… Trump portrays his political opponents — Democrats are “sick people” and the media are “enemies of the people” — as threats to the social order, aware that tapping into voter anger and anxiety is one of the most effective tools to drive up election turnout.
Alex Gage, head of TargetPoint Consulting, a Republican firm specializing in voter mobilization, found that “anger is a much stronger motivation” than recounting the beneficial things a politician has done.
Trump has aligned himself with two overlapping, declining constituencies that are clearly motivated by a combination of anger, resentment and anxiety — white evangelical Christians and whites without college degrees.
If Trump is to win re-election next year, he must raise the stakes for these two sets of voters so that they turn out in unprecedented numbers. Demonizing immigrants and other minorities is crucial to this strategy. CONT.
Thomas B. Edsall, New York Times