@Sakonosolo:
Actually a lot of people were saying not to vote for Trump because he's racist and/or sexist. Even with Clinton's campaign, the majority of the ads I saw for her were just playing voice clips of stupid shit he said rather than concentrating on his being new to politics and such. And yelling racist or sexist is also a lot of the the post election reaction to him too, and the people who voted for him.
I've thought a lot about the divide today and I think I may understand Trump supporters reasons for supporting him, even if I don't have the same experience.
Basically I think it comes down to this, but please chime in if I've got it wrong:
People think of what affects them and the people they care about before voting.
On Trump's side, it seems that people feel silenced by calls of "racist, sexist, bigot", rural America might be struggling for an acceptable quality of life when the economy has made an impact on the jobs in their cities, which leads to less support of immigrants/illegal immigrants "taking our jobs", trade laws giving more industrial work overseas than back at home, recent changes in government still ignoring their concerns, the highest percentiles are fond of tax breaks, etc etc. Basically, what most trump supporters are saying in this thread, is that these reasons and more are needing to be addressed because they feel their right to exist in terms of race, religion, gender, is mostly safe, so instead what is more important to focus on is improving their quality of life by focusing on the economy. Trump's comments don't matter because "he doesn't mean them", and he's the only candidate who seems to understand them and their concerns.
On the other hand, you have those who don't support Trump. They and the people around them have a concern higher than the economy: living diversely with respect and dignity and empowering others to feel welcomed and accepted as much as everyone else. No one likes being singled out over factors they cannot control, such as race or gender. No one wants to be made to feel as if their differences are legitimate reasons to be looked down upon. Basically, there is a need to uphold the basic right to exist, whoever they are. Once those values are upheld, then the economy can be looked at. When a presidential candidate based most of his campaign on making comments about vulnerable communities fighting for the same respect and dignity that everyone else has, then these people feel that this offense is the highest offense, and takes priority over the economy. Thus, those who do not share the same value that everyone must be able to live in dignity without attacks from the leader of a country is seen as racist, sexist, a bigot.
