Poli Sci Prof: Backlash Against Liberal Smugness Will Get Trump Re-elected
“a backlash that most liberals don’t seem to realize they’re causing”
Gerard Alexander, an associate professor of politics at the University of Virginia, recently wrote an article for the New York Times suggesting that when it comes to Trump, liberals are their own worst enemies. It has become a common joke for conservatives on Twitter to respond to liberal lunacy by saying “Do you want more Trump? Because this is how you get more Trump.”
That idea forms the essence of Professor Alexander’s column:
Liberals, You’re Not as Smart as You Think
I know many liberals, and two of them really are my best friends. Liberals make good movies and television shows. Their idealism has been an inspiration for me and many others. Many liberals are very smart. But they are not as smart, or as persuasive, as they think.
And a backlash against liberals — a backlash that most liberals don’t seem to realize they’re causing — is going to get President Trump re-elected.
People often vote against things instead of voting for them: against ideas, candidates and parties. Democrats, like Republicans, appreciate this whenever they portray their opponents as negatively as possible. But members of political tribes seem to have trouble recognizing that they, too, can push people away and energize them to vote for the other side. Nowhere is this more on display today than in liberal control of the commanding heights of American culture…
Alexander offers many examples of how liberals are causing people to resent them, including the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, recent criticism of Kanye West, false accusations of racism, and the enforcement of concepts like microaggressions in academia.
He suggests that during the eight years of the Obama presidency, liberals convinced themselves that they were morally and intellectually superior to conservatives and that this too, is driving voters to Trump.
He concludes:
Liberals are trapped in a self-reinforcing cycle. When they use their positions in American culture to lecture, judge and disdain, they push more people into an opposing coalition that liberals are increasingly prone to think of as deplorable. That only validates their own worst prejudices about the other America.
Those prejudices will be validated even more if Mr. Trump wins re-election in 2020, especially if he wins a popular majority. That’s not impossible: The president’s current approval ratings are at 42 percent, up from just a few months ago.
Professor Alexander appeared on the Tucker Carlson show last night to discuss the article. Tucker broadened the conversation to focus on the lack of political diversity on college campuses. Gerard remarks at one point that this “breeds among other things, an incredible intellectual complacency.”
Watch the segment below:
Featured image via YouTube.
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Comments
They would have to realize it, and also, care.
Yeah, that won’t happen.
Is it smuggery? Help! I’ve been smugged.
I laughed out loud at that comment. I’m going to steal that!
Tucker pretty much kept his mouth shut. Good segment.
Diversity and inclusiveness was really meant to ..
EMBRACE THE HORROR
There is little inclusiveness, which is their goal. Push white males especially out. It is working too, college enrollment for white males is decreasing, more women attend college, and when white males attend they are treated to courses telling them to gay up and get in tune with your feminine side.
“Do you want more Trump? Because this is how you get more Trump.”
Pretty silly.
Anyone who failed to predict the outcome of the 2016 election has NO IDEA how we got even the Trump we have now. And, obviously, no better idea of how we’ll get more.
Smug political certainties cut both ways.
With respect, Tom, that’s not logical.
As a football coach, I can fail to recognize the risk of an upset before and during the game. But afterwards, I can study the game film, identify where the other team exploited weaknesses I was unaware of, and make adjustments and corrections for the next time we meet.
In Trump’s upset victory, the smugness blinded all pollsters because people were afraid to publicly express how they really felt. But they damn sure let the country know anonymously once they were alone in the voting booth.
More examples below. It’s a skit, but rings true
https://youtu.be/GLG9g7BcjKs
Realistically, Liberals (and esp. the Liberal media, and perhaps the absurdists in higher ed) will be their worst enemies.
BUT, it also remains true that Pres. Trump is his own worst enemy: so far a solid record of performance, but his apparent inability to just keep quiet when it’s in his interest to do so does him and his presidency no favors.
I don’t care what he says as long as he continues with his political successes. The media loved every greasy word out of Obama’s mouth while he destroyed our economy.
BRB. Gotta go make a Trump as a bull in a china shop meme.
One only needs to read the comments to Alexander’s piece to see the proof of what he writes about. No clue. No willingness to learn.
“Anyone who failed to predict the outcome of the 2016 election has NO IDEA how we got even the Trump we have now.”
Plenty of us did predict just that outcome. Do we get to use the phrase? How about those who diligently tried to learn from the situation and outcome? Do they also get to use the phrase?
Liberals are trapped in a self-reinforcing cycle.
And they all think that’s a good thing. Otherwise, they’d have to admit that they aren’t any better than the “deplorables” they hate.
They are the deplorables, Hillary’s deplorables.
“Liberals make good movies and television shows.”
Yeah. That’s why movie and TV viewing (if you exclude outliers such as Avengers: Infinity War) is down. Because the Liberal product is so good.
Yes!!!!
It’s DROPPED RIGHT OFF A CLIFF –
such as the cliff at into the Kilauea volcano!!!!!!
Just a reminder of how “real Americans” are leaving the Democrat/MSM/Fake Education Plantation!!!!!!!!!!
The Hood For Trump
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucTQ2C5CFFQ
Cord Cutting Is The Obvious Result Of A 70% Spike In Cable TV Prices Since 2000
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180426/11195739727/cord-cutting-is-obvious-result-70-spike-cable-tv-prices-since-2000.shtml
Re: Not A Member
I cut the cord because I was sick of subsidizing MSNBC, ESPN, abc, cbs, nbc, etc., etc., etc.,
A bunch of pinkos on my dollar? No more!
Current/latest season’s ratings data, sorted by 18-49 demographic
2
3
OWN TV shows 18-49 demo Year-to-year change Viewers (mil) Year-to-year change
4
1 The Haves and the Have Nots s5 0.49 -25.25% 2.098 -16.86%
5
2 Queen Sugar (renewed) s2 0.42 -18.26% 1.488 -15.87%
6
3 If Loving You Is Wrong s3 0.39 -27.67% 1.654 -19.21%
7
4 Greenleaf s2 0.37 -40.22% 1.413 -32.98%
8
5 The Paynes s1 0.16 0.629
9
6 For Better or Worse (ended) s6 0.14 -34.32% 0.568 -21.04%
10
7 Love Thy Neighbor (ended) s4 0.12 -39.00% 0.459 -29.65%
https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:UoKMMz2UwF0J:https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/tv-show-ratings/+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
Yesterday I read an article at NRO seriously discussing whether it would be a good idea to throw the House and Senate just to stop Trump.
Yes you heard that right, the Never Trumpers are actually considering giving Congress to Democrats.
I was annoyed by their treachery during the election, now I’m learning to hate them.
Not shocked, not surprised.
Loads of us have already concluded that.
For goodness sakes, those GOPe traitors did all they could to throw the 2016 Presidential Election to Killary Klinton!
Seems they are within their own bubbles and cannot handle the truth either. They have lost a good deal of readership because of their actions, and they refuse to see it, makes you see they aren’t all that different from liberals.
Where’s the link?
And who is “they”.
People at NRO THINK. Sometimes what they individually think is wrong or even loopy. It isn’t a homogeneous clump of people.
Conrad Black is a deep T-rump supporter, and has been since before the election.
Raghead wants to know who because she wants to join in
No, you lying SOS.
Aren’t you at ALL curious to know who wrote what and why? I’ve seen enough of “Fen” to know that your never TRUST, but always VERIFY.
Sure Rags. I’ll post the link. It’s a bother but I can scan through my browsing history to locate it.
Soon as you apologize for the unprovoked personal attack.
You make discrediting you SOOOOOOooooo easy…!!!
Why the T-rump childish comment? You’re jerk.
Anyone thinking of that doesn’t know history. Which party took the blame for Bush 2? Hint: it wasn’t the party in control of Congress.
The psych term for it is ‘communal reinforcement’, wherein people of a certain belief or set of beliefs interact only with those who believe the same, and this prevalence of common beliefs reinforces them as true, correct, and right. This is why some website comment sections will ban you in a heartbeat for daring to question their beliefs. This is why many liberals react so vehemently against contrary beliefs (many conservatives too, for that matter).
Communal reinforcement helps cement together communities of belief where empirical, scientific proof of the verity of their beliefs isn’t available or possible, as in ‘you gotta have faith’. The existence of God is unfalsifiable if considered by scientific methodology; belief is based on faith, but with no less certainty for it.
Empirically based beliefs are those based on science, that are provable or falsifiable and those results can be replicated. Usually, all it takes to overturn an empirical, evidenced based belief is to show new evidence that contradicts it. An example would be the theory that microorganisms – germs, etc. – cause disease, as opposed to ‘bad airs’ or miasma, odors emanating from rotting flesh. Over the 19th century, new evidence brought out germ theory, to which science adheres to now.
Despite mounting scientific evidence for germ theory, changing medical/scientific minds took a while to accept it. Such is the nature of long-seated beliefs, whether scientific or faith-based, but this reluctance is a good thing in the big picture. Sometimes the evidence for a new scientific finding is illusory – look up Cold Fusion, Fleischmann and Pons – so you don’t want to jump on board too quickly. Besides, a foundational belief system wouldn’t be of much value if we abandoned existing beliefs for new ones at the drop of a hat. Sort of like how it’s generally a good thing that federal and state legislators can only enact new laws but so quickly, a hedge against emotionally-based, impulsive under or overreactions.
Liberals have been convinced of their moral and intellectual superiority by the educational system, from K thru college, and by the liberally controlled entertainment and news media. This belief requires no empirical, scientific evidence, indeed, none for it exists. It is a faith-based belief which makes it impervious to presentation of empirical evidence to the contrary. This is why we can publish the actual data on gun violence and it is simply waved away by gun control liberals. Essentially, you can’t use empirical, science based evidence to change beliefs that were not formed on empirical, science based evidence.
My recommendation – pare back efforts to present the facts to liberals on guns, illegal immigration, etc., and concentrate on defeating them politically. In presenting the scientific evidence that falsifies their beliefs, it would take a 100 years to peel enough of them off to make a difference. Why? Because the conservative’s time in discussion with a liberal cannot match the power of the 99.9% of the time a liberal spends within the web of community reinforcement, spent with fellow libs, with MSNBC, with Hollywood, with CNN, NBC, ABC, NPR, etc. Spent with Starbucks, Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc. Spent with the NYT, LAT, WashPo, etc. Spent with HuffPo, Media Matters, Slate, etc.
But Dave Rubin, Candace Owen, etc…
We can do both defeat them politically AND convince them. No need to be fixated on one or the other. In fact, one augments the other. Or maybe “others”…
Oh, I agree, I’m just suggesting winning them over by education will take a long, long time, to pare back on that and ramp up simple political defeat efforts.
To defeat them politically is, of course, the immediate imperative. But it isn’t nearly enough. You have to defeat the trajectory.
There really does seem to be a new “reset” breaking out…and about damned time, too…!!!
I think it will catch on, but I AM an optimist!
How long did it take to change the attitude toward “gay marriage”? Less than two presidential terms.
Such revolutions in thought don’t belong to the Left. You’ll see them pretty often in American history.
I think we conservatives have VASTLY superior ideas and ideals about governance. I’m excited that people seem to be catching on.
Are you talking about prop 180?
Prop 8, not 180
The fact is that even CA in 2008 could had to pass that through the courts and not through the people. Dems haven’t got the juice they claim to have. Gay marriage attitudes ARE changing, true. But they still could not do what they claimed “EVERYONE” was onboard with.
Rags is making the typical Lefty mistake: if we scold and punish everyone for daring to criticize / think something, they’ve changed their minds.
Sorry, Rags, but until you achieve your goal of having open ballots, you’ll keep getting President Trump…. and never have a clue why.
Of course, if you make that goal, you’ll get a civil war…..
Both of you idiots should just not participate. You only show how terribly stupid you actually ARE. Not that that ever stopped a T-rump cultist.
Rags, you just proved his point. He says that scolding shaming insulting people is not going to influence them. You reply by calling him an idiot.
Sit back and review for a moment – how has that strategy worked for you here at Legal Insurrection? You’ve got people down voting you the moment they see your name, regardless of what you say. They are no longer within your sphere of influence.
I sometimes wonder if you are a plant the inside the Never Trump movement intended to discredit it.
Gorsh…
Tha rat thar is some real logical thak’in…
Where’s the link, Little Bill?
Rags, you’re drunk.
No. And you’re always a lying idiot cultist.
Peoples attitudes towards SSM hasn’t changed. Their willingness to express opposition to SSM in public forums or non-anonymously had changed. But when among trusted friends, the negative thoughts towards it come out.
It’s been a while since I’ve been at a party with a bunch of liberals who didn’t know I wan’t one of them. Their private beliefs differ sharply from their public ones.
Communal reinforcement IS a big factor. AKA Peer pressure. A decade ago I stopped visiting sites that did not allow contrary opinions. Strangely, the remaining sites were conservative in bent.
‘Enry. ‘Awkins, awesome commentary! May I borrow it?
It is important to remember that the liberals do not have the control they believe they do. Otherwise Twitter would not need to shadow ban, conservative speakers would not pose a threat requiring funded and organized opposition like Antifa, Obama would not have facilitated thousands of illegals on trains, they would not need the felons, the sanctuary cities, to drop the voting age to 16…etc., etc., etc.
Their megaphone is big, but they are old and tired. Kayne saw the lines around the buildings for Trump and having a good showman’s instincts, saw where the real energy is.
Nothing can stop it now. It doesn’t need Trump. I brought us Trump.
It
“Yes I’ll hold… Yes I just ordered a dozen longstem roses. The one that says ‘Elle thanks for bringing us Trump’s… Yes that’s the one, please cancel. Thanks”
Whew. That could have been awkward.
Wife: Credit card company just called. Who the F is Elle?
Ahhh THANK YOU!! I also received a bouquet from your wife.
If we look at the “Machine” that obama and hillary had at their disposal in the 2016 election and all of the msm and academia on their side then why did they lose? It is because nothing could rehabilitate hillary in the eyes of millions of Americans. Taking a chance on an unknown was better than voting for a crook and liar with not one patriotic bone in her body. There are more conservative and moderates than their liberals and all we have to do is motivate them. Until the average liberal is robbed at gun point of has their home invaded while they are in it, you will never convince them that a gun is a right and not a privilege. I say forget the persuasion and go for the throat! Get your lazy neighbors to go vote or they may end up with another obama/hillary in the WH!
If there is anyone who knows how to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, it’s the GOP. I wouldn’t count 2018 and 2020 as in the bag until they’re in the bag. As for Trump, his popularity is only going to go up.
Well when they are “confirmed” Surrender Monkey GOPe……
Leftists have some more “thinks” to come.
TrumpLand and Clinton Archipelago
https://www.vividmaps.com/2016/12/trumpland-and-clinton-archipelago.html
Wish that professor would do some research and comment on things such as this.
“….David Hogg’s Father in FBI, Appears To Have Been Coached On Anti-Trump Lines”
rickandanna.com/school-shooting-survivor-turned-activist-david-hoggs-father-in-fbi-appears-to-have-been-coached-on-anti-trump-lines/
Rags: “You make discrediting you SOOOOOOooooo easy…!!!”
But you haven’t. You want the link that bad, all you have to do to get it is apologize for the unprovoked personal attack. Why won’t you do that?
Also, your assertion of victory is weak with just 3 exclamation points. Try 5 next time.
Just like your slime that I liked about being a Marine.
I told you to put up or shut up – donate a significant amount to the guy (for his trouble) who runs Stolen Valor hits over at This Ain’t Hell, and the moment he tells me he has your donation I’ll fax him my DD214 for him to investigate and publicly post.
You have neither apologized and retracted your accusation, nor have you taken me up on my offer to clear my name.
Shouldn’t be hard for a big shot like you to come up with a few hundred dollars to donate, you likely charge that hourly. And it shouldn’t be burdensome to someone like you who is always talking about how righteous and principled he is.
I don’t really care, I just wanted to remind everyone what your true colors really are.
Rags: “Where’s the link, Little Bill?”
For the 3rd time now, I’ll go to the bother to find the link once you apologize for the unprovoked personal attack.
No apology, no link. It’s an easy concession, so I’m thinking you don’t really want the link posted for everyone to read. I wonder why.
While you are here, any comment on your fellow Never Trumpers entertaining the idea of throwing the midterm elections to the Left simply to handicap Trump? I would assume you don’t support such treachery, but then just a few weeks ago I assumed the FBI supported the Rule of Law.
“…so I’m thinking you don’t really want the link posted for everyone to read. I wonder why.”
But I DO want to read it. I want EVERYONE to read it to compare your characterization of what was said to what was written.
any comment on ….the idea of throwing the midterm elections to the Left simply to handicap Trump? I would assume you don’t support such treachery…”
I can’t evaluate anything based on your bullshit, Little Bill. I’d have to see what was said.
Why are you hiding?
Rags: “But I DO want to read it. I want EVERYONE to read it to compare your characterization of what was said to what was written”
So apologize for your unprovoked personal attack. A real apology, like the adults do.
I’m not hiding. I’ve told you 3 times now you’ll get the link you demand only after you apologize for your unprovoked personal attack. I don’t do homework for someone who is rude to me.
But I’m not asking you to do “homework” for me or anyone.
You should have included the link in your first lode of bullshit.
I just want to see what you read. I’m not even saying you lied (though you DO, constantly). I’m saying I want to know who wrote what. In about a minute I can review my reading history.
Why are you hiding, lying sack of shit?
Rags: “I can’t evaluate anything based on your bullshit”
Bzzzt!
I’m sorry but that’s correct. Bob, show our audience the #1 answer-
DING!
(Audience): “I DO NOT SUPPORT. THROWING THE MIDTERMS. TO DANAGE OUR PRESIDENT.”
That’s it folks. Now goodnight. And join us next week for another episode of –
(Audience): ARE YOU AN AMERICAN!
(cue applause, fade)
But thus far, you are the SOLE and ONLY person asserting that bullshit claim.
Put up, or STFU, Little Bill.
6th time – I’ll go get the link for you once you apologize for the unprovoked personal attack. I don’t do favors for people who are rude to me.
If you think you can out-stubborn me, you haven’t been paying attention.
Edit. That’s NOT the correct answer.
Someone find an intern and fire them.
Now where is my Mango smoothie?
This is so illuminating. You want something SO bad but your ego won’t let you apologize for your unprovoked attack.
I played this game with my dog last weekend and even be figured it out. He still chases his own tail, Rags. Don’t let him outwit you.
What we’ve demonstrated…again…is that you’re just a lying POS.
I LOVE outing you T-rump suckers…!!!
I’m really tired of the T-rump thingie.
We’ve concluding our demonstration.
Fen was lying. Simple as that.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/04/never-trumpers-should-not-support-unserious-challengers/
One of the major divides among those who took up the “Never Trump” banner in 2016 has only sharpened since then: between those who could live with empowering liberal Democrats in order to defeat Trumpism within the Republican party and the conservative movement, and those who could not. The former group includes people such as Bill Kristol, Tom Nichols, Charlie Sykes, Rick Wilson, and Tim Miller — all people I respect, all of whom I’ve disagreed with on this point on Twitter. Let’s explore three immediate, practical questions.
“He suggests that during the eight years of the Obama presidency, liberals convinced themselves that they were morally and intellectually superior to conservatives…”
He says “liberal” but he means leftist. And it has been going on a lot longer than for eight years: there has never been a time when leftists did not think this of themselves.