‘Missing’ White Voters Could Elect Trump. But First They Need To Register.

FiveThirtyEight.com ^ | SEP 29, 2016 AT 11:21 AM | David Wasserman

[Behind Liberal Lines]

In 2012, President Obama won re-election by almost 5 million votes, but about 47 million eligible white voters without a college degree — including 24 million men — didn’t bother to vote. In 2016, these nonvoters are part of the demographic that is most strongly in favor of Donald Trump.

If Trump rouses even a fraction of these notoriously disaffected Americans — like this grease-smudged, 61-year-old first-time voter in western Pennsylvania — he could surge to victory. There’s just one catch: If we’re on the cusp of a blue-collar Great Awakening, it’s not yet showing up in the registration data.

In the 15 months since Trump announced his run, net registration gains in heavily white, rural and GOP-leaning counties have been unremarkable.

it could be that white working class voters are out there to be activated, but Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee have waited until too late to build the analytics and ground infrastructure necessary to identify and register them. That’s where Clinton and the Democrats have excelled.

[Rockingham]

I suspect that the decline of Christian conservative political organizations has something to do with the missing white voters. The Christian Right used to do quite a bit of voter registration and turnout among their congregations. The disappointments of the Bush years and afterward though diminished trust in the GOP, and many evangelical Christian congregations have turned away from politics as they struggled with recruitment, retention, and finances.

[SharpRightTurn]

“Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee have waited until too late to build the analytics and ground infrastructure necessary to identify and register them. That’s where Clinton and the Democrats have excelled.”

So much for the Trump/GOP ground game. The white vote is key to victory, and getting more whites to the polls would almost assure Shillary’s defeat. So what’s their excuse for not getting more whites registered and prepared to vote?

[FlipWilson]

Is there a damn thing 538 publishes that isn’t an “all is doomed Trumpers” type article?

[EnquiringMind]

....but about 47 million eligible white voters without a college degree...

Here we go again. Uneducated Trump supporters are so dumb that 47 million don't even vote. I am so sick of being called racist, deplorable and dumb.

[Salvation]

Walk around you block, two of you together, knock on doors and ask if they are registered to vote. If not, give them registrations for the number of voters in the household.

[poconopundit]

Good comment. Not sure what you meant by “broken glass decisions”, but one thing I’m sure of: a lot of Trump voters would crawl over broken glass to the voting booth if it was necessary. The gimme dat crowd? Not so eager to get their hands dirty.

[poconopundit]

You’re right. And the proof that “Trump fights” is he’s out there fully committed and holding all kinds of big rallies.

Heck, the GOP and Independent voters who stayed home probably figured that electing Romney wasn’t going to be much of a change anyway.

This election is going to be the triumph of Main Street over Wall Street, the Americans vs. the Globalist, the people who love the American dream versus those who wait for Santa Claus to give them free stuff.

If Hillary is elected, she’ll do everything in her power to kill the Goose that laid the Golden Egg and put every bald-headed eagle in a zoo.

[The Citizen Soldier]

Don't forget the Brexit vote. One reason we were guaranteed that the Brits would vote 'stay' was because the people that were putting real money down in the betting parlors were betting on 'stay'. Look, if you have a political reason for doing something, what's a few hundred, or even a few thousand thrown down to make it look like things are in the bag.

Oh, and of course the vote went decidedly for 'leave'. hahaha!