IMO, Trump is far more liberal than he is conservative, on most (many) things apart from his fiscal policy. And he pretty much always has been. Just don't tell anybody, they might not take it very well

@jwhitten correct. Upside down land where a New York moderate Democrat is now the most hated "conservative".

@CodeNameZebra Ironic, huh?

Everything it 'Right-Wing' when you're standing at the Left Pole.

I remember when I went to College as an adult, the professors essentially said that if I didn't agree with their views I would never get a good grade in their class. Sadly our youth are taught the same way and are not taught to critical think... they get their views from liberal sources and perpetuate the same lines. I find that conservatives tend to look at numerous sources and question other people's comments
and analysis before deciding opinions. The difference is that the conservatives have a tendency not to force their opinions or get into name calling rhetoric if people don't agree with them.

@MacTavish Aye! That is bad. It is very important to learnt to think for yourself. To examine things critically and come to conclusions based on your own analysis. Certainly you probably want to consider other points of view and whatever sources you have to review, but at the end of the day-- so goes the old adage-- you get the Government you deserve.

Because the Left is the true home of the 'low information' voter.

@jwhitten, okay first I always enjoy reading your perspectives--agree almost always. But, I gotta say low-information voters are probably the majority of voters. Honestly, I don't think I know enough about what's going on, and it seems I'm at least as informed as most people I run into. That would be fine with ME if that explained the truth--not really, but I'd accept it--the truth seems to be most people are far less informed that the people on a site like this--gravely so. I think literally the vast majorty of voters are team voters. They're Giants fans or Dodger fans, and they root for the team wearing their preferred colors. Good and evil is divided on team colors. And, frighteningly there is no more depth than that. We elect 'leaders' to the ruling class based only on the team they play for.

@chuckpo But when you think about it, wouldn't you say that the people you run into tend to be more like you than not? With respect to their socioeconomic status I mean mostly. So just polling "random people" that you run into may not be giving you a good cross-sampling of opinions.

I take your point though about most voters being 'low-information' voters, and you might be more right about that than I am. In fact, I often wonder if many people do much research into the candidates at all prior to pulling their levers. But that said. it always seems like the people making the dumbest choices time and time again are on the left. Maybe it has more to do with their promotion of 'free stuff' and handing out cash (through various programs). Or else perhaps they are swayed somewhat by the constant barrage of leftist themes from the media?

Yes, I agree with your point about 'team voters' too-- which dovetails well with a sort of 'sports' analogy where it's my team versus yours, rather than an actual examination of issues and picking and choosing from the buffet of candidates. But then what other affect can most people have than standing on the sidelines and rooting for their teams?

So yes, after mulling it over some I accept that my previous remark might have been a bit hasty and aimed below the belt a little.

Do you think the average person, male or female-- or male vs. female-- or even various combination of ethnicity-- feels more or less enfranchised in our present day system and circumstance? Do you think we're coming together-- whether we admit it or not-- more or less? Or has our society become too 'class-ist' and stratified? Do you think there is as much potential movement (preferably upward) between the classes as is exemplified by the so-called 'American Dream'? If not, what do you think that does to the psyche and outlook of the typical voter, and how do you think that could influence their choices at the ballot box?

@jwhitten, I'm pretty middle-class, educated more than most (I don't think that's important except in the case the left has made it an issue in defining Trump voters incorrectly). I am mostly around my 'class', but I'm a little sensitive to lower classes and a little biased against upper-classes. I'm 'woke' to stratification. In real human language, I'm trained to be aware of psychological/sociological/educational influences, and I do run into people from various parts of life in regular course. So, maybe I am overvaluing my convenience sample, but I don't think I am.

I tend to think voters are low in information because they choose to be low in information. It actually takes quite a lot of time, and I have to admit I gain the information I do have usually by doing something other than what I should be doing, though I do it in my free time too--like this site. I guess to answer your question with a question, I'd ask doesn't it make sense MOST people would not want to do all of that work? Who has time for it? And, who wants to actually do it? I think that's the issue more than thinking in terms of disenfranchisement--though, this is just my hypothesis, and it's no better than your hypothesis.

So, given that people don't have the time or inclination to learn enough, it's natural to grab onto talking-point-politics and even MY TEAM vs. the other team strategies. It makes sense. I don't have to think very hard, and I don't have to work very hard. I'm a Yankees fan and Yankee fans hate the Red Sox. Done! Pull the lever.

On your other questions, I think we can learn a lot by studying intersectionality. Are we coming together? No. We are dividing into increasingly smaller groups, and the only thing saving the left's identity groups from each other is their collective loathing of conservatives. If conservatives would get out of their way, the left would feed on each other. BUT, conservatives have nowhere to go, and they're not going to oblige the left and die, so conservatives remain the glue that holds the left together. The classes are divided too, because classism is immersed in ideology. Inescapable. None of this is good.

A sliver of hope is I've seen a movement--some represented in this site that has people looking up and center. It's a whisper, and if you turn toward it, it might blow away. Just a single spark in the grass--maybe. Or, I'm a nut, which is probably more plausible.