Quote (Thor123422 @ 9 Jun 2021 22:53)
Then change Republicans to conservatives lol. I wasn't being incredibly specific when I made that quip.
They voted for Clinton because he was mirroring the worst of neoliberalism that came from the Reagan and Bush administrations. Even when they vote Democrat, they do so becasue the Democrat running is diet-Republican.
Still not very convincing. The people of Missouri switched from voting Democrat to Republican during the timeframe in question. I doubt that the policies or ideology represented by state Democrats and state Republicans completely flipped between 2000 (last year of D trifecta) and 2005 (first year of R trifecta). It rather sounds like the kind of progressive policies that would have made their life better were simply not on the menu at that time. In a two-party system, I find it hard to blame voters for the lack of alternatives presented to them, particularly when we keep in mind that MO voters did try out something else when they switched their partisan allegiance.
At the end of the day, I still disagree with your notion that these people brought their malaise onto themselves through their voting behavior, at least the one they experienced in the 90s and early 00s when you were a child.
To quote myself:
Quote
places like rural Missouri got shafted by globalization, neoliberalism and the transition from a labor- and commodities-driven industrial economy toward a knowledge-based post-industrial economy. [...] neither their present-day nor their past voting behavior is the root cause of their decline.
This post was edited by Black XistenZ on Jun 9 2021 06:46pm