Political analysts have talked about how ignorance, racism, sexism, nationalism, Islamophobia, economic disenfranchisement and the decline of the middle class contributed to the popularity of Mr. Trump in rural America. But this misses the deeper cultural factors that shape the thinking of the conservatives who live here.

The deeper cultural factor is religious extremism.

This article just confirms that ignorance, racism, etc plus religious bigotry determines the vote in rural America.
J.C. Watts spouting some horseshit about what he thinks liberals think doesn't help a bit.

There is absolutely nothing here that's new or revelatory, nothing to change the view that these people made their decision based on ignorance, fear, and anger. Stupid fuckers made their bed, now is time to lie in it. I guess no matter what happens Jesus will save them.

*our bed. They made our bed.

Here's some more:
Trump Voters Explain Themselves

What Do Donald Trump Voters Actually Want?

The Atlantic's piece has a Trump supporter's thoughts that really show how hard it is to reach them:

Trump Embodies the Rage of the White Middle Class–– Politicians spend no time helping them.

That, for the most part, is true. That could be a start for common ground, but...

Black lives matter more and illegal immigrants who break the law get a free pass.

This is pretty easily disputed by facts, such as the likelihood of being shot by cops based on your skin color, the rate of deportations, the fact that the police aren't INS officers and don't have the manpower or funds to be INS officers.

Evangelicals in this country no longer feel they have the right to religious freedom and have watched what they perceive as a sacred institution in marriage gutted. All the while, politicians they voted for to represent them just plain don’t.

This is another point I'd love to argue with evangelicals, starting with what the Establishment Clause means. They don't seem to understand two basic things:

1. The government cannot establish a state religion.
2. If a law says a religion can or can't do something, then all religions can or can't do something, not just one.

No one is stopping someone from being an Evangelical Christian. What they seem to think is that if they can't prevent homosexuals from exercising the same rights and freedoms as everyone else, then it's evangelicals that are being somehow oppressed. If they can't stop a mosque from being built, it's the evangelicals that are the wronged party.

As for the politicians, they'd be less apt to be fooled into voting for the ones they did if they grasped points 1 and 2. If a politician is promising you something that is blatantly unconstitutional, then they're lying to you. Get that through your head, and things will start to make a lot more sense.

Addendum: When I said the first bit was true, I should have pointed out that government's disdain isn't just for the white middle class, but all of the middle class. The racial distinction isn't needed and is a sign of another problem, that being the loss of white privilege, but that's another kettle of fish.

The beauty of this topic is you can run the same headline with your own pet theory. A month ago, I might have clicked on a link like this. Now it’s clear to me why the election turned out like it did. It’s a list of many factors, all playing a part, their individual portion of influence unaccountable. There’s a lot that could be learned from that list, but trying to pick a particular reason, or a subset of reasons, is futile and disingenuous.

It's like saying the Civil War wasn't about slavery because it was REALLY about X. Effects can have a lot of causes, and those causes can feed into each other.

These are the same people that post the color-coded maps of the US and use that to indicate Drumpf won in a landslide, as if dirt voted rather than people.

Who gives a fuck what trump supporters think - he lost by 3 million votes. No one living in a state that produces anything but pollution and aluminum for double-wides is "getting over it," moving on," or "supporting the new president in spite of our differences."

The hate and contempt for this fraud is only going to get worse over the next 4 years. I suggest them and their cult figure get used to it.

And yet he is getting sworn in on the 20th.

I can't argue with you last two sentences though. I jut can't see the next 4 years going great, barring him rapidly evacuating the role for some reason.

I expect him to replace the Secret Service with his own guards.

I did hear one guy online mention that he'll probably just quit in seven months and hand the reigns to Mike Pense.

Does anyone else think shiftace needs a new hobby other than being a pedant?

Why do you say that?

He's been Captain Wrong Category lately, often for very marginal reasons.

If I wanted to be snarky, I could claim he (and 7) are arguing that those in rural America aren't really people.

I assume the reason this is not marked politics is so that rangerx could immediately make the next post also using the politics category.

Some people like to filter out politics, as you well know.

It's not like rangerx had two great politics posts. If that was the case, I'd let it slide, but these two posts are both pretty lame clickbait, IMO. I wouldn't complain about lame clickbait on its own, because the OP is at least trying to contribute something, and even if I don't appreciate it, someone else might. To cheat the system and irritate the people trying to avoid politics, just for the purpose of getting two lame posts through, seems worthy of a negative vote IMO.

And btw, I didn't notice the category until you mentioned shitface's mod. I have no idea what shiftace's motivation is.

I've also voted "wrong category" on some other posts where the OP is trying to avoid the "politics" category. It seems like the right thing to do, I really can't see justification for opposition.

Are you an asshole by nature or do you have to work at it?