General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Republicans terrified that Trump will turn his rabid base against the party [View all]Xolodno
(6,395 posts)On one hand, they demonize social welfare programs, promise to stand for industries that are no longer economically viable, etc. But when it comes time to deliver, they can't. Doing so would severely harm their constituents which would result in their eventual demise, i.e. "you promised coal jobs! but there aren't any!" ...but if the vote for new industries for their constituents... "you voted against coal jobs!"
And the unfortunate part, they can communicate, in the example I used, that coal is dead.... and they will refuse to believe it and rally around the next opportunist who will tell them what they want to hear. Diversifying their district would have protected them from that, but, it also puts them at risk against a politician from the Democratic Party. Apparently they thought a "safe" district was better.