Arlene Stein, Rutgers University The white working class surprised many pundits and social scientists by supporting Donald Trump, leading some to describe the election results as a “whitelash.” The fact that the president-elect successfully mobilized this population was far from inevitable. After all, a fair number of Trump supporters once […] Read more »
Life Expectancy Lower for Trump Voters
Throughout the 2016 campaign President-elect Donald Trump reached out to voters who felt the system didn’t work for them. They were crucial to his November victory. But the challenges those voters face is about more than just economics and government policy, it cuts all the way to the physical health […] Read more »
Democrats search for a path back into rural America’s good graces
… As much as anything, the 2016 election highlighted the degree to which Democrats have lost favor among voters in rural and small-town America. Heading toward Election Day, Democrats dismissed the possibility that there were enough white, working-class voters in these nonurban areas to overcome their advantages with African Americans, […] Read more »
Americans Expect Economic Improvement in a Deeply Divided Country
After the bruising 2016 campaign, Americans are broadly optimistic that Donald Trump’s election will invigorate the economy but fearful that it will further divide the nation along lines of class, race and party. While a solid three-fifths of American adults indicated that as a result of the election they expect […] Read more »
As American as Apple Pie? The Rural Vote’s Disproportionate Slice of Power
… The Democratic candidate for president has now won the popular vote in six of the last seven elections. But in part because the system empowers rural states, for the second time in that span, the candidate who garnered the most votes will not be president. … “If you’re talking […] Read more »
Rural Hispanic voters — like white rural voters — shifted toward Trump
… My county-by-county comparison of election results in 2016 and 2012, drawn from data available at CNN.com, Politico.com, PBS.org and other sites, shows that rural white and rural Hispanic voters have a lot in common. Or to put it another way, the election of 2016 revealed an urban/rural divide that […] Read more »