In the wake of the 2016 election, it is clear from the results that voter turnout, while generally lower across the board from 2008 and 2012, decreased by a significantly lesser amount among white, non-college educated individuals than in pro-Hillary Clinton counties. The United States has become accustomed to individuals with lower socioeconomic statuses voting less often than their more educated counterparts: consequently, Donald Trump’s victory came as a surprise to much of the polling intelligentsia. However, turning away from the disaffected crowd who voted for Trump is not the way to a future Democratic comeback. A more measured and intellectually consistent reaction would be to reinforce our fundamentally democratic principles and encourage more awareness about politics in general, all while welcoming and understanding the anger latent in the American public.
Trump’s calls to bring back manufacturing jobs to the Midwest, deceiving though they may be, were taken up enthusiastically by blue-collar workers in the heartland, who turned out in much greater numbers for Trump than for Democratic candidates supported in the past. The influx of Trump voters into voting stations should not have surprised the majority of academics and pollsters as much as it did. There has been ample data showing there is a direct causal link between the level of education a voter has and the degree to which they turn out to vote in elections. Polling experts routinely factor in that fact when looking at support for various political figures versus the probability that their constituents would actually come out and vote. In this case, however, experts somehow failed to anticipate that large groups of white, lower-educated voters would be so effectively spurred on to vote by the idea of a Trump presidency. While the proportion of such voters supporting Trump was hardly a secret, pundits relied on the same old assumptions about education and voter turnout.
Dealing with the prospect of a Trump presidency does not mean the liberal establishment should shy away from engaging with Trump voters on the issues. Rather, we should all seek to understand what has happened through the lens of understanding. Democrats cannot hope to win every election by hoping that the dispossessed “basket of deplorables” simply don’t turn up to the polls.Voting for Trump in 2016, according to exit polls, correlated strongly with dissatisfaction with the country’s direction. The voters Trump captured were as much former Democrats as they were staunch Republicans. White, working-class voters turned away from a Clinton presidency because it represented to them, in part, the failed promises of an Obama administration. These complaints, while not always justified, are real and loud, and the Democrats do real harm to their future electoral chances should they attempt to brush off the complaints altogether.
The Democratic Party would be more successful if it refocused away from personality politics and back towards the issues that hurt the average American voter. Trump’s victory, according to exit polls, was not so much because of his personal image as much as it was in spite of it. By targeting Trump as a racist, sexist buffoon (all of which he may very well be), the Democratic Party fails to speak to deeper, more primal reasons that certain segments of the Obama coalition voted for Trump. Promoting greater understanding of the issues would mean that the Democratic Party could once again obtain the upper hand. Rather than being seen as supporting moneyed, elitist interests, the Democratic Party can stand for progress and hope in an America where the poor and dispossessed are once again part of the American fabric. Exclusionary comments and movements are counterproductive to this goal: Democrats should reorient their positions to once again focus on the themes of hope and change that President Obama once represented.
It is more sustainable and more equitable for the Democratic Party to try and understand the grievances of a wounded American public howling for change, and to promote greater understanding of the policies required to get to meaningful and lasting change. Returning to the status quo is not an option: Donald Trump won because certain politically disengaged communities were finally able to find a champion for their beliefs, no matter how misguided their interlocutor may appear to the average University student. Rather, we should seek to embrace those whose anger and whose resentment we cannot begin to understand, in the hopes that dialogue and understanding can begin to heal long-festering election wounds.
Eric Xu is an Opinion columnist for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at e.xu@cavalierdaily.com.
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