Joe Simitian:
Why we in California must care about Trump voters
Here in the Bay Area, we live in a bubble. While 46 percent of the American electorate voted for President Trump, in California, just 32 percent did. In Santa Clara County, 21 percent. And in my hometown, Palo Alto, it was just 12 percent.
Some were inclined to dismiss Trump voters as racist, sexist, homophobic, misogynistic or xenophobic. But do we really believe that 46 percent of the American electorate is racist, sexist, homophobic, misogynistic or xenophobic? I don’t. The rest of the country must see things somewhat differently than folks here. So what prompted 46 percent of the electorate to vote for a candidate I considered wholly unfit for the presidency?
And why on Earth did 6 million to 10 million Americans (estimates vary), who previously voted for Obama, then decide to cast their ballots for Trump?
To get some answers, I traveled to three counties, in three states, and had more than 100 conversations in places that have previously voted for Democratic presidential candidates but flipped in 2016.
Robeson County, N.C., is 70 percent Native American, African American and Latino. Democrats outnumber Republicans 5 to 1. The county voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012. In 2016, it went for Trump.
In Cambria County, Pa., Democrats held a 13 percent margin among registered voters and Cambria voted for Obama in 2008. In 2016, Trump won with 67 percent of the vote.
Macomb County, Mich., voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012. During Obama’s two terms, the county’s unemployment rate dropped from 16 percent to 6 percent. Nevertheless, in 2016, Trump won the county handily.
I spent a week in each of these counties. My goal was to listen, learn and understand. I learned a lot.
Notably, Hillary Clinton’s personal unpopularity was wide and deep. The national Democratic Party was seen as a collection of interest groups; urban, elitist, disconnected and out of touch with small town, rural Americans.
Immigration, health care, terrorism and social issues all came up less than I expected.
There was, however, one constant theme: long-standing economic deprivation.
In Robeson County, the textile mills are gone; so are the good jobs and good wages. Today the jobs are “low pay and no say.” Folks are making less than half of what they once did; and on election day, “there was a sentiment that no matter how hard you try, you just can’t seem to get ahead.”
In Cambria County, the coal mines are closed and the steel mills shuttered. Trump said he’d open the coal mines and bring back the steel jobs. When I asked whether or not people believed him, the answer I got was, “Sir, false hope is better than no hope at all.”
In Macomb County, the auto industry isn’t what it once was. Neither is the quality of life. A young Democratic Party activist told me, “You grow up here, and your goal is to get out.”
As the decades passed, things got worse. Politicians promised but didn’t deliver. People who voted for Obama and didn’t see the change they hoped for, doubled down on change with Trump. As one voter put it, “I just thought it was time to shake up the snow globe.”
If Trump’s comments were outrageous, well, “Maybe he could have said it better, but at least he said it.” If his conduct was reprehensible, well, “We’re not votin’ for Sunday school teacher.”
For many, the 2016 election wasn’t about a moment in time; it was the chance to deliver a gut punch to the body politic.
Why should we, enjoying the relative prosperity of the Bay Area, care about the hardships of remote places across the country?
Well, because we can’t leave millions of working or “want-to-be working” Americans behind. That’s just wrong.
It’s also risky. When people are desperate, they make desperate choices.
And finally we ought to care, if for no other reason than self-interest. As California taxpayers, we’re picking up the tab for these systemic failures affecting other states.
In almost every one of those conversations, I heard from folks who think our system is failing them; that nobody represents them, or cares about them.
That doesn’t mean we have to accept or excuse the views and values we find abhorrent. And it certainly doesn’t mean we should countenance conduct that deserves our condemnation. To the contrary, we have to stand up, speak out and push back.
But we have to confront and conquer a hard truth: For too many Americans, opportunity has left town.
Until and unless we provide meaningful work with a livable wage, and then educate American workers to do it, we have no hope of pulling together as one nation, united by a common vision and value: opportunity for all.
As one voter noted: If we can’t do that, then it’s “inevitable some snake-oil salesman will come along,” and end up president of the United States.