Why did Little River County, AR swung so hard to the Republicans in 2008?

[Thunder98]

Other than racism, are there other reasons why this county went from Kerry +1.93 to McCain +28.99%?

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

Racism + more yellow dogs dying off + Hillary supporters angry that she lost the primary would be my guess.

[Ilhan Apologist]

Huh. I didn't even realize there was such a large bloc of Kerry-McCain voters. I thought that the financial meltdown would have prevented any WWC erosion in 2008, but I guess I was wrong.

[R.P. McM]

Huh. I didn't even realize there was such a large bloc of Kerry-McCain voters. I thought that the financial meltdown would have prevented any WWC erosion in 2008, but I guess I was wrong.

WWC voters in less racist parts of the country did the predicable thing — swung hard against the incumbent party. But in more racist parts of the country — the South, Appalachia — they preferred Kerry to Obama for reasons of "economic anxiety." In the midst of the worst downturn since the Depression, mind you. Yeah, there's just no denying it — they're racist white trash . It's a cancer that Lincoln and Grant and Sherman should've eradicated, but now we're stuck with it, sadly.

[junior chįmp]

Became Obama was black

[Grassroots]

LMAO @ Red Avs saying racism. Do you people ever get tired of bringing race into everything?

[junior chįmp]

LMAO @ Red Avs saying racism. Do you people ever get tired of bringing race into everything?

People don’t vote for what they want. They vote for who they are.

[Grassroots]

LMAO @ Red Avs saying racism. Do you people ever get tired of bringing race into everything?

People don’t vote for what they want. They vote for who they are.

And who they are, are yellow dogs finally waking up to the democratic party being too socially liberal for their interests. Race was not in these peoples heads at the voting booth.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

LMAO @ Red Avs saying racism. Do you people ever get tired of bringing race into everything?

I'd like to hear what other reasonable explanation you have for a county in the Deep South swinging 30 points to the right as the rest of the country swung almost 10 points to the left - especially considering the only really difference between John Kerry and Obama is the color of their skin. racism is clearly the biggest factor here.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

LMAO @ Red Avs saying racism. Do you people ever get tired of bringing race into everything?

People don’t vote for what they want. They vote for who they are.

And who they are, are yellow dogs finally waking up to the democratic party being too socially liberal for their interests. Race was not in these peoples heads at the voting booth.

This is delusional. John Kerry was more socially liberal than Obama and he did pretty well with yellow dogs. keep in mind he was also painted as a "Massachusetts liberal", a "coastal elitist" and so on. as I said before, there are very few logical explanations for why so many voters would switch from Kerry to McCain other than racism.

[junior chįmp]

LMAO @ Red Avs saying racism. Do you people ever get tired of bringing race into everything?

People don’t vote for what they want. They vote for who they are.

And who they are, are yellow dogs finally waking up to the democratic party being too socially liberal for their interests. Race was not in these peoples heads at the voting booth.

Nahhh brah....the human brain is not a rational organ. You wanna know how dumb and susceptible the voters are to what they see?

Princeton psychologist Alexander Todorov has demonstrated that quick facial judgments can accurately predict real-world election returns. Todorov has taken some of his previous research that showed that people unconsciously judge the competence of an unfamiliar face within a tenth of a second, and he has moved it to the political arena. His lab tests show that a rapid appraisal of the relative competence of two candidates’ faces was sufficient to predict the winner in about 70 percent of the races for U.S. senator and state governor in the 2006 elections.

“We never told our test subjects they were looking at candidates for political office -- we only asked them to make a gut reaction response as to which unfamiliar face appeared more competent,” said Todorov, an assistant professor of psychology and public affairs. “The findings suggest that fast, unreflective judgments based on a candidate’s face can affect voting decisions.”

.....

Two weeks later elections were held, and the researchers compared the competency judgments with the election results. They found that the judgments predicted the winners in 72.4 percent of the senatorial races and 68.6 percent of the gubernatorial races.

“This means that with a quick look at two photos, you have a great chance of predicting who will win,” Todorov said. “Voters are not that rational, after all. So maybe we have to consider that when we elect our politicians.”
https://www.princeton.edu/news/2007/10/22/determine-election-outcomes-study-says-snap-judgments-are-sufficient

In other words....voters literally decide who they're gonna vote by how someone looks. Now I'm sure the people of bumphuck Arkansas in no way took Obama's race and spooky sounding name into consideration when they went to pull that voting lever.

[Grassroots]

LMAO @ Red Avs saying racism. Do you people ever get tired of bringing race into everything?

People don’t vote for what they want. They vote for who they are.

And who they are, are yellow dogs finally waking up to the democratic party being too socially liberal for their interests. Race was not in these peoples heads at the voting booth.

This is delusional. John Kerry was more socially liberal than Obama and he did pretty well with yellow dogs. keep in mind he was also painted as a "Massachusetts liberal", a "coastal elitist" and so on. as I said before, there are very few logical explanations for why so many voters would switch from Kerry to McCain other than racism.

You are missing the point. Sure, Kerry was more socially liberal than Obama, but it's all about the time and how long of a time trends take place over. 2000-2004 R swings were just as strong in these areas. It's not about race, it's about policy realignment.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Huh. I didn't even realize there was such a large bloc of Kerry-McCain voters. I thought that the financial meltdown would have prevented any WWC erosion in 2008, but I guess I was wrong.

Look at the raw vote change, its really not much. Around 800-900 voters had to change their mind to cause such a swing

[R.P. McM]

Huh. I didn't even realize there was such a large bloc of Kerry-McCain voters. I thought that the financial meltdown would have prevented any WWC erosion in 2008, but I guess I was wrong.

Look at the raw vote change, its really not much. Around 800-900 voters had to change their mind to cause such a swing

Happened in numerous, contiguous counties in Appalachia and the South. But nowhere else, essentially. Yeah, we can all decipher the motivation — "economic anxiety." Hahahaha! 

[junior chįmp]

LMAO @ Red Avs saying racism. Do you people ever get tired of bringing race into everything?

People don’t vote for what they want. They vote for who they are.

And who they are, are yellow dogs finally waking up to the democratic party being too socially liberal for their interests. Race was not in these peoples heads at the voting booth.

This is delusional. John Kerry was more socially liberal than Obama and he did pretty well with yellow dogs. keep in mind he was also painted as a "Massachusetts liberal", a "coastal elitist" and so on. as I said before, there are very few logical explanations for why so many voters would switch from Kerry to McCain other than racism.

You are missing the point. Sure, Kerry was more socially liberal than Obama, but it's all about the time and how long of a time trends take place over. 2000-2004 R swings were just as strong in these areas. It's not about race, it's about policy realignment.

Those trends you speak of are in large part pushed by demographic trends. Voters dont care about policy...their policy choices are determined by their identity.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Huh. I didn't even realize there was such a large bloc of Kerry-McCain voters. I thought that the financial meltdown would have prevented any WWC erosion in 2008, but I guess I was wrong.

Look at the raw vote change, its really not much. Around 800-900 voters had to change their mind to cause such a swing

Happened in numerous, contiguous counties in Appalachia and the South. But nowhere else, essentially. Yeah, we can all decipher the motivation — "economic anxiety." Hahahaha! 

Not what I was saying, what I was saying it isnt hard for huge swings to happen in counties like this lol

[R.P. McM]

Huh. I didn't even realize there was such a large bloc of Kerry-McCain voters. I thought that the financial meltdown would have prevented any WWC erosion in 2008, but I guess I was wrong.

Look at the raw vote change, its really not much. Around 800-900 voters had to change their mind to cause such a swing

Happened in numerous, contiguous counties in Appalachia and the South. But nowhere else, essentially. Yeah, we can all decipher the motivation — "economic anxiety." Hahahaha! 

Not what I was saying, what I was saying it isnt hard for huge swings to happen in counties like this lol

LOL —  given the political environment, it only really happened in the South and Appalachia, because those folks are hardcore racists. Racism: LOL!

[OSR stands with Israel]

Huh. I didn't even realize there was such a large bloc of Kerry-McCain voters. I thought that the financial meltdown would have prevented any WWC erosion in 2008, but I guess I was wrong.

Look at the raw vote change, its really not much. Around 800-900 voters had to change their mind to cause such a swing

Happened in numerous, contiguous counties in Appalachia and the South. But nowhere else, essentially. Yeah, we can all decipher the motivation — "economic anxiety." Hahahaha! 

Not what I was saying, what I was saying it isnt hard for huge swings to happen in counties like this lol

LOL —  given the political environment, it only really happened in the South and Appalachia, because those folks are hardcore racists. Racism: LOL!

Im not disputing that lmao, im just saying why it was so easy for a huge shift to happen

[R.P. McM]

Huh. I didn't even realize there was such a large bloc of Kerry-McCain voters. I thought that the financial meltdown would have prevented any WWC erosion in 2008, but I guess I was wrong.

Look at the raw vote change, its really not much. Around 800-900 voters had to change their mind to cause such a swing

Happened in numerous, contiguous counties in Appalachia and the South. But nowhere else, essentially. Yeah, we can all decipher the motivation — "economic anxiety." Hahahaha!  

Not what I was saying, what I was saying it isnt hard for huge swings to happen in counties like this lol

LOL —  given the political environment, it only really happened in the South and Appalachia, because those folks are hardcore racists. Racism: LOL!

Im not disputing that lmao, im just saying why it was so easy for a huge shift to happen

I honestly have no idea what you're saying. That said counties are bigly racist, but sparsely populated? In many cases, I suppose you're right, but we are talking about most of AR, OK, TN, LA, etc.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

LMAO @ Red Avs saying racism. Do you people ever get tired of bringing race into everything?

People don’t vote for what they want. They vote for who they are.

And who they are, are yellow dogs finally waking up to the democratic party being too socially liberal for their interests. Race was not in these peoples heads at the voting booth.

This is delusional. John Kerry was more socially liberal than Obama and he did pretty well with yellow dogs. keep in mind he was also painted as a "Massachusetts liberal", a "coastal elitist" and so on. as I said before, there are very few logical explanations for why so many voters would switch from Kerry to McCain other than racism.

You are missing the point. Sure, Kerry was more socially liberal than Obama, but it's all about the time and how long of a time trends take place over. 2000-2004 R swings were just as strong in these areas. It's not about race, it's about policy realignment.

Sure, it's just a coincidence that polls showed Hillary winning states like West Virginia and Arkansas vs McCain in 2008, and then they overwhelmingly rejected a black man - but surely not because he was black and had a scary sounding name.

[DINGO Joe]

I'm still willing to kick in some bucks to send OSR and Grassy on a tour to see what the rural south is really like.

[Grassroots]

LMAO @ Red Avs saying racism. Do you people ever get tired of bringing race into everything?

People don’t vote for what they want. They vote for who they are.

And who they are, are yellow dogs finally waking up to the democratic party being too socially liberal for their interests. Race was not in these peoples heads at the voting booth.

This is delusional. John Kerry was more socially liberal than Obama and he did pretty well with yellow dogs. keep in mind he was also painted as a "Massachusetts liberal", a "coastal elitist" and so on. as I said before, there are very few logical explanations for why so many voters would switch from Kerry to McCain other than racism.

You are missing the point. Sure, Kerry was more socially liberal than Obama, but it's all about the time and how long of a time trends take place over. 2000-2004 R swings were just as strong in these areas. It's not about race, it's about policy realignment.

Sure, it's just a coincidence that polls showed Hillary winning states like West Virginia and Arkansas vs McCain in 2008, and then they overwhelmingly rejected a black man - but surely not because he was black and had a scary sounding name.

LMAO, did you even pay attention to 90s and early 00s politics? Hillary was seen as similar to Bill on the issues which made southern dems more comfortable. Obama was different and was unarguably more socially liberal than Clinton was.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

LMAO @ Red Avs saying racism. Do you people ever get tired of bringing race into everything?

People don’t vote for what they want. They vote for who they are.

And who they are, are yellow dogs finally waking up to the democratic party being too socially liberal for their interests. Race was not in these peoples heads at the voting booth.

This is delusional. John Kerry was more socially liberal than Obama and he did pretty well with yellow dogs. keep in mind he was also painted as a "Massachusetts liberal", a "coastal elitist" and so on. as I said before, there are very few logical explanations for why so many voters would switch from Kerry to McCain other than racism.

You are missing the point. Sure, Kerry was more socially liberal than Obama, but it's all about the time and how long of a time trends take place over. 2000-2004 R swings were just as strong in these areas. It's not about race, it's about policy realignment.

Sure, it's just a coincidence that polls showed Hillary winning states like West Virginia and Arkansas vs McCain in 2008, and then they overwhelmingly rejected a black man - but surely not because he was black and had a scary sounding name.

LMAO, did you even pay attention to 90s and early 00s politics? Hillary was seen as similar to Bill on the issues which made southern dems more comfortable. Obama was different and was unarguably more socially liberal than Clinton was.

Except Obama and Hillary were virtually the same on every issue...

[Grassroots]

LMAO @ Red Avs saying racism. Do you people ever get tired of bringing race into everything?

People don’t vote for what they want. They vote for who they are.

And who they are, are yellow dogs finally waking up to the democratic party being too socially liberal for their interests. Race was not in these peoples heads at the voting booth.

This is delusional. John Kerry was more socially liberal than Obama and he did pretty well with yellow dogs. keep in mind he was also painted as a "Massachusetts liberal", a "coastal elitist" and so on. as I said before, there are very few logical explanations for why so many voters would switch from Kerry to McCain other than racism.

You are missing the point. Sure, Kerry was more socially liberal than Obama, but it's all about the time and how long of a time trends take place over. 2000-2004 R swings were just as strong in these areas. It's not about race, it's about policy realignment.

Sure, it's just a coincidence that polls showed Hillary winning states like West Virginia and Arkansas vs McCain in 2008, and then they overwhelmingly rejected a black man - but surely not because he was black and had a scary sounding name.

LMAO, did you even pay attention to 90s and early 00s politics? Hillary was seen as similar to Bill on the issues which made southern dems more comfortable. Obama was different and was unarguably more socially liberal than Clinton was.

Except Obama and Hillary were virtually the same on every issue...

Hillary was less socially liberal, or at least she presented herself that way.

[RINO Tom]

Huh. I didn't even realize there was such a large bloc of Kerry-McCain voters. I thought that the financial meltdown would have prevented any WWC erosion in 2008, but I guess I was wrong.

WWC voters in less racist parts of the country did the predicable thing — swung hard against the incumbent party. But in more racist parts of the country — the South, Appalachia — they preferred Kerry to Obama for reasons of "economic anxiety." In the midst of the worst downturn since the Depression, mind you. Yeah, there's just no denying it — they're racist white trash . It's a cancer that Lincoln and Grant and Sherman should've eradicated, but now we're stuck with it, sadly.

I'm so glad the forum is still JUST classy enough that we don't have users saying things like "Black trash" about poor areas of Detroit or "Latino trash" about poor Hispanic communities in Texas.

Stay classy!