One Issue Voters (1 Viewer)

[porculator]

Any one-issue voters out there?

I used to think they were idiots. But now I am one. And I think more people probably are than they think.

I think that a lot of people are naturally passionate about one issue, and then get into their media silo and echo chamber in our neatly divided society and absorb the other views of their chosen team. There's no other way to explain the hypocracy.

Is there any one issue that if the parties were to flip-flop on it, you would flip with them?

Mine is the environment and stopping global warming. If Republicans came out and decided to give a shirt about the environment I would vote for them. But they aren't even pretending to care .

I think the most common one issue is abortion. I know many compassionate bleeding heart Christians (generally of the old school Catholic variety) that ideologically would 100% embrace the rest of the Democratic platform if the two parties flip flopped on abortion, though many may not realize it after taking in the other right wing media BS for so long.

 

[MT15]

Ugh. That’s just so cringe-inducing.

 

[Saintman2884]

speaking of that and Cheney...

Harriet Hageman, who received Donald Trump's endorsement this month in her bid to unseat Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, wasn't always a fan of the former president.

The 2022 candidate was in fierce opposition to Trump's presidential campaign in 2016, working with supporters of Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas in a failed effort to force a vote on the convention floor between the two candidates and block Trump from the nomination. In addition, Hageman spoke out against Trump, warning that the Republican Party was nominating “somebody who is racist and xenophobic,” according to the New York Times.

"I know that Liz Cheney is a proven, courageous, constitutional conservative, someone who has the education, the background and experience to fight effectively for Wyoming on a national stage," Hageman said in 2016.


(fast forward to today)

In a statement to the New York Times, Hageman said she believed "the lies the Democrats and Liz Cheney’s friends in the media were telling at the time" and realized the allegations against Trump were "untrue." She went on to describe Trump as "the greatest president of my lifetime" and that she is proud to support him now.

This doesn't totally surprise me, especially if you examine Trump's penchant for populist demagoguery, "telling it like it is" sort of psuedo-old Southern populist politicians usually spoke or reasoned to their audiences in pre-Civil Rights era form of communicating in a very crude, occasionally vulgar but effective way of convincing, or fooling voters to vote against their own self-interests but railing against sensitive, hot-button social issues. Its a tactic that worked wonders for generations for old Southern populists, particularly segregationists like George Wallace. But, Trump took it, co-opted and added on some New York, stereotypical "tough guy Sopranos bully" trope you see in mob movies and TV series.

Like Ive said many times, Trump is and remains a political amateur, he doesn't even try to articulate, explain his political platform in a meaningful, digestable fashion. Even if he did manage to develop some forms of right types of political etiquette, maturity, and professionalism, he'd still pander his messages to the lowest common denominator because that's what by and large, populism is as a political ideology. Populists have unique, sometimes crude, unorthodox ways of behaving and presenting their political viewpoints. There are more colorful, moderate ones that don't try to hide their corrupt, double-dealing ways like former Gov. Edwin Edwards. He was a notorious crook, stole and cheated and had an unbearable arrogance, egotism that eventually got his arse convicted for bribery, and crooked real estate deals with former 49ers owner Eddie Debartolo, but love him or hate him, Edwards never lied about who he was in the final analysis because on occasion in 1992, voting for the crook really was the lesser of two, terrible evils.

Trump plays the old Southern populist card very well in being very melodramatic, bombastic, using rhetoric that normally you didnt tend to see in major Presidential candidates elections and in 2016, as Jon Stewart said, his biggest mistake was that, like many liberals, he didnt take him seriously and believed he'd be wonderful only as great comedy fodder for their HBO specials and stand-up acts, because Trump was able to transcend or descend public perception in "crossing the fork barrier" actually articulating and bringing an actual voice to many of his base's worst,.most unimaginable fears, biases and prejudices. Trump is very skilled at crossing the fork barrier in his race-baiting rhetoric, attacks but while it might be reprehensible to most rational, sensible people who vote, it can also be a bit alluring and tempting, God forbid, for those who previously viewed him with contempt but heard him speak and he tapped into some of their already predisposed biases they felt and he eventually won some of them over.

Others, like Lindsey Graham, I think most of us here know or have heard the stories of what went down and how exactly Trump won him over to his side early in 2017. Its kind of an open secret so it someone wants me to explain the details of how Graham's conversion occurred (pun intended, BTW) I'll be more then happy to explain it to you here on this MAP Main Community Forum message board.

 

[Paul]

Another one issue voting is the idea that the Democrats are the party of the oppressed.

 

[porculator]

Global warming is very real and at some time we will significantly reduce the use of fossil fuels. The quest to save the planet is noble. However, sometimes the lefty socialist types use the theme of climate change to hit capitalism very hard and to bring socialism through the back door.

Well, your last sentence is exactly why I realized why I'm a single issue voter.

I'm outraged with how the left tries to treat the climate crisis as this trojan horse and use it to justify implementing all their other less popular policies. Now theyre about to throw the baby put with the bathwater for that exact reason.

I still lean left on a lot of social issues, though some of the more egregious offenses of the right (opposition to gay marriage, and legal weed, for example) have been neutralized in the past decade, regardless of who is in office.

And thats kind of the point. Social progress Is organic, and may move too slow for some, but it will move forward the same pace regardless. Whether a government tries to force it, or bring it to a halt, the resistance to it will act as a counterweight and you end up on the same slogging March regardless. You just cant force cultural issues.

On the other hand, we're out of time for climate. This is something that only governments can fix. People either don't realize the stakes or they don't care, and I refuse to believe people wouldn't care if they knew the stakes.

 

[bdb13]

I'm a one-issue voter. I think the wave of anti-civility, anti-science, anti-institution, and anti-democratic (authoritarian) populism in this country is dangerous. I will do whatever I can to oppose it.

It may have begun with what a truly terrible person Trump is, but it revealed something much deeper about the trajectory of American politics.

Same.

 

[Paul]

Well, your last sentence is exactly why I realized why I'm a single issue voter.

I'm outraged with how the left tries to treat the climate crisis as this trojan horse and use it to justify implementing all their other less popular policies. Now theyre about to throw the baby put with the bathwater for that exact reason.

I still lean left on a lot of social issues, though some of the more egregious offenses of the right (opposition to gay marriage, and legal weed, for example) have been neutralized in the past decade, regardless of who is in office.

And thats kind of the point. Social progress Is organic, and may move too slow for some, but it will move forward the same pace regardless. Whether a government tries to force it, or bring it to a halt, the resistance to it will act as a counterweight and you end up on the same slogging March regardless. You just cant force cultural issues.

On the other hand, we're out of time for climate. This is something that only governments can fix. People either don't realize the stakes or they don't care, and I refuse to believe people wouldn't care if they knew the stakes.

I agree with your post.

I am very much a capitalist that recognizes the need of those that are less fortunate. I am for National Health Care and free state college tuition for those that are academically qualified. I have a libertarian side so I have no issues with LGBTQIA++++, abortion, etc.

 

[porculator]

I don't know much about her. As for Biden he is one of the boys who like LBJ has found religion by presenting himself as someone that is overtly empathetic to POC. It is all standard old fashion politics, but despite his shortcomings I love the guy. As for the previous round of candidates my favorite was Amy Klobuchar, she had her head on the shoulders and did not pander to the the needy one issue voters. As expected the lack of pandering did her in.

Other than Romney I see no one on the Republican side that can win in 2024. By the same token I have no idea who will run by the Dems. If they throw in Kamala they lose, so who knows.

Regarding climate change: The problem is very complex and the climate change is real regardless of what humans do. However, it is likely humans are accelerating the change. BTW, we are on our 3rd type of atmosphere in the planet. One day we will have a different atmosphere and hopefully the change will be gradual so humans can adapt (or become extinct).

Again, I think that most people are only lazy about global warming because they don't realize the stakes. If they do, and don't care, they're complete psychopaths. Your last paragraph shows that you don't realize the stakes.

The talk about the atmosphere changing, and climate change being cyclical is put out there in bad faith to justify not doing anything. At worst, you're acting in bad faith as well- at best you're eating it up the BS spewed by those that are.

The changes occurring right now over the course of the last 100 years, and now accelerating, have happened before, yes, but over exponentially longer periods of time, which allow ecosystems to adjust. We are in the process of wiping them all out in the blink of an eye relatively speaking.

Climate change is not complex. Neither are the solutions to it. Stopping the BS misinformation, and getting shortsighted governments like China and India to act with urgency is really the only complex part. But the science is clear.

 

[Paul]

Again, I think that most people are only lazy about global warming because they don't realize the stakes. If they do, and don't care, they're complete psychopaths. Your last paragraph shows that you don't realize the stakes.

The talk about the atmosphere changing, and climate change being cyclical is put out there in bad faith to justify not doing anything. At worst, you're acting in bad faith as well- at best you're eating it up the BS spewed by those that are.

I am well aware of global warming and the consequences. I am not certain that we can stop it. I have a sarcastic view when it comes to the AOC types that say we will be dead in 12 years, I remember the population bomb scare quite well. We were supposed to be all dead by the late 1980s.

The Unrealized Horrors of Population Explosion (Published 2015)

In 1968, a book by a Stanford biologist predicted doom for the planet in coming decades. Whatever became of the population bomb?

www.nytimes.com

The changes occurring right now over the course of the last 100 years, and now accelerating, have happened before, yes, but over exponentially longer periods of time, which allow ecosystems to adjust. We are in the process of wiping them all out in the blink of an eye relatively speaking.

I suggest you read this book:

This was the rage in the 60s. It received the same attention as global warming today.

Climate change is not complex. Neither are the solutions to it. Stopping the BS misinformation, and getting shortsighted governments like China and India to act with urgency is really the only complex part. But the science is clear.

Climate change is a Trojan Horse for socialism.

 

[Optimus Prime]

I'm a one-issue voter. I think the wave of anti-civility, anti-science, anti-institution, and anti-democratic (authoritarian) populism in this country is dangerous. I will do whatever I can to oppose it.

It may have begun with what a truly terrible person Trump is, but it revealed something much deeper about the trajectory of American politics.

Article with this exact viewpoint
=========================
There appears to be a consensus in Washington that the success of the Biden presidency will hinge on the outcome of the massive infrastructure and social-spending bills now before Congress. That may be true, but their fate won’t affect how I vote.

I’m a single-issue voter. My issue is the fate of democracy in the United States. Simply put, I have no faith that we will remain a democracy if Republicans win power. Thus, although I’m not a Democrat, I will continue to vote exclusively for Democrats — as I have done in every election since 2016 — until the GOP ceases to pose an existential threat to our freedom.

If you want to know why I’m so alarmed about the current state of my former party, look at the dueling documents released last week by the Senate Judiciary Committee about President Donald Trump’s attempt to pressure the Justice Department into helping to overturn the 2020 election……

To prevent a successful coup in 2024, it is imperative to elect Democrats at every level of government in 2021 and 2022 — to state legislatures and governorships, as well as the House and Senate.

Democrats should break a Senate filibuster to pass voting rights legislation that would help ensure free elections. But even if that doesn’t happen and Republicans rig the rules, small-D democrats can still prevail by turning out en masse to vote for Big-D Democrats……..

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/10/11/im-no-democrat-im-voting-exclusively-democrats-save-our-democracy/