I think progressives need to understand Trump voters. No, really.

[geek tragedy]

35. I've never bought this argument. They moved to the Republican party for cultural reasons.

Abortion/contraception
religion
homophobia
guns
resentment of foreigners/immigrants/Muslims/blacks/Latinos/who's next

Indeed, it makes no sense to claim that the people who regularly vote for Wall Street's preferred candidates and job outsourcers are primarily motivated by economics instead of by cultural resentments.

The shift in WWC voters began in the Nixon era as they felt alienated not from Democratic free traders and pro-business types but rather because they hated hippies, civil rights "outside agitators" and desegregation.

See, e.g.,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Hat_Riot

The White Working Class have always been socially regressive, and prone to authoritarianism, male supremacy and ethnonationalism. They've always been part of the problem, not the solution, when it comes to stuff like civil rights.

the unions could have done a lot better for themselves had they resisted the white supremacist power structure by including racial minorities, instead of supporting that same power structure. the ones that did so are the ones that are still around.