Sounds like my parents. Both are now dead, but I kidded them one time that they thought FDR was still the president. They didn’t laugh. Both were religious and strong social conservatives. But they hated Republicans. Because Republicans were all greedy, and the Dems stood up for the little guy. You might as well have been trying to convince a newborn baby not to wail than convince my parents they might have been wrong about politics.
Exactly, and there’s a generation of them dying out. The replacements are not nearly as wedded to the Democrats as many of them were. They’re not into “the religion thing” as they see it, either. But prior to continuously sticking his foot in his mouth, Rand Paul actually OWNED them (the younger ones) due to his filibuster on drones and credibility on privacy rights. Those people knew he was Republican, but didn’t care - they heard what they wanted to hear and were ready to vote for him (and still may). It was a shame with Rand, because if he also tried to reach the Republican base, he would have waltzed right into the White House.
But the FDR Generation - FORGET IT. If it was a choice between Hitler and a Republican, Hitler wins hands-down. In a way, McCain learned that the hard way - by being the “perfect Republican”, always reaching across, trying to pull-in those people. They laughed at him on election day and voted for the extreme leftist instead.
Here in Texas I used to work with a local. Not the brightest bulb in the lot, but lots of fun to talk to. 100% (white) Texan, loved guns, likely went to church, conservative on all social issues - and voted 100% Democrat (middle-aged, not FDR generation). I made it a point to try to figure him out. First, like you said, Democrats are for the “little guy”. Second, Democrats would NEVER touch his guns (this is what he thought, and probably still thinks). No matter what I said, it didn’t matter. I kept digging - wound up his parents were union types. That’s what unions do to people.