This is amazing to me. I've seen this sentiment in several other threads today and last night. People actually think that our current political divide and Trump's victory resulted from internet condescension and liberals not being inclusive?
Fucking seriously?
That's why people voted for Trump? Because they were getting made fun of? Because "liberals" were too mean?
Economically stagnant rural communities provided ample opportunity for Trump to exploit basic scapegoatism and fear of the other. Immigrants, terrorists, you name it. Promise economic revitalization and protection from imaginary invaders to communities convinced that their dwindling resources resulted from foreign sources and, voilà, you've created an enthusiastic base - electoral fruit, ripe for the picking.
These people didn't turn out for Trump or turn against Clinton because they were being made fun of or generalized by liberals in their communities or people on the internet. They turned out because Trump described a threat that these people already believe exists, talked it up for months on end, and then promised to vanquish it and "bring back jobs." If you actually think they showed up to vote because liberals didn't try to include them or used mean words to describe them, then, man, you need to get a grip.
The bottom line is Trump found a successful strategy for turning out the base he cultivated. Hell, he won with fewer votes than Romney. Democrats, meanwhile, didn't show up, likely due to a number of reasons (apathy, lack of enthusiasm, etc.). The coup de grâce was systematically flawed polling in rural communities.
Add it up, and here we are. But let's be clear: "social justice warriors" and "patronizing comments" are not why Trump won.
