Is there any voting bloc that likes free trade? If so, where?

[darklordoftech]

Or is free trade only supported by the intelligentsia? 

[RINO Tom]

Most people don't care that much about trade until they are told to.

[YE]

Educated suburban folks. Also farmers.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Farmers

[Nyvin]

Anyone involved in producing goods that are sold overseas "should" care.   Whether they do or don't is another question.

[bagelman]

Residents of El Paso, fat cat investors, some farmers.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

To the extent they still exist, hardcore Reaganites should be on this list.

[Kyle Rittenhouse is a Political Prisoner]

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/05/10/americans-are-generally-positive-about-free-trade-agreements-more-critical-of-tariff-increases/
About half of the GOP and almost all Democrats, a majority of Americans in all but one state. Protectionism is an opinion held by a small and shrinking section of the American Public.

[DINGO Joe]

Farmers

Educated suburban folks. Also farmers.

And yet, farmers are taking it up the cornhole not just with China but the TPP too.  They must be pretty mad.

[OSR stands with Israel]

To the extent they still exist, hardcore Reaganites should be on this list.

Even then they still weren't completely ideological at that. Reagan imposed Tariffs on Japan when things got out of hand . Bush imposed tarrifs as well and so did Clinton and Obama(They werent Reaganites, but both are considered Free Traders) .

[VPH]

At first thought, farmers, but in reality, it's tough to say. For example, lots of cattle farmers support country of origin labeling on meat sold in the US in order to discourage sales of beef from abroad. That's protectionist (not making a value judgment by saying that), but I'll bet those same farmers support making sure foreign markets are open to American beef, which is free trade.

Also, look at Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District. Voted for Sanders and Trump in the primary (both protectionist) and then Trump in the general at the same time as they re-elected Representative Ron Kind, one of the biggest champions of free trade in Congress.

[RINO Tom]

At first thought, farmers, but in reality, it's tough to say. For example, lots of cattle farmers support country of origin labeling on meat sold in the US in order to discourage sales of beef from abroad. That's protectionist (not making a value judgment by saying that), but I'll bet those same farmers support making sure foreign markets are open to American beef, which is free trade.

Also, look at Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District. Voted for Sanders and Trump in the primary (both protectionist) and then Trump in the general at the same time as they re-elected Representative Ron Kind, one of the biggest champions of free trade in Congress.

Couldn’t you support the (or more appropriately “an”) END product being labeled as being from the USA but still support free trade as it affects your entire operation?  Also, I feel like your last sentence shows how little people actually care (until they’re told to ... in which case they still don’t really care).  If someone thinks the GOP flip flop on free trade is entirely caused by voter displacement and replacement, he needs a statistics course.  Even Atlas posters aren’t dumb enough to have “trade” be their defining issues (sorry, Hillgoose).

[ElectionsGuy]

Anybody that understands economics

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Anyone who lives near the border or in Alaska.

[S019]

Educated suburban folks. Also farmers.

This

Anybody that understands economics

Also this

[Tintrlvr]

Educated suburban folks. Also farmers.

As an overall group, college graduates I am certain support free trade. They mostly work in service industries that are largely unaffected by trade issues. That doesn't mean some don't have ideological opposition to free trade anyway, but we're being asked to speak in broad strokes here. This means "educated urban folks" and "educated rural folks" as much as it means "educated suburban folks".

[RI]

Based on my playing around with VOTER survey data, Asians, the non-religious, graduate degree holders, younger voters, and those in the education, finance, and science/tech industries are the most favorable to free trade. The most favorable states are DE, DC, HI, MT, NH, ND, OR, SD, and VA (DC being most favorable).

[DC Al Fine]

Based on my playing around with VOTER survey data, Asians, the non-religious, graduate degree holders, younger voters, and those in the education, finance, and science/tech industries are the most favorable to free trade. The most favorable states are DE, DC, HI, MT, NH, ND, OR, SD, and VA (DC being most favorable).

Link to data? That sounds like it would be fun to mess around with.

[RI]

Based on my playing around with VOTER survey data, Asians, the non-religious, graduate degree holders, younger voters, and those in the education, finance, and science/tech industries are the most favorable to free trade. The most favorable states are DE, DC, HI, MT, NH, ND, OR, SD, and VA (DC being most favorable).

Link to data? That sounds like it would be fun to mess around with.

https://www.voterstudygroup.org/data

I don't think 2018 is out yet, but you can get 2016 and 2017. I'm planning on making a 4-quadrant map from it.

[Indy Texas]

RINO Tom

[Young Conservative]

Anybody that understands economics

A very small voting block

[NOVA Green]

Based on my playing around with VOTER survey data, Asians, the non-religious, graduate degree holders, younger voters, and those in the education, finance, and science/tech industries are the most favorable to free trade. The most favorable states are DE, DC, HI, MT, NH, ND, OR, SD, and VA (DC being most favorable).

Oregon is an interesting example of how generic questions such as "support for free trade" can offer different results depending on how specific trade related items resonate with local populations directly impacted.

For example: Oregon currently exported about $5,147 Million  ($5.1 Billion) in Electronic exports alone in 2017, compared to roughly $ 22.3 Billion worth of total exports ('17), with China being Oregon's largest export international export destination.

Now we can look at various waves of mass layoffs in the 21st Century among Tech Companies with historically large operations in Oregon and we see Intel and Hewlett-Packard, both placing within the top #12.

https://moneywise.com/a/the-biggest-layoffs-of-the-century

*** If we were to ask the question: "Should Large Tech Giants lay off large number of workers within your state to shift manufacturing and support operations overseas?" the natural response would be overwhelmingly NO! ***

*** If we were to ask the question: "Should Oregon Logs from Oregon Public and Private forests be shipped to China or Milled in Oregon and then exported, the answer would be overwhelmingly NO. ***

Here is a recent article from 7/27/19 representing potential China-Oregon trade relations.

"Oregon is one of the nation’s most trade-dependent states and perhaps the only one that has a trade surplus with China. The state exported $4.7 billion in products to China last year and imported $3.3 billion."

https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2019/07/warning-signs-oregon-industries-anxiety-grows-over-trade-war-with-china.html

I am not even going to go into agricultural products (other than Timber) since we are talking about a relatively smaller number of people impacted by export policy.

Still, generally people in many places associate trade policy more from a position of exports than imports, which is why it's a bit fascinating that WA isn't on RI's list considering the impact of Boeing even today.

[User156728683354]

Virtually all Democratic-leaning groups now, because of Trump Derangement Syndrome. In the past, rich people and conservatives were big fans.

[Gracile]

The average person does not have a nuanced understanding of trade policy, so this bloc is relatively small.

[CultureKing]

Washington state, as the most dependent state in the nation on international commerce, is pro-free trade. Estimates are that 40% of jobs in the state are dependent on international trade.

Meanwhile, there's quite a lot of press to reinforce positive perceptions, ex:
https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/international-trade-has-raised-washington-states-prosperity/

Now.. there's a lot of criticism in progressive circles due to lack of environmental and labor protections in other countries, but that's more of a critique in terms of how to evolve the model.