In the past 8+ years, I have never heard ANYONE give a coherent answer about why they like TFG. The answers are always a) some recital of right-wing policy that literally every Republican supports, b) some vague handwaving like the answer above, or c) an attempt to change the subject and make it about Hillary or Harris or something.

Sometimes I think this whole nation is reacting to our lousy fathers.(if you're a dad reading this, I probably don't mean you) But I mean, for some of us, it makes us really cynical and skeptical of anything coming out of a dude's mouth but about half the country wants a dad that beats up other dads. And, maybe, if they get really obedient, Bad Dad will stick around...(Sorry for bastardizing Alice Miller, who did some fascinating research on both the pressures on gifted children and how Germans raised their kids...sort of primed them for Hitler.) It doesn't work, obviously. Even if it did, it wouldn't feel like what they want because they're, well, grown-assed voters now, not that little kid. "For Your Own Good" in particular is a really brilliant book, as is, "The Drama of The Gifted Child" which probably should have a thread here.) I also think they kind of get off on how much he bothers us(the fact that he would turn on them just as easily, once he dispatches us, to keep having an Enemy seems to have escaped their notice). Trying not to *act* irritated this time, though he bothers me more than ever, natch.

My DH seems to be slowly peeking out from the laid-off-from-tech-job-at-57 slump of depression and existential angst he's been suffering with for the last three months. It's been a rough ride -- but pretty expected, given history. Any "Keep plugging, buddy! You got this!" ~ma his way appreciated.

I got laid off from my tech job at 54 last year. It's rough, but it worked out.

River~ma, amyparker and all in the path

My DH seems to be slowly peeking out from the laid-off-from-tech-job-at-57 slump of depression and existential angst he's been suffering with for the last three months. It's been a rough ride -- but pretty expected, given history. Any "Keep plugging, buddy! You got this!" ~ma his way appreciated.

Lots of ~ma sent. It is a tough one. Also, yay for socializing!

In the past 8+ years, I have never heard ANYONE give a coherent answer about why they like TFG.

Anything I have heard was either not true or outright delusional. Most frustrating are the claims that he is such a brilliant businessman, and worse the claim that "all men are like that". Bottom line, I am in the group that will never get over those who voted for him either time. I don't understand them and I don't want to. All I want is to not see or hear from any of them. Yes, you might say I am a very bitter woman.

Still at my sister's. I really need to make a plan. My brother sees the oncologist Tuesday so I may head home for a couple days then come back.

In the past 8+ years, I have never heard ANYONE give a coherent answer about why they like TFG.

I wish they'd just admit that they love him because he hates the same people that they hate, and he gives them the freedom — encourages them, really — to be as vocally and publicly bigoted as he is.

I think there are a segment of people who feel like the government isn't responsive to or even aware of their problems and here's a guy who doesn't act like a politician, says things politicians would never say, and proposes big changes that will make their lives better. Here's someone who sees their issues and voting for him also gives a middle finger to all the politicians who have thrown them to the curb. Add that to giving validity to grievances against the other (doesn't really matter who) who they feel gets unearned advantages and attention denied to them and I can see some powerful appeal.

Also, the high prices of, well, everything are a big factor. Incumbents are more likely to lose when the economy sucks. And by "economy," I definitely do NOT mean "stock market." I mean groceries and gas and underpants and shoes for your kid.

I wish they'd just admit that they love him because he hates the same people that they hate, and he gives them the freedom — encourages them, really — to be as vocally and publicly bigoted as he is.

Except reluctantly, I don't think that's true for many of them, and I don't think we can fix what's wrong until we accept that. It's an easy answer, it's an answer for some of them, but it's sure as hell not an answer for all of them.

He saw shifts towards him in demographics I wouldn't have expected in 2020. I mean, I have First Nations cousins who live in the US right now (thankfully, not voters) who like him. What I keep reading from people who don't like him, but talk extensively to people who do, matches my experience listening to my rural, non-white cousins, which is that, for a significant number of people, they feel like he's talking to them, not down to him like they feel the Dems do, and while they may not agree with him on a lot of stuff (and they don't), they also don't feel like he's gaslighting them, which they feel like the Dems are doing on the economy, etc. And for some, he just seemed like the least bad option, given their lack of trust in the government. You'd think that 2017-2020 would be evidence enough, but people have short memories, and a hell of a lot of people feel like they're being sold bullshit and being told that it's chocolate.

We deny this at our peril.

I had this uncomfortable epiphany a while back when I realized that there are a lot of things that the especially hyper-progressive Dems who are overwhelmingly in power locally believe that I, a generally Dem voter, find morally repellant. I think most of them are antisemitic (it's finally to the point that I actually can no longer stomach voting for Jayapal, for example) and, even if they aren't, few of them are willing to call out their fellow progressives on it. But I still, generally, vote for them. Not because I find their cowardice in the face of antisemitic bullshit acceptable: I just find them less unacceptable than the alternative.

(LOL, and in the time it took me to type that, Gud basically summed it up.)

Also, the high prices of, well, everything are a big factor. Incumbents are more likely to lose when the economy sucks. And by "economy," I definitely do NOT mean "stock market." I mean groceries and gas and underpants and shoes for your kid.

I think that was the biggest factor in the election. The economy is not good for most people; it's harder to made ends meet. I don't think the Harris campaign was really out there trying to tell people the economy is actually good, but it seemed like it was in the air nonetheless.