‘He’s Not the Establishment’: Small-Town Voters Helped Trump Win
Trump’s message for jobs and trade resonated with people who wanted a change, Republicans and Democrats alike.
advertisement
The words President-elect Donald Trump shocked many across the world after America voted for its new president on 8 November.
Poll predictions, voices in the media and popular sentiment on social media all strongly pointed towards former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton becoming the first female President of United States. What all these seemed to have missed was a disconnected and silent majority, especially from small towns who related to what Trump represented.
Trump flipped many of the same voters that supported Obama in 2012 in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin and Iowa. He won over small towns by much wider margin than previous Republican nominee Mitt Romney.
The people who voted for Trump were the ones wanting a change, they say they were tired of the government the way it has been. His message for jobs and trade resonated with these people.
Even life-long Democrats who were adversely affected by the last government’s policies voted for Trump. Pro-democratic states like Michigan also leaned towards Trump.
People wanted concerns which weren’t addressed by previous government including free trade, immigration and other issues to be taken up and they saw it in Trump.
Rural America seems to have powered Trump to a win. And these small-town voters were the ones who weren’t reflected in all the popular predictions, making Trump’s win a highly shocking one.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)