Everybody seems to feel compelled to take their cut at answering the "why Trump?" question. Now we have Emma Green writing in
The Atlantic, who
first notes:
White Americans carried Donald Trump to the White House. He won college-educated white voters by a four-point margin over Hillary Clinton, according to exit polls. But his real victory was among members of the white working class: Twice as many of these voters cast their ballots for the president as for Clinton.
Green concludes, for this latter group, surveys have shown:
Evidence suggests financially troubled voters in the white working class were more likely to prefer Clinton over Trump. Besides partisan affiliation, it was cultural anxiety—feeling like a stranger in America, supporting the deportation of immigrants, and hesitating about educational investment—that best predicted support for Trump.
In other words, they voted to defend their culture. As noted below, it didn't hurt that, among black 2012 voters, one in 20 couldn't see a reason in 2016 to choose between two wealthy whites. Hat tip to
Lucianne.com for the link.
