A couple of days ago I noted that Mencken called the American species Boobus Americanus. He refined that tag for "plain folk," as he called the middle class. He referred to them as the Booboisie, and wrote this about them:
"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance. No one in this world, so far as I know--and I have researched the records for years, and employed agents to help me--has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby."* [My emphasis]
Yes, that is harsh. Mencken was a snob, but he was also an astute observer of human behavior, and he called them as he saw them. An unfortunate fact of today's American society is that so many of us have become so politically correct we no longer actually say anything. We prevaricate, hedge, circumlocute and tergiversate** all over the place in our attempt to avoid insulting anyone.
I'm going to adopt Mencken's straightforward approach temporarily and do some generalizing.
Most of us have asked at one time or another who voted for Trump. Some of us have found the answer, which turns out to be what we expected, but for those who haven't yet got there, here it is, based on four independent studies of voting patterns.*** Most of these traits are found in a majority, but not the totality, of Trump voters.
The typical Trump voter in 2016 was most likely to be:
- White
- Male
- Older than 45
- Conservative
- A high school graduate, possibly with some college
- Protestant or Evangelical
- A rural or suburban resident
- Earning more than $50,000 per year
- A veteran
- Primarily concerned about terrorism and immigration
- Supportive of the Mexican border wall and similar projects
- Angry with the federal government
- Convinced that Trump was honest, trustworthy, and qualified to be president.
--- Diogenes, 5/6/20
* Mencken, H. L., Notes On Democracy, 1926
** A great word; I just learned it.
*** Business Insider: https://www.businessinsider.com/exit-polls-who-voted-for-trump-clinton-2016-11
CNN: https://www.cnn.com/election/2016/results/exit-polls
Pew Research Center: https://www.people-press.org/2018/08/09/for-most-trump-voters-very-warm-feelings-for-him-endured/
Roper Center for Public Opinion Research: https://ropercenter.cornell.edu/how-groups-voted-2016