless your heart", but I wouldn't trust any one of them with any thing that mattered.

This statement was a perfect example. She puts the blame on republican senators except for the vulture capitalist Mitt Romney.

“I am more angry with the people in power who have enabled Donald Trump than I am with Donald Trump,” Shively said.

“Donald Trump is clearly a flawed human being. He’s incapable of having any kind of empathy or thinking about anybody other than himself. That being said, he could not have wreaked as much damage as he has without other people enabling him to do that.

Hey dipshit you are talking about yourself.

[47of74]

44. Dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead plus 150,000...how do you apologize to them?

Well ladies, you can't and I cannot forgive you.