Of course they fucking do. Needless to say, they shouldn't accept the views or policies of ukip or the far right, but they need to understand what lead to people supporting them (or, more importantly, why they have abandoned Labour and voted brexit - regardless of specific support for ukip). To be honest that distinction has been made to you over several pages, but you persist in saying I and others simply want to move onto ukip, trump or whoever's ground. We don't and that should be obvious.
I agree with Wilf (et al) on this one. I don't understand where the notion of winning people over with an argument has gone. It feels like everyone has become entrenched in their little camps and it's just about getting more of "us" than "them" out to vote/protest/whatever.
You can point to electoral v popular vote, but the facts are that Trump is President and we're headed out of Europe, so I'm minded to think it's a good idea to understand why those votes ended up the way they did and see if we can't encourage people to change their thinking. Otherwise those votes will be replicated again and again.
Coincidentally, I was recently listening to a podcast interviewing Daryl Davis, an African-American who over a number of years sat down with various leaders within the KKK and managed to get some of them to give up their robes.
Well worth a listen if you have the time.
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I still think the time and energy of Democrats is better spent pushing on the half-open doors - bringing in the people who are already closer to sharing their values (as per the AP/NOCA survey) than they are those of the GOP. Those who thought Clinton a shoe in so didn't vote. Those who never voted and didn't think it important. Those who voted 3rd party as a protest or because they found the Democrat platform wanting. Most will have felt the bite of Trump/GOP policies and be more motivated to do something to fight them. There are also the folks who faced barriers to voting, due to rolling back of accessibility with the Voting Rights Act or other forms of voter suppression (e.g. Armed Trump supporting presence at polls, campaigns with false information about registering, etc.) Put more effort into making sure they have the chance to vote.
There will be enough people like this in enough crucial districts to turn the voting tide. Gerrymandering efforts will make it more difficult, true, but not impossible. It will effectively enfranchise a whole lot more people, too. Surely, that's a good thing.
Changing hearts and minds of people who have very different priorities, values and beliefs is bloody hard work, often with little result. Yes, there will be people like Daryl Davis who invest a lot of personal time and effort trying to get racists to see people of colour as humans. It will work with some, but for others, belief, belonging and shared identity are too important for them to break out of the pack.
With respect, changing the views of a handful of KKK members won't break the organisation, or even dent systemic racism. The KKK has little impact on the daily lives of people of colour in the US. Institutional racism and the attitudes and actions of ordinary white people cause much, much more harm. I also feel uneasy with the idea that someone in an oppressed group
should do more to convince their oppressors to stop being oppressive. No, just no. White people must confront racist white people, strait people challenge homophobes, men tackle misogynist men. If they don't, they're still part of the problem.
I'm just not as optimistic as you guys about the prospect of "converting" enough blue collar Trump supporters to turn the vote around next election. I doubt they'll give up their belief, faith, belonging, identity unless they get something in return. "Come join us - we're the party of the workers/believe in fairness/value diversity/blah blah," won't make them race into your arms. They'll want to know what's in it for them, want to see change in the Democratic Party policies to align closer to their own views. After all the time and effort, they could still say, "Nah, that's not good enough. We still prefer Trump." I think the Democrats have already tried moving too far to the right to "woo" voters who don't share their values and vision, just like Blair tried to do the same with Labour here.
If courting disaffected blue collar Trump voters becomes the priority, what message does this send to Democrat supporters on the ground, particularly those from minority ethnic communities, LGBT people, non-Christians, people who are pro-choice, and the
majority of working class people who
did vote Democrat last time? They're regarded by Trump supporters variously as inferior, deviant, immoral, "libtard's" criminal, unworthy of basic human rights. It's throwing them under a bus while in pursuit of those all important Trump voters. I just don't get why getting the primarily white and male people in this specific demographic "on side" regardless to the cost of core supporters is such an obsession.
Donald J. Trump
