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My “USA Today” op ed on Donald Trump and political ignorance
The Washington Post's Volokh Conspiracy ^ | October 4, 2015 | Professor Ilya Somin, George Mason University

Posted on 10/04/2015 9:06:02 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

In this recent USA Today op ed, I explain how the unexpected success of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign is in large part the result of widespread political ignorance:

Despite some recent stumbles in his campaign, the most dramatic development of the 2016 presidential race has been the meteoric ascent of Donald Trump to the status of front-runner for the Republican nomination. Trump’s rise is a particularly blatant example of a much deeper problem at the heart of modern democracy: widespread voter ignorance.

Trump’s success so far is in large part the result of an almost perfect storm of political ignorance. As a longtime celebrity, he had a built-in advantage with voters who don’t know much about politics…

Polls also consistently show that Trump’s support comes disproportionately from those with relatively low levels of education. For instance, a recent ABC/Washington Post survey found that 40% of Republican-leaning voters without college degrees support Trump, compared with only 19% of college graduates. Low education correlates with support for Trump far more than political ideology, or any other demographic variable. Education and political knowledge are not the same thing… Nonetheless, the two are highly correlated....

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; Politics/Elections; US: District of Columbia; US: New York
KEYWORDS: 2016; 2016election; college; demagogicparty; districtofcolumbia; donaldtrump; election2016; ilyasomin; immigration; lamestreammedia; memebuilding; msm; partisanmediashill; partisanmediashills; polls; trump; volokhconspiracy; washingtoncompost; washingtonpost
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I was eligible for MENSA membership back in 7th grade and I'm still eligible now, professor. What a laff.
1 posted on 10/04/2015 9:06:03 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I agree “widespread voter ignorance” is a problem and led to the election of Obama.

But it’s not why Trump is winning. Trump is winning because the average Republican is both fed up with the democrat-lite GOPe and because Trump is offering real solutions for the things we’ve wanted fixed for years.


2 posted on 10/04/2015 9:09:14 PM PDT by DannyTN
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

And the voters that gave us the ISIS POTUS are oh so smart.


3 posted on 10/04/2015 9:11:07 PM PDT by Rennes Templar
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I am also MENSA eligible, and was a member in the 80s and 90s.


4 posted on 10/04/2015 9:11:14 PM PDT by BigEdLB (Congress will have blood on their hands if anything happens because of the Iran appeasement)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Facts:

1) Except in the very odd/exceptional election year of 1964, the Dems haven’t cracked 50% of the whites in a Presidential election since 1932.

2) Once the ‘64 election was over, the Dems understood that they would never win another Presidential election again unless the Republicans REALLY screwed up...or unless they changed the electorate in a dramatic way.

3) The Dems, courtesy of Bobby Kennedy who wrote the law, and Teddy Kennedy who pushed it in the Senate, passed the 1965 Immigration Act. That law dramatically reduced immigration from our then-traditional large sources of immigrants - England, Ireland, Holland, Germany, etc. - and replaced them with vast numbers of Turd Worlders...whom everyone knows vote around 80% for Dems, and will continue to do so for the rest of their lives, as new immigrants have traditionally done.

4) As a result of the ‘65 Act, and due to the Dem’s outright lying in ‘86 regarding an effective (or any) fence, there are now probably 30 - 40 million illegals in this nation. Note that the (probably low-ball) figure in 2005 was 11 million...we have 2-3 million come in every year, so simple math says that the number is actually somewhere between 31 and 41 million). If any substantial portion of these people ever become citizens, then the Dems will have accomplished a complete shift of the electorate, and will be virtually invincible on the national level. Every state will become like California, both politically and economically - which is to say, overwhelming Dem and broke. But at least if you don’t like California now, you can leave for a better place without much trouble - where are you going to go if EVERY state is like that?

5) Every Republican, and every Conservative voter MUST UNDERSTAND that if such a state of affairs comes to be, NO OTHER ISSUE WILL MATTER AT ALL, because we will ALWAYS AND FOREVER lose on those issues. Immigration is THE issue of this election, and this election is as critical as the 1860 election was - and for the same reason, because it will determine whether this nation continues on as it has existed in the past, or becomes a new and unrecognizable entity that simply occupies the same geographic territory.

Please wake up, and help others to do so by sending them this post (or recommending “Adios America” to them). It really is THAT important.


5 posted on 10/04/2015 9:12:09 PM PDT by Ultima
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Yeah, sorry. Low-info voters (LIVs) put Marxist Mohammadans and Rapists in the White House, not smart and informed voters.


6 posted on 10/04/2015 9:14:47 PM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (Resist We Much)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

This is such total B.S. The adults in our family have more education and are smarter than most of the politicians in D.C. We know how to run businesses and balance a budget. We do cost analysis on programs before we even think about putting them in place and we don’t stay with an idea that is clearly not going to work. We also are smart enough to see through their B.S. and it’s way past time to tell them “You’re Fired”!


7 posted on 10/04/2015 9:15:12 PM PDT by Grams A (The Sun will rise in the East in the morning and God is still on his throne.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Ilya Somin: law professor and ignorance expert.
Once Trump is sworn in, we’ll send Ilya to a labor camp.


8 posted on 10/04/2015 9:16:43 PM PDT by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: all armed conservatives.)
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To: BigEdLB

What was it like?


9 posted on 10/04/2015 9:17:06 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (TED CRUZ. You can help: https://donate.tedcruz.org/c/FBTX0095/)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I support Trump/Cruz and I am waaaaaay smart. That said, Trump knows that LIV’s determine elections. I question the author’s intelligence that he does not know this.


10 posted on 10/04/2015 9:18:01 PM PDT by HerrBlucher (Abortion is murder)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I managed to graduate law school and pass one of the toughest bar exams in the country . . . and I support Trump. Maybe because I’m old and senile, unlike those highly-informed voters who elected Obama.


11 posted on 10/04/2015 9:20:10 PM PDT by sockhead
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Me flunk English? Unpossible!


12 posted on 10/04/2015 9:20:26 PM PDT by Jeff Chandler (Step away from the Koolade.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Stupid article.


13 posted on 10/04/2015 9:20:31 PM PDT by Helicondelta
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

This guy has you beat Div since he’s eligible for DENSA.


14 posted on 10/04/2015 9:20:48 PM PDT by Red Steel (Ted Cruz: 'I'm a Big Fan of Donald Trump')
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To: Red Steel

One of the biggest clubs on Earth, I’m guessing.


15 posted on 10/04/2015 9:21:54 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (TED CRUZ. You can help: https://donate.tedcruz.org/c/FBTX0095/)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

They still don’t get it...


16 posted on 10/04/2015 9:22:01 PM PDT by ripnbang ("An armed man is a citizen, an unarmed man a subject")
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

this has to have been written by a Republican Elite, as it is saying the exact same thing they are saying.


17 posted on 10/04/2015 9:22:05 PM PDT by fish hawk (no tyrant can remain in power without the consent and cooperation of his victims.)
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To: ripnbang

I think he’s going to “gaffe” and “faux pas” his way into the executive mansion.


18 posted on 10/04/2015 9:23:04 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (TED CRUZ. You can help: https://donate.tedcruz.org/c/FBTX0095/)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

This guy is one of those people who is too stupid to know he’s stupid.

Trump will be our next president and we have far more illegals here than this professor can fathom.

This person is truly an idiot.


19 posted on 10/04/2015 9:25:14 PM PDT by ConservativeMind ("Humane" = "Don't pen up pets or eat meat, but allow infanticide, abortion, and euthanasia.")
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

The other 2%. An elite club.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Densa


20 posted on 10/04/2015 9:25:37 PM PDT by Red Steel (Ted Cruz: 'I'm a Big Fan of Donald Trump')
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