The last map perfectly shows what's so depressing about US politics (poor people voting massively for a party dedicated to serve the interests of the wealthier).
However, it is generally the wealthy voters in each state which vote more Republican--it's just that poor people in, say, Kentucky, are more Republican than poor people in Connecticut.
Considering the GOP's ideology, them attracting more than 10% of the poor is already pretty shocking.
Not really.
It is, if you assume voters would vote at least somewhat rationally.
In any huge group of people ( the American lower class, in this case), there will be some (many) people who are low-information, cynical, selfish, short-sighted, passive, prejudiced, etc. The poor aren't saints. A lot of those poor people who vote Republican, I would venture to guess, do so because
a) They feel threatened by urban, cosmopolitan values and ways of life (this is especially true with rural people) that they associate with the Democratic Party.
b) The Republicans speak to their hopes (vote for us, and things will improve) and fears (vote for
them, and the terrorists win). The Democrats speak to...their wallets. Oh, and of course, the Democrats have taken their votes for granted, especially in light of NAFTA, the transfer of wealth and resources from rural to urban areas, and the many broken promises of Democratic politicians and Presidents, especially in recent years.
Furthermore, how many of those poor Republican voters are
really Republican in ideology, or even have the time or resources to come up with a coherent, "rational" political ideology? Seriously. The bulk of political resources, activism, organization, etc., at any rate, comes from the middle and upper classes (in both parties, this is the case).
By the way, this is why I can't stand the people who say "the free market" is rational. The market is made up of people, and people, more often than not, are not "rational" actors.
Now, having said all that, I'm still a Democrat. But I sometimes can see why Republicans do so well with certain demographics in the poor, working and middle classes.
