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Comment by ajross | Hacker News Reader

This one (from the "What don't you like about him?" section) I thought was the most striking:

> “I, too, worry about the dishonesty. His relationship with Russia, his relationship with women. His relationship with questionable financial matters. These all worry me and were they to continue I would lose all respect.”

All that stuff was covered extensively during the election. There's no reason for it to be a different analysis now. This is a rationalization of regret, it's not the result of a new decision-making process.

Basically, that person, like many I suspect, voted for Trump out of protest. They didn't think he would win, so it was safe. Well, it wasn't.

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> This is a rationalization of regret, it's not the result of a new decision-making process.

You're missing the point. These voters chose him despite those weaknesses because they prioritized other issues more highly. Their decision making processes involved looking at both pro's and con's and the other pro's outweighed those con's.

Making the blanket assumption that a vote for a candidate is an endorsement of _all_ of their positions is exactly what the quotes in the post complain about.

Not only that but it doesn't make sense. Would protest voters really think the winner of the election cares if he/she won with 51% or 80%? I think the protest voting interpretation is an uncharitable one, because it assumes spite, ignorance and political illiteracy.

I'm under the impression the media seems to amplify the remorseful voices, which makes you believe there's a huge regret on the winning side. Also there was a vast "What have you done?" tune following Trump/Brexit. No wonder people are think they've done something terrible.

> These voters chose him despite those weaknesses

That's not what the quote says though. The "lose all respect" bit says to my ears like these are decisive issues to this voter. They just weren't in November.

I might be missing the point, but a lot of the responses sound emotion driven, with the overwhelming emotion being the fear of change. So, it seems patronizing to attribute any sort pro/con formalism. Basically, Trump has a lot of fear driven rhetoric, and if you heard one of your fears, then regardless of the validity, you felt that someone was taking your side.

> a lot of the responses sound emotion driven, with the overwhelming emotion being the fear of change.

I got a different fear out of it. They are afraid that their current circumstances are going to be permanent. The majority of Trump voters have awful circumstances. Many regions within the USA are effectively third world. People don't have drinkable water. People don't have internet, or even phones. People don't have transportation. People live on oxy (an addictive opioid), because that's all they have.

Hillary promised them more of the same, and that terrified them.

But why would they "lose all respect" now, if they didn't during the election period?

They lost some, but not all. Or something like that.

Because the presidency and the election period are different things?

You vote based on your expectations of their actions in the former and not the latter.

>Basically, that person, like many I suspect, voted for Trump out of protest. They didn't think he would win, so it was safe. Well, it wasn't.

You're right, but you're missing the point. The constant attack on supporters creates no space for any sort of discussion or public changing of views. No one is convinced by a moving argument, ideas are changed slowly in quiet, not loudly in public. The constant stream of vitriol from both sides ensures that even those who want to be talked off the ledge, who are ready to agree Trump was a mistake, are stuck with the rest. This is bad for everyone.

> The constant attack on supporters creates no space for any sort of discussion or public changing of views.

Honestly I think glibness is the only sane response here: poor baby. Seriously this is politics, and this is absolutely not the first election with this kind of hyperbole. You don't think we hear the same thing when you guys whine on about feminazis, muslim-lovers and communists?

What you're really saying is that the "mainstream online left", which has NOT heretofore been much into name-calling that has been a mainstay of right wing discourse for going on two decades now, has now grown a spine and (now finding itself with essentially no representation in the federal government at all) is giving back as it gets.

To wit: cry me a river.

Ironically, doesn't that make protest votes more "powerful" going forward? That one time they turned out to be "real" votes?

Just like Brexit... a lot of people voted to send a message thinking that there was no possibility of an exit... and surprise... when you vote, shit happens!

I feel a vague sympathy for those people. They honestly thought they were just sending a message thinking that as one person they didn't stand a hope of "changing the world." I don't think they ever thought that there would be enough "just one person" people to make a real difference. In hindsight, we know it actually threw out those they felt ignored by and replaced them, and here we are. It turns out that votes do matter. Who knew?

At least they'll be spurred to vote again, and actually make an educated and informed vote instead of just "sticking it to the man."

I feel a vague sympathy for those people.

Feh. You always treat a gun like it's loaded. I see no reason to treat a ballot differently. The potential consequences are far more wide-reaching with the ballot.

That may be true, but I think you have to look at it from the perspective of someone that feels defeated, left behind by the system, helpless to make a difference. Someone in that frame of mind doesn't think that a single vote has any hope of standing in the way of the freight train. For most people one person can't make a difference against the system. That's why whenever you stand up to try you get so many people telling you not to bother, it won't make a difference, you're just one man, what could you expect to achieve? I've lived in towns where this mentality is pervasive. Being around people like this is soul destroying. So I moved.

So while I hear what you're saying, I feel that it fails to consider those that don't share your viewpoint.

> At least they'll be spurred to vote again, and actually make an educated and informed vote instead of just "sticking it to the man."

You're way more optimistic than me, buddy.

They say everyone has their flaws... unfortunately, that's mine :D

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