09/19/2024
Good piece on On Point this morning about the apparent shift of young men toward Trump. The simple theory is that they are drawn toward his masculinity and his attacks on what they see as movements that disempower them, movements among traditionally marginalized groups. Young men nationwide still skew liberal, but there's been a decline, even as young women have become much more liberal. There's a 50-point gender gap in six swing states.
It's a wee bit more complicated than that, though, as many of these Trump-leaning young men, when asked, are still socially liberal on a number of causes. It may be a case of attraction to confidence. Joe Rogan was brought up in the piece. Rogan deals in misinformation and conspiracy theory. He's powerfully confident, even while he's spreading bu****it. MMA/UFC was also mentioned, a classic hunting ground for populists. Here's a place where winners and losers are determined by basic methods, a place where subtlety is unwanted and confidence is supreme.
By the way, I'm not going to conflate "left" with "liberal" (or "right" with "conservative") as mass media tend to do. Liberals are not necessarily anti-capitalist or pro-socialist. There are plenty of liberal Democrats who are not in any way anti-capitalist. There are plenty economic right-wingers (pro-capitalists) who are socially liberal. There are also labor union members willing to vote against their economic interests by voting for the anti-union, anti-labor Trump.
