TRUMP'S ONE-ISSUE VOTER COALITION

Donald Trump’s success among Republican voters as a candidate for President was an enigma for me. There is no way a majority of primary voters would think this loud mouth would make a good president; however, the results are there for all to see, and we cannot deny them. So what is happening and why is it happenings? I think what is happening in Trump is putting together a coalition of one-issue voters. A one-issue voter votes according to candidates stand on one issue. Nothing else that candidate believes in matters; he or she will be their choice. We saw the raw power of one-issue voting when it came to the pro-life versus pro-choice debate especially among Catholic and evangelical voters. Certain church leaders, using the power of religion, joined political candidates to form a coalition. Priests and ministers, in some religions, tell candidates if they are pro-life, they will support their candidacies in their mega churches. Among this group, there are those who allow this issue to dominate their thinking. As a relative told me, he did not like George W. Bush but his priest told him to vote for him, so he did. The Trump approach is more sophisticated and complex than this example would suggest. He seems to be putting together a coalition of one-issue voters that collectively form a majority of Republican primary voters. He opened his campaign on the immigration issue, which he focused on hate for Mexican immigrants. There are people who will vote for him on this issue at the exclusion of all other issues. Next, he also focused on “the black lives matter” issue. He did this to cash in on all the racial prejudices that unfortunately exist in our country. Of course, there are people who will vote for him on that basis at the exclusion of all else, especially in the old plantation South. Also, he professed a special hate for Muslims with calls for strict surveillance of Mosques, etc. This has a special appeal among certain religious groups. Also, the recent Paris attacks gave attention and interest in his position because of fear of terror in our cities. The humanitarian need to take in refugees from the Middle East wars came at the “right time” for Trump to cash in on the strong territory claim we all have that we voice as, “this is our country”; we should keep everyone else out, especially Muslims. This picked up a few more one-issue voters. Add to this the idea that Trump declares himself Republican, which allows him to join the usual GOP claim, he will pay down the nation’s debt at the same time he spouts all the usual GOP vote getting nonsense that he will cut taxes. Each one of these small one issue hate groups is a minority. However, he has cleverly built a coalition of one-issue voters that will reward him by making him the Republican candidate for president. URL: firetreepub.blogspot.com Comments Invited and not moderated