Another of your excellent pieces, Caren.

In the last 24 hours I read /saw 2 things that, once again explain a lot about Trump’s support and your absolutely correct recommendation to “ do your own research”
1. An article in the NYT: The Republican Party enjoys support from a significant percentage of the uneducated population. I add the obvious point, that education fosters critical thinking skills.
2. The recent episode of the series “Billions”( yes, I know, but it IS entertaining to watch):
A potential presidential campaign manager says that the successful candidate will simultaneously appeal to TWO main “needs” in a particular voter’s brain:
(i) they see the candidate as “just like them” …raw, out there, kicking butt to the establishment(swamp), etc,etc. Therefore if that candidate can become president, so can anyone in that pack of voters. So of course, blindly support that candidate.

The same reason applies (it came up , I think, in the previous season of Billions…go figure) about why those voters don’t want higher taxes for the wealthy or government health care or other programs. When that voter becomes “Rich” like the candidate, they won’t want higher taxes etc either…
Sigh

(ii) At the very same time this voter group also sees the candidate as something better and at a higher level than them even though the candidate is just like them (ummm). So therefore they are convinced that this candidate “has their back “and anything the candidate does, the candidate does to “help out” this voter group. Because for one thing, the candidate tells that voter group that it as all for them and if the candidate says it, it has to be true.

Depressing beyond words.