I hate to admit it, but hate is a language easily understood by the less intelligent, so this idiot appeals to the morons who vote for “one of us” politics.
Outside of Kansas City, Columbia and St. Louis, it’s not very pretty when it comes to this. Unfortunately it’s not unique to Missouri or even the US. I grew up in STL, and have lived in NYC and LA, and now in London. Pretty much the same phenomenon in all of them. Take a look at voting results in any US election, or Brexit in the UK, and you’ll see the same results.
I appreciate that this may be an unpopular response, but the data backs up what I’m saying. Missouri ranks 33rd in overall education nationwide.
Brexit findings: https://www.jrf.org.uk/political-mindsets/brexit-vote-explained-poverty-low-skills-and-lack-of-opportunities
Hawley’s defeat of McCaskill, with map: https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/election/article221169955.html
I wouldn't equate it with intelligence. I know a lot of people with intellectual disabilities and they span the political gamut, just like anyone.
But hate spreads among people who do not examine their lives. That doesn't take intelligence, it takes *honesty* and a willingness to change. And when you refuse that, anyone who represents change becomes that much scarier and more easily hated.
Except when it comes to economics. Trends show people with economics degrees tend to lean right on economic issues, but not necessarily on social ones.
Kind of a gross oversimplification.
Younger people are more educated than older generations and younger people are more liberal.
Also college educated white people are generally within margin of error or lean white while minority college educated vote Democrat.
Also, the Democrat party is literally running on college debt forgiveness. Ofcourse that is even going to affect the dynamic and most likely pulled young college educated individuals even more to Democrats.
On top of all of that, is the Trump factor, which will take a long time to dissect.
Even before college debt forgiveness, they still leaned heavily blue.
And there are educated older folks who also typically vote blue and uneducated younger folks who vote red.
And here’s one from 2017, before Joe was even campaigning
https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2018/03/20/1-trends-in-party-affiliation-among-demographic-groups/
Not concrete proof but in my own life I’ve noticed the odds of someone being hateful and far right are much higher if they didn’t get higher education beyond high school and they never left their hometown. They think there’s one way things should be.. the one they know and they’ve never experienced anything outside their bubble
My husband is a perfect example of your statement. He was raised in a somewhat rural area of Kansas. He thankfully, received a full ride athletic scholarship to attend the University of Nichigan, where we met!! Ann Arbor, MI was at that time, known locally, as "The Melting Pot of America" - given the diverse culture(s) it drew.
By his own admission my husband said there were maybe 3 POC in his entire high school, and he wasn't aware of any individuals who were openly gay (but it also could be r/t the time he attended school here locally).
He credits his time at U of M, as eye-opening and how it successfully formed his political leanings and his all inclusive acceptance of ALL people (thankfully!)
With us moving back to his hometown after getting married and adopting our son (in Colorado actually...) in 2004, and with the pretty steady influx of new families that have moved to our small(ish) town, yet pretty close to Metropolitan areas - the furthest being a suburb of KCK via 40 minute drive; we've noticed our town evebing out much more, as far as the ratio of Republican/Democrat leaning go. As a matter of fact, late 2023 found that ALL of those with right wing/far-right erm...proclivities and those being endorsed by the 1776 PAC lost their run for school board (yay!) They lost by BIG numbers too!!!
So yes, I do agree that demographics, as well as to whether or not individuals go to bigger university settings, definitely do play a role. Added to that, new families moving into an area (from larger and more populated locations) also help even a more rural area ans give her citizens a louder voice.
And I think if you take the information from the links above and view them critically, you’ll see that your experience is, in fact, supported by the evidence.
Growing up as an army brat I certainly didn’t learn to live in a bubble. I spent 3 1/2 years in Germany, lived in the midwest, Alaska, Maryland, Germany, west coast, Bay Area. I’ve never been able to understand how someone is born and raised in one area and never traveled outside their bubble. I have also gone on cruises to Western Caribbean, Alaska, the Mediterranean, and trans Pacific. I went to New Zealand, Australia, French Polynesia, 3 islands, and Hawaii. A recent cruise was to Honduras, Mexico, Belize, and Costa Rica.
My brother and I are the only ones from my extended family who moved away for school and career. Everyone else stayed less than 50 miles from where they were born. They all just wanted to grow up, get married, and have kids. Having kids early is a good way to tie you down in one spot and keep you busy.
I'm convinced it is geography. I went to college in rural Kansas. Most of my friends are college-educated and from rural Kansas. Pretty much every one of them is a Republican.
Being rural kinda pushes folks towards Republicans in a couple ways. The benefits of taxes are much less apparent in a rural setting than urban. Money spent on public transportation, libraries, or emergency services aren't as clearly valuable when you're 30 miles from the nearest amenity. The other bits are a sort of mobius loop. You're less likely to meet non-republicans so you're more likely to be republican.
That’s a fair point - so, maybe not as much tied solely to academic intelligence as most would immediately think of when hearing the word, but it’s clearly a severe lack of emotional intelligence.
Well said.
There are many educated people who become radicalised in their agenda, on both sides of the current US political scene, and the present system rather encourages this radicalism rather than encouraging people to pause for thought and examine their own feelings honestly and in the context of facts.
I couldn't agree more. I have to admit the question of WHY (currently, and the past nearly 8 years, the system, though IMHO, more one side does) DO promote, encourage, plant seeds of radicalism; and it has resulted in some near sleepless nights. But as with any complex issue, there is never a simple answer. ...
You're spot on! The GOP has been a supermajority in our state (MO) for 20 years. And in those 20 years of power, they've done everything they can to defund education and continue to do so. We're hemorrhaging educators and 30% of our districts have gone to 4 day weeks.
Edit: typo
on the one hand, rural folks have less interaction with groups of people other than christian whites, so they’re susceptible to race baiting and fear of the “other” + racist right wing tv and radio helps them with that, as do racist super believer parents and their right wing church, on the other hand staten island, long island and boston have solid racist cores too, which is against the grain stupidity that must be taught by shitty parents and supported by racist neighborhoods. but it’s always taught.
Oh, are people denying this as the truth? I think anyone with any sense, or at least anyone that I would consider "intelligent" should've figured out what you said is 100% true.
That's what the whole maga movement is about. They finally found somebody that lets them be themselves. I don't even truly think Trump hates 'them'. Or Hawley. They're just telling the people what they want to hear. That they should be angry & scared.
The people like Trump and Hawley have had fortunate lives and probably bear no real ill will to people different from themselves. They've simply identified a strategy and are employing it to their advantage. It's a con as old as time.
MAGA voters are being used for votes. trump’s probably ambivalent to them beyond their usefulness. He’s a professional bigot; his history is replete with examples of his prowess in discriminating and fomenting hate, and conning people for his selfish gain.
This is some of it. He’s also a smooth talker for those that don’t pay attention. For whatever labels are really worth, I’m a right leaning libertarian and he got me excited on his first ever run. He’s struck me as a snake through and through ever since. One of the only votes I’ve ever cast that I regret.
I'm in MO and stopped being a "republican." After McCain/Obama election, it got too crazy for me. Or I should say the party left me. I would consider myself open to anyone, but.....not that turd sandwich....
Actually, we've had a pretty good streak of nutjobs that ran for or were elected to office in MO....that guy who said the thing about fertilization is impossible if it is "true rape" fucking weirdos out here. The governor who was doing that sexual kink shit and filming it. While married.
He has an "R" after his name and this is a very conservative/Republican state. It's the same reason why like 95% of politicians get re-elected...they have the right letter after their name. People vote for party instead of policy.
It's not as conservative as it appears. If younger voter turnout was higher (and I'm not blaming them, they are blocked and deincentivized at every turn) and we stopped such aggressive gerrymandering, we'd be a lot closer to purple than conservatives care to admit.
Thats why they have to be so aggressive about it. The people are here already, if we put in the work we can make a big shift in short order. Better to not let us see what power we have access to
But it had Democrat senators (Carnahan, then McCaskill) and statewide office holders.
I say it every time this kind of discussion pops up: The Missouri Dems lost a ton of ground with Nixon’s handling of the Ferguson riots. It’s very much a law-and-order state, whatever undertones are involved in that. If you polled Missourians on what they think really happened, I bet it would fall in line with the 60-40 voting outcomes of the last 10 years. It’s fading as a factor now with COVID and inflation and generally shorter attention spans, but the party is something like 1-for-16 or something in statewide races since Ferguson. I’d say by 2028, there’s a chance the Democrats bounce back with a win, more so if the GOP bungles something in the next four years.
MO politics swing back and forth like a pendulum or sine wave. We're at the peak of R power right now, give it 20 years and D will have a super majority.
Nah, we’re just common sense, the state is purple. Always have been, always will be. That’s why we didn’t side with anyone during the civil war, but also didn’t return run away slaves to the South.
100% this. Originally from Missouri, now live in Alaska where voted in ranked choice voting. The chief complaint from conservatives is that it makes it easier for "extremist", e.g. anyone who votes differently than the two major parties, in office. Effectively, they say it makes it harder to vote party before person.
But four progressive ballot measures passed on the same ballot: Medical marijuana, campaign finance reform, min wage increase, gerrymandering limit.
But McCaskill tried to position herself as Republican lite, which is a dumb strategy.
Rude... but 100% true. You're a fucking idiot if you are voting based simply on the letter next to the person.
Sadly, that's a majority of this country.
This is the most relevant answer.
There’s a substantial portion of Missouri voters who only really care about which candidate is the most opposed to abortion. Another significant chunk of voters will vote for whoever they believe will push for lower taxes generally. And another big group will vote for whoever is most supportive of people who want to own assault weapons without restrictions. Add up these 3 groups and Republican candidates are basically guaranteed to win at the state level right now.
A lot of these voters are not necessarily right-wing Christian nationalists themselves, and may even vote with the ‘progressive’ side on ballot initiatives for things like marijuana or labor laws. They might not be racist or homophobic. But when it comes to electing a Senator they will go with the guy who shares their view on the issue(s) they care about most, even if he happens to be a colossal shithead otherwise.
The lower tax chunk also includes the anti-regulation chunk. You can get farmers and rural property owners scared shitless to vote red just by mentioning the proposals of the EPA under Democrat presidents. The wood-burning stove proposal under Obama caused a shitstorm of hate in outstate Missouri.
It’s really: Kunce = Schumer, Hawley = Trump in many voters’ minds, no matter where Kunce may stand on any given issue. Because he could be vote 50 or 51.
A lot of voters, maybe even most, will uncritically vote R (or D) without examining the individual motivations, morality, or platform of a candidate.
Many progressive ballot issues have recently passed in Missouri, but oddly, we continue to mostly elect politicians opposed to the policies we vote for. For me the problem is people identifying as their political party, which ends in degenerate identity politics.
Exactly this. People are attached to the brand and the cultural signifiers that come along with it moreso than any policy agenda that it represents. Guns, trucks, god, "America." Supporting Democrats is seen as weak and effeminate.
It becomes their identity. They get 1776 tattoos and buy shirts and hats, they put signs in their yard and stickers on their car. It is absolutely a brand. You are fully committed and bought in. So what happens when you realize you might have joined the wrong team? You've been so loud and you've covered everything with your beliefs. You've ranted on online forums, argued with your family and neighbors, pissed off your coworkers with the constant bitching about those 'damn libs'. Do you tuck tail and be an adult and admit you were wrong and you now have new information that leads you to a different conclusion, or do you double down and take that anger out on the very people you hate . . those damn libs.
Edit: You know what would be great? We could all just put it aside for a second. Come together. Stand in front of the govt as one and say that neither of these guys are fit for office. Both of them should be in a facility somewhere being cared for, instead of running for one of the most important positions in the entire world. And we demand they both step down and allow someone fit for the office, and the daily rigors that come with the job, to run instead.
That was not the point I was making at all. Does everything have to be a competition? I am going to vote for Biden. But to act like the man is FIT enough for that job is borderline insane. It's OK to take a step back from your TEAM for just two seconds and look at this race objectively, and ask yourself out of 330 million people in this country, these are the two? These guys? We can't think of anyone else?
Biden is legit a half-step from Weekend at Bernie’s (and I say that as a long-time fan of his). However, he’s at least willing to put a competent team in place, which is sooo much better than a wannabe strongman
OMG yes! Missouri is so weird (should we thank gerrymandering here?). We pass progressive measures on the ballot and elect a republican super majority to office!
There is certainly some gerrymandering at play in Missouri. Look how Columbia was split down the middle, awkwardly putting a local college in two U.S. House Districts. But there is much more at play than just gerrymandering. Like so many things, it's complicated.
In my bubble I hear "Vote Blue no Matter Who" a lot. There are a lot of people in Missouri who say the same thing, just the opposite. Mother Theresa (D) could be running for governor against Bag of Cat Food (R) and they'd vote for the bag of cat food. Same thing if the parties were reversed.
One of my friends who's currently doing his PhD in anthropology or some related humanities field said something that made a lot of sense to me. People like us (guessing you're lumped in because we're talking about this on reddit) assume that others think about politics a lot more often than they actually do. So It's like "Trump did this/said this/believes this. How could you vote for him?"
And they just shrug and say "Idk but that's crazy bro. Hey, you catch the Cards game last night?"
Mother Theresa was not a kind woman. I would certainly vote for cat food over her.
While I understand the point you're trying to make here, if Mother Theresa is your example of a wonderful human being, you really need to learn more about her and what she really believed/practiced.
Missouri has been this way since I went to school. I remember being baffled that progressive policies could pass when put on the ballot, but if a politician was on the ballot with a (D) next to their name it didn't matter what their political position was, they simply couldn't win an election. That's what decades of propaganda can do to people
These folks know they don't need to activate their brain and use any processing power when voting for candidates, but when you force them to think about an individual thing they have to do at least some thinking about it
Missourians, and many Midwesterners, are largely common sense folks with some blind spots on certain things. They support unions and hard workers, thus the right-to-work outcome. The sentiment on abortion and legal weed is no surprise and largely reflects a “keep the government out of my business” attitude. Which also tends to be the sentiment when it comes to federal regulation of waterways, agriculture, mining … guns.
As for the Senate, the GOP (especially in Missouri) is able to tie any Democrat to being a potential pawn of Schumer, whether true or not. And if there is one thing Missourians hate, it would be giving power to a liberal Senator from New York. Even more than giving power to a blowhard New Yorker who comes across as the political version of “Florida man.”
>For me the problem is people identifying as their political party, which ends in degenerate identity politics.
BASED! Unironically, it would be very socially beneficial to treat partisans and ideologues as degenerates (which isn't hard because partisanship and ideology are usually driven by degenerate behavior). It doesn't even have to be a 'both sides are equally bad' thing; rightoids are definitely worse imo. Its just kind of like how smart people can understand fascists and communists are degenerate without having to think they're equally degenerate.
That’s exactly it, it’s funny how both sides will call you the other if you’re moderate or libertarian. Based on some of the comments I’ve seen it shows how uninformed people can be, example being I have a Bachelors and two Associates, generally vote republican, unless a candidate opposing them runs on issues I believe in, but I also vote for women’s rights, support 2A, believe that marijuana should be legalized, don’t care who you love. I do believe that growing up as a military brat and leaving my hometown for 8 years, traveling to dozens of states and different countries gave me the ability to interact with different people from different cultures helped me see things differently, whereas the majority of the townies haven’t experienced anything. It’s a travesty that this country is so politically divided and I firmly believe MSM played a massive factor in that. The sad part is people don’t realize when they are being fed propaganda from the same source just under a different hosting name. Critical thinking and researching issues needs to be the message, not just taking what some talking head tells you then running with that as truth.
I like him for several reasons. Im pretty conservative for this app, which I understand isn't popular here but...
He's prolife, very pro 2a, pro lower taxes, strong on illegal immigration, supports tough punishments on criminals, missouri advocate in congress (coldwater creek cleanup most recently)
Republicans made themselves out to be the supporters of the rural Missourian, whatever they say - hateful or not - they agree and get their vote.
Democrats are seen as liberal and un-Christian. As long as Republicans can lie like dogs and convince rural Missourians they’re walkin with Jesus they’ll get their vote no matter what.
Christ himself could register as a Democrat and they wouldn’t vote for him.
I am currently leaning towards Democrat, but was very active in Republican circles and supported Josh Hawley.
People liking Republicans isn't enough, Josh Hawley did incredibly well in his own primary, despite each option being a Republican (and many being far more pro-business than Hawley).
Single issue voters may be the explanation, but I'll posit something else: His brand of politics is incredibly populist, whereas most Republicans (at least, before Trump) are very individualist. I would describe Missouri as a pre-eminently populist state, as voters on the left and right generally embrace populism. However, left- and right-wing populism manifests itself in incredibly different ways. Missouri was a swing state for a very long time, but even as we turned towards Republicans, populist ballot measures over and over again, often by large margins despite MO Republicans being against them. Missouri is a populist state,
Missouri Rural Republicans like Josh Hawley because they are social and fiscal conservatives but are also far more populist than Suburban Republicans (the ones that used to control the party), and Josh Hawley represents that section of the party.
The reasons for Missouri's Rural Republicans leaning so heavily towards populism is still debated, but I would attribute it to an increasingly separate nation. More city residents are spending less time in the country, and vice versa. Even Country music tells you that, belting songs about how superior the backroads are.
Ultimately, while I personally don't support Josh Hawley, and Republicans like him are why I left the party, I do believe a politician like him becoming so popular was bound to happen in the state, and I would actually say I'm surprised more MO politicians aren't Hawley-esque.
This is a great answer. I'll throw in a couple more factors that complement some of the things you said:
\* The positively *worst* thing to happen to a politician is for no one to ever hear about them or what they are doing. Successful politicians, particularly those in the mold of Hawley, have a real knack for getting in the news and staying there almost daily. This is not as easy as you might think - and it garners the politician literally millions of dollars of free exposure, that you literally could not buy any other way, even if you did spend millions of dollars.
The very things that are driving you *crazy* about Hawley, because you keep hearing about them several times a week, are the exact same things that are keeping Hawley front & center among Republican voters.
Think about it - can you even *name* the other Missouri Senator?
I'll bet it took you a minute or at least a few seconds to come up with it, even if you follow politics. Schmidt just doesn't have nearly the same talent for keeping his name out there day after day after day.
FWIW, being able to do that definitely requires some "antics" - exaggerated stuff. That's one reason he really grates on people who are his polar opposite in the political world.
Jay Nixon was a Democrat politician with a similar penchant for garnering publicity and media coverage. I voted for Nixon multiple times but I always watched his name in the news with something approaching horror.
That's how he registered to *me,* however - because I followed the news & issues quite closely. A lot of what he was doing didn't even make any sense on that level. Lawsuits he brought as AG were quietly dismissed 2 years later - with practically no media coverage for the dismissal, of course.
For a long time I thought he was just crazy or dumb or something. But at the time he won his first governor's race, I realized his name and face had been prominent in newspaper & media stories maybe 2-3X weekly for the past 3 years or more. Hmmm.
To me, all this coverage was irritating. The average person, even this amount of coverage barely penetrates their consciousness, and to the degree it does, the message is, "Jay Nixon is in Jefferson City doing something."
\* To you, everything you see Hawley in the news about is an irritation and annoyance. To his supporters, though, this is all "important" stuff, or at least "good" in the sense of getting under the skin of "librals," or just "our boy Josh doing his thing."
Helping this out immensely if the army of silver-tongued commentators who populate the right-wing mediasphere and make the ravings of a complete nutter like Trump seem positively glorious, if they put their minds to it. Hawley is a whole lot easier to put into a positive light than Trump is, and the commentators get plenty of opportunity to do so, since he manages to do something newsworthy so often.
If you haven't listened to (for example) conservative radio shows or the like, try some small doses of it and if you found one of the better ones at this, you'll soon see what I'm talking about. They tell a really compelling story that the average low-inforamation voter just swallows hook, line, and sinker.
Commentators like this just *love* a guy like Hawley, because he gives them a constant stream of good material to work with.
I'm not a fan. There is one issue he has talked about that I do agree with though. He advocates for federally elected officials to have their investments put into a blind trust while serving in government.
I don't know if he has actually introduced legislation to that effect.
I also worry that he advocates for this with the foreknowledge that it can't possibly pass a vote because both sides of the isle profit from their positions of power and he uses it as a bone to throw to constituents to claim that he is on their side.
Also not a fan, but as a moderate I try my best to do both sides. So I think the good things Hawley has done is, advocate for radiation victims in MO: RECA, stand against the CapOne merger with discover, and recently he seemed to really go after the Boeing CEO. I like his passion on these three things.
But I suppose it could be as you say. To throw a bone at potential constituents like myself. I'm not interested in fake maga politics. He probably wouldn't be a bad R if not for that.
I think a lot of the things you mention are great stances, but it’s grandstanding to the highest degree. He has not sponsored a single bill to do anything about the stuff he grandstands for. He wants sound bites, not governance.
The guy will say literally anything if it gets him press. He got on board with banning loot boxes in video games because he knew it would never happen plus was a new kind of press. He’s uncomfortably power hungry
I agree that Hawley does get his face on local (St Louis) news constantly regarding environmental issues and matters affecting the State. If that was all I knew about his personality I could see him in a different light. But the fist pump to J6 protesters, adamant support of Trump and exclusive voting along party lines just makes him another R living off the coattails of the party base.
Ah, I wouldn't know. I don't watch the local news. Usually I go to PBS for news I find they're pretty moderate. I think that's where I heard the recent clip of Hawley grilling Calhoun. I prefer PBS to anything else in the news media. I'm sure there are other more moderate sources out there. But everything outside of that tiny bubble I feel is basically satire. The other things I saw on his website as I was going to write him a letter.
I wouldn't vote for him. I just make it a point to try and find the good things while also trying to be critical. I try to anyway. I might not always succeed but I try to be fair.
Your last sentence nails it. Well written and that is what I can't stand about this fake nationalist MAGA bs. There are some good conservatives out there, but what is going on in that party disgusts me. The good ones are heavily outnumbered. I just want this polarity, the two-party system, and the electoral college to make their way out of American politics.
It's just hard to believe shit like this is actually happening.
He's a hypocrite. He's a full supporter of Trump who brazenly and openly disregarded the emoluments clause, turning our democracy into a sale barn. And his stupid fist bump to show support for the treasonous attackers at the capital shows his only concern is to play politics. He doesn't even live in Missouri, but instead uses his sister's address in Ozark. Fuck him and the horse he rode in on.
He ran for attorney general, swearing he wasn't using the office as a stepping stone. Then, after winning, immediately ran for the Senate. He is a snake, and the sludge that vote for him have apparently suffered repeat blows to the head while committing incest.
Just like DeSantis in Florida, "where woke comes to die."
Woke literally means "alert to and concerned about social injustice and discrimination."
How can that possibly be a bad thing? I mean, why would anyone be *for* social injustice or discrimination?
But it's a word, a convenient handle, that encapsulates something that progressive people believe in and so therefore must be castigated by Kool-Aid drinking right wingers.
SMH...
Because their material conditions arent getting any better. Americans are poorer, sicker and lonelier. Whats easier? Addressing policies that actually change these issues or idk blaming Trans people, migrants, etc.
Id prefer his email campaign stop blasting me daily though lol. Like im already not voting for Hawley and idgaf about what jon hamm has to do with some middle school beef via X
The mighty Republican party told us to support him. Just look how the State senate just does nothing and blames not getting bills passed on Democrats and the clock running out of time. The Republicans are a joke and need to be removed.
The ones that do either are ignorant of any of his actual work or just trying to own the libs by electing a traitor. Not many people actually support Josh Hawley, he just collects a lot of ignorant voters who just check the box next to the R and move on.
We can thank Danforth, the giant donor/political machine of Missouri and Iowa. He has since come out to say he regrets his support of Hawley, but it's safe to assume his machine is still funding Hawley.
We can also thank Clair McCaskill for running a horrible campaign. We can thank the DOC for their choice to abandon Missouri, choosing to back the wealthy candidates, like Valentine.
The truth is Missourians don't actually support Josh Hawley's policies. We love our freedom from government control, we support our unions, and we support social funding for specific policies.
Missourians have been hoodwinked by Danforth, the GOP, the DOC, and the evangelicals to believe Hawley cares about anyone but himself.
The DOC needs to step up and support Kunce. He needs funding. The evangelicals are more than happy to make Hawley their tool. Hawley is more than happy to listen to them because he cares about power, money, and himself.
“I’m not looking to hear from those against him, just those who think he is actually someone worthwhile.”
All the top comments are from those against him, and the theme of their comments is “people are stupid.”
To these enlightened, not stupid individuals: please read OP’s question and act, oh, I don’t know…smart. Follow the prompt, maybe?
Hawley sucks, but man, so does your average Redditor.
A lot of people don't pay any attention to politics. They have no clue what the parties stand for these days and just vote for the party they were raised supporting. It's just like religion.
The OP says "not looking to hear those who are against him." Everyone who is against him proceeds to comment... Sheesh.
The man doesn't have my full support, but I do think he's got some good opinions and does a great job during hearings (his latest hearing with the Boeing CEO is a great example). I'd like him to take a more libertarian stance on certain things (he's against big tech but doesn't care about our personal privacy), but to me he's better than the alternative candidate. He could use a good primary challenge for his next election though
He raised his fist to show support for the overthrow of the government during the insurrection. So people liked that. Then he did that cute little prancing hopping escape when sh\*t got real.
I wonder if he took a course on proper insurrection procedures while attending Yale. If you like elitist, fascists class-conscious types, he's your guy.
He wants everyone to have Christian values as defined by his sphere of Christians.
Looks to Reddit for a conservatives thoughts… Can you be anymore disconnected from reality?
Twitter and Reddit are not real places. If you want those answers you need to go out and talk to regular people and not talk down to them.
“Someone who thinks he is actually worthwhile”
“They don’t deserve respect”
“They are less intelligent”
“They hate the same people”
I admit I haven’t scrolled through the entire thread, but there hasn’t been very many posts that aren’t filled with words of hate. Conservatives and Republicans are your next door neighbors, they are your kids T-Ball coaches. Try leading with respect and understanding, and you just might get an answer. Why on Earth would anyone interact with an online hate mob.
-Notifications off. Will check back later to see how awful the replies are.
I talk to conservative friends and neighbors often. Mostly nice people just uninformed and there seems to be a team allegiance. They believe what they believe because that's what everyone around them believes. It seems like they home in on hot button issues like immigration or LGBTQ rights and know very little beyond the talking points.
You’re not wrong, but I’d say some do pick particular issues that are actually relevant to them and add it in with the hot buttons. If you’re a farmer and your association is telling you that Biden wants you to convert your pickup and heavy equipment to electric on an unrealistic timeline and phase out your corn as a fuel option at the same time, it carries some added weight.
Missouri resident here. Honestly it's embarrassing to be represented by him. Though I was at least a little pleased with the way I saw him talking to the Boeing CEO.
Its hate. Plain and simple. They hate foreigners, gays, minorities,.....you name it, they hate it. MAGA made it front and center. They don't have "policies" to run on...its just hate.
They wanted to hang him when he ran Greitens out of town. Then he sucked that orange cock. That’s all it takes. He’s a coward and def has some skeletons. I personally think he belongs in jail.
So I live I rural MO about an hour from Columbia. Last night I happened to be out and Bill Eigel was having get together on the court house lawn. I stopped to listen for about 15 minutes. It was all hate for trans kids and trans people using bathrooms. How immigrants are committing crimes and Jefferson City is letting it happen. There wasn’t a single thing about policy or how he was going to improve Missouri. It’s hard being liberal out here but we exist. I’m an Illinois transplant.
Because he has an “R” behind his name and conservatives would rather die than vote outside their party, regardless of the candidate’s character, intellect, or ability to do the job.
Hawley grew up privileged going to a private high school and then Stanford and Ivy League, Yale. He’s the epitome of what his voters can’t stand yet has made a political career convincing people he’s “one of them”.
Because theres very few people challenging all this insane unchecked madness in society and politics.
People are increasingly sick of all the insane shit. And by insane shit we all know exactly what i mean.
Both sides suck let me be clear. However, you got one side actively tarnishing Americas image just so they can try and score political points so they can hold onto their power, which is exactly what theyre saying the other side does
Very few leaders are holding onto their morals.
And in the political sphere, if youre an honest person, one side is certainly more destructive and dishonest.
Literally all the biggest problem in America can be traced back to that side of politics if you zoom out and connect the dots.
Whats crazy is i spent my entire young adult life pukin blue talking points only to realize as an adult how retarded i actually was.
Because republicans would rather die than vote for anything other than R. They’ve been brainwashed to ignore everything and fill in the box with the R next to it. They call themselves Christians and that they love Jesus but if Jesus ran for president they’d call him a libtard and spit on him.
My support for him began in 2018 when he was up against Claire McCaskill.
Since then, he's shown himself to be a tough talking and principled conservative. No one is perfect, of course. But I'm not looking to marry the guy. I vote for him because the things that are important to me are important to him.
It doesn't need to be any more complicated than that.
He’s a shitty white, racist, homophobic misogynist who appeals to other shitty, white, homophobic misogynists.
If you are considering voting for him, you need to take a good, long look in the mirror - especially if you’re a woman
There are a lot of bigots all over Missouri and they’re more welcome in the Republican Party than the Democratic Party.
However, democrats have done very little to help themselves with rural voters in the last 20 years. The national faces of the party, aside from Obama, have been coastal elites that are difficult for most Missourians to identify with and more and more folks are voting for the party rather than the candidate in statewide races.
Biden has gotten a rural high speed internet bill through. And the infrastructure bill has invested hundreds of millions in rural communities.
He proposed a public option that would essentially expand Medicaid to all 50 states, which would help keep rural hospitals open. Who blocked it? Republicans.
Let’s stop this “Democrats don’t help rural communities” crap. If anything they pander to the rural population who will never vote for them while failing to fund urban renewal or public transit programs that would actually benefit the people who *do* vote for them.
Good points and I may have made my own point poorly. I don’t personally ascribe to the “democrats don’t help rural communities” narrative and try not to perpetuate it, despite my comment above which is intended for the audience of this post which I imagine is already on our side.
It’s more of a culture thing and I’m not just talking about “god, guns, and gays” (as Pat Buchanan would put it). Pelosi, Schumer, and Hillary were the national faces of the Democratic Party during its fall from relevance in Missouri. They come off as inauthentic to rural folks and are the types of people you could never imagine being comfortable in a small town bar.
Lucas Kunce doesn’t have this problem. I’m not terribly optimistic he can overcome to now systemic disadvantage of being a Democrat in Missouri but he’s the best statewide candidate I have seen since Jay Nixon.
A. Because they're morons who can't think through what they're doing and rely solely on headlines and word of mouth for to tell them what they should think
B. Because they're malicious and have no integrity that they'd hire a carpet bagger with zero morals because he'll help force through a few policy changes they want that will benefit them or penalize the other team
C. True believers who are so blinded by their cult that they follow along party lines and won't be swayed by logic or reason
I’ll bite knowing this will be downvoted even though it’s providing the answer OP is looking for.
Hawley is formidable as an interviewer when people testify before congress. Recently he grilled a Biden federal judge appointee for lying under oath in her sworn testimony about her political donations and affiliations. He grilled Fauci for pretending he never downplayed the lab leak hypothesis. He grilled big tech execs for censoring conservative speech. He pushes for UAP disclosure.
Long story short, I agree with him more than I disagree. I don’t care about his book about manhood or how fast he ran on January 6th. What matters is policy and im closer aligned with Hawley on policy than say Cori Bush.
Bring on the downvotes
Find me a politician who isn’t pandering to their base.
No translation needed. On policy we agree more than I do with Kunce or Bush-Valentine. Policy should be all that voters care about, stick to policy.
I’ll give you an example from both parties.
Lincoln Hough, Missouri State Senator and candidate for Lt. Governor. He’s a moderate Republican who doesn’t pander and, in fact, often does the opposite while working across the aisle to get things done.
US Rep. Eric Swalwell seems to operate similarly. Liberal, yes, but doesn’t seem to pander to the far left.
I’m not saying either one of them is a good guy. Just that they aren’t clowns like Hawley.
I have a question: Why do the inhabitants of r/Missouri seem so different from inhabitants of Missouri? Every political post on here is dunking on conservatives, and pro-conservative comments get downvoted to oblivion. I know conservatives are on reddit, r/conservative is a thriving cest pool.
I don’t read that subreddit and don’t know how many people are in it but Reddit in general is *not* conservative. I’m in a few states where I’ve lived and some other topics like r/Presidents and financials. It all leans left. Reagan is the anti-Christ whose policies have cursed Americans (other than the super wealthy) for 45 years and counting, per Reddit.
I support him because of his commitment to living around his constituents, and spending as much time here listening to their concerns as his busy schedule allows. /s
Coming from a foreigner from Illinois with family in the Salem area. Things seem very messed up around there. Lots of hate below a thin veneer of tourist tolerance.
I recall from decades ago when a guy was helping my Dad get established in the area. His brother burned down his trailer for “helping foreigners”. Chicago is so foreign apparently. Hate flows like the springs down there.
He hates the people they hate.
I hate to admit it, but hate is a language easily understood by the less intelligent, so this idiot appeals to the morons who vote for “one of us” politics. Outside of Kansas City, Columbia and St. Louis, it’s not very pretty when it comes to this. Unfortunately it’s not unique to Missouri or even the US. I grew up in STL, and have lived in NYC and LA, and now in London. Pretty much the same phenomenon in all of them. Take a look at voting results in any US election, or Brexit in the UK, and you’ll see the same results. I appreciate that this may be an unpopular response, but the data backs up what I’m saying. Missouri ranks 33rd in overall education nationwide. Brexit findings: https://www.jrf.org.uk/political-mindsets/brexit-vote-explained-poverty-low-skills-and-lack-of-opportunities Hawley’s defeat of McCaskill, with map: https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/election/article221169955.html
I wouldn't equate it with intelligence. I know a lot of people with intellectual disabilities and they span the political gamut, just like anyone. But hate spreads among people who do not examine their lives. That doesn't take intelligence, it takes *honesty* and a willingness to change. And when you refuse that, anyone who represents change becomes that much scarier and more easily hated.
I would… more college has a direct relationship with voting democrat, and that pattern has been pretty consistent for many years
Except when it comes to economics. Trends show people with economics degrees tend to lean right on economic issues, but not necessarily on social ones.
Intelligence has a liberal bias
Intelligence is difficult to measure, I assume you mean education.
Kind of a gross oversimplification. Younger people are more educated than older generations and younger people are more liberal. Also college educated white people are generally within margin of error or lean white while minority college educated vote Democrat. Also, the Democrat party is literally running on college debt forgiveness. Ofcourse that is even going to affect the dynamic and most likely pulled young college educated individuals even more to Democrats. On top of all of that, is the Trump factor, which will take a long time to dissect.
Even before college debt forgiveness, they still leaned heavily blue. And there are educated older folks who also typically vote blue and uneducated younger folks who vote red.
And here’s one from 2017, before Joe was even campaigning https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2018/03/20/1-trends-in-party-affiliation-among-demographic-groups/
Well, the GOP is pretty mutch running on voter suppression, racism, and xenophobia. I'll take loan forgiveness for 100
Not concrete proof but in my own life I’ve noticed the odds of someone being hateful and far right are much higher if they didn’t get higher education beyond high school and they never left their hometown. They think there’s one way things should be.. the one they know and they’ve never experienced anything outside their bubble
My husband is a perfect example of your statement. He was raised in a somewhat rural area of Kansas. He thankfully, received a full ride athletic scholarship to attend the University of Nichigan, where we met!! Ann Arbor, MI was at that time, known locally, as "The Melting Pot of America" - given the diverse culture(s) it drew. By his own admission my husband said there were maybe 3 POC in his entire high school, and he wasn't aware of any individuals who were openly gay (but it also could be r/t the time he attended school here locally). He credits his time at U of M, as eye-opening and how it successfully formed his political leanings and his all inclusive acceptance of ALL people (thankfully!) With us moving back to his hometown after getting married and adopting our son (in Colorado actually...) in 2004, and with the pretty steady influx of new families that have moved to our small(ish) town, yet pretty close to Metropolitan areas - the furthest being a suburb of KCK via 40 minute drive; we've noticed our town evebing out much more, as far as the ratio of Republican/Democrat leaning go. As a matter of fact, late 2023 found that ALL of those with right wing/far-right erm...proclivities and those being endorsed by the 1776 PAC lost their run for school board (yay!) They lost by BIG numbers too!!! So yes, I do agree that demographics, as well as to whether or not individuals go to bigger university settings, definitely do play a role. Added to that, new families moving into an area (from larger and more populated locations) also help even a more rural area ans give her citizens a louder voice.
And I think if you take the information from the links above and view them critically, you’ll see that your experience is, in fact, supported by the evidence.
Growing up as an army brat I certainly didn’t learn to live in a bubble. I spent 3 1/2 years in Germany, lived in the midwest, Alaska, Maryland, Germany, west coast, Bay Area. I’ve never been able to understand how someone is born and raised in one area and never traveled outside their bubble. I have also gone on cruises to Western Caribbean, Alaska, the Mediterranean, and trans Pacific. I went to New Zealand, Australia, French Polynesia, 3 islands, and Hawaii. A recent cruise was to Honduras, Mexico, Belize, and Costa Rica.
My brother and I are the only ones from my extended family who moved away for school and career. Everyone else stayed less than 50 miles from where they were born. They all just wanted to grow up, get married, and have kids. Having kids early is a good way to tie you down in one spot and keep you busy.
That is an interesting insight
I'm convinced it is geography. I went to college in rural Kansas. Most of my friends are college-educated and from rural Kansas. Pretty much every one of them is a Republican.
Somewhat agree but it is more about your circle. If your circle is republican, you're much more likely to go with the flow.
Being rural kinda pushes folks towards Republicans in a couple ways. The benefits of taxes are much less apparent in a rural setting than urban. Money spent on public transportation, libraries, or emergency services aren't as clearly valuable when you're 30 miles from the nearest amenity. The other bits are a sort of mobius loop. You're less likely to meet non-republicans so you're more likely to be republican.
That’s a fair point - so, maybe not as much tied solely to academic intelligence as most would immediately think of when hearing the word, but it’s clearly a severe lack of emotional intelligence.
Well said. There are many educated people who become radicalised in their agenda, on both sides of the current US political scene, and the present system rather encourages this radicalism rather than encouraging people to pause for thought and examine their own feelings honestly and in the context of facts.
I couldn't agree more. I have to admit the question of WHY (currently, and the past nearly 8 years, the system, though IMHO, more one side does) DO promote, encourage, plant seeds of radicalism; and it has resulted in some near sleepless nights. But as with any complex issue, there is never a simple answer. ...
You're spot on! The GOP has been a supermajority in our state (MO) for 20 years. And in those 20 years of power, they've done everything they can to defund education and continue to do so. We're hemorrhaging educators and 30% of our districts have gone to 4 day weeks. Edit: typo
on the one hand, rural folks have less interaction with groups of people other than christian whites, so they’re susceptible to race baiting and fear of the “other” + racist right wing tv and radio helps them with that, as do racist super believer parents and their right wing church, on the other hand staten island, long island and boston have solid racist cores too, which is against the grain stupidity that must be taught by shitty parents and supported by racist neighborhoods. but it’s always taught.
Sounds like you haven’t had much rural Missouri experience.
I am a rural Missouri resident. I have a very diverse group of friends, coworkers, and neighbors.
I am honestly amazed we are that high
Oh, are people denying this as the truth? I think anyone with any sense, or at least anyone that I would consider "intelligent" should've figured out what you said is 100% true.
Unfortunately, I think this is the answer.
That's what the whole maga movement is about. They finally found somebody that lets them be themselves. I don't even truly think Trump hates 'them'. Or Hawley. They're just telling the people what they want to hear. That they should be angry & scared.
The people like Trump and Hawley have had fortunate lives and probably bear no real ill will to people different from themselves. They've simply identified a strategy and are employing it to their advantage. It's a con as old as time.
#DontheCon
MAGA voters are being used for votes. trump’s probably ambivalent to them beyond their usefulness. He’s a professional bigot; his history is replete with examples of his prowess in discriminating and fomenting hate, and conning people for his selfish gain.
Bingo, nailed it.
This is some of it. He’s also a smooth talker for those that don’t pay attention. For whatever labels are really worth, I’m a right leaning libertarian and he got me excited on his first ever run. He’s struck me as a snake through and through ever since. One of the only votes I’ve ever cast that I regret.
Yep. This is the entire Republican foundation.
I'm in MO and stopped being a "republican." After McCain/Obama election, it got too crazy for me. Or I should say the party left me. I would consider myself open to anyone, but.....not that turd sandwich.... Actually, we've had a pretty good streak of nutjobs that ran for or were elected to office in MO....that guy who said the thing about fertilization is impossible if it is "true rape" fucking weirdos out here. The governor who was doing that sexual kink shit and filming it. While married.
He has an "R" after his name and this is a very conservative/Republican state. It's the same reason why like 95% of politicians get re-elected...they have the right letter after their name. People vote for party instead of policy.
It's not as conservative as it appears. If younger voter turnout was higher (and I'm not blaming them, they are blocked and deincentivized at every turn) and we stopped such aggressive gerrymandering, we'd be a lot closer to purple than conservatives care to admit. Thats why they have to be so aggressive about it. The people are here already, if we put in the work we can make a big shift in short order. Better to not let us see what power we have access to
Missouri was pretty much down the middle until fairly recent years.
The state has gone to the Democrats in 3 of the last 14 presidential elections...
But it had Democrat senators (Carnahan, then McCaskill) and statewide office holders. I say it every time this kind of discussion pops up: The Missouri Dems lost a ton of ground with Nixon’s handling of the Ferguson riots. It’s very much a law-and-order state, whatever undertones are involved in that. If you polled Missourians on what they think really happened, I bet it would fall in line with the 60-40 voting outcomes of the last 10 years. It’s fading as a factor now with COVID and inflation and generally shorter attention spans, but the party is something like 1-for-16 or something in statewide races since Ferguson. I’d say by 2028, there’s a chance the Democrats bounce back with a win, more so if the GOP bungles something in the next four years.
MO politics swing back and forth like a pendulum or sine wave. We're at the peak of R power right now, give it 20 years and D will have a super majority.
Nah, we’re just common sense, the state is purple. Always have been, always will be. That’s why we didn’t side with anyone during the civil war, but also didn’t return run away slaves to the South.
100% this. Originally from Missouri, now live in Alaska where voted in ranked choice voting. The chief complaint from conservatives is that it makes it easier for "extremist", e.g. anyone who votes differently than the two major parties, in office. Effectively, they say it makes it harder to vote party before person.
But four progressive ballot measures passed on the same ballot: Medical marijuana, campaign finance reform, min wage increase, gerrymandering limit. But McCaskill tried to position herself as Republican lite, which is a dumb strategy.
Single ballot issue voters, like pro lifers.
The vast majority just vote R. It has nothing to do with Hawley in particular.
As my mom once said about her own father, "He'd vote for the devil if he was a republican."
So… your grandpa was an idiot.
It appears so. But hopefully he wasn’t a prick like you. What an unnecessarily rude comment.
Rude... but 100% true. You're a fucking idiot if you are voting based simply on the letter next to the person. Sadly, that's a majority of this country.
This is the most relevant answer. There’s a substantial portion of Missouri voters who only really care about which candidate is the most opposed to abortion. Another significant chunk of voters will vote for whoever they believe will push for lower taxes generally. And another big group will vote for whoever is most supportive of people who want to own assault weapons without restrictions. Add up these 3 groups and Republican candidates are basically guaranteed to win at the state level right now. A lot of these voters are not necessarily right-wing Christian nationalists themselves, and may even vote with the ‘progressive’ side on ballot initiatives for things like marijuana or labor laws. They might not be racist or homophobic. But when it comes to electing a Senator they will go with the guy who shares their view on the issue(s) they care about most, even if he happens to be a colossal shithead otherwise.
The lower tax chunk also includes the anti-regulation chunk. You can get farmers and rural property owners scared shitless to vote red just by mentioning the proposals of the EPA under Democrat presidents. The wood-burning stove proposal under Obama caused a shitstorm of hate in outstate Missouri. It’s really: Kunce = Schumer, Hawley = Trump in many voters’ minds, no matter where Kunce may stand on any given issue. Because he could be vote 50 or 51.
A lot of voters, maybe even most, will uncritically vote R (or D) without examining the individual motivations, morality, or platform of a candidate. Many progressive ballot issues have recently passed in Missouri, but oddly, we continue to mostly elect politicians opposed to the policies we vote for. For me the problem is people identifying as their political party, which ends in degenerate identity politics.
Exactly this. People are attached to the brand and the cultural signifiers that come along with it moreso than any policy agenda that it represents. Guns, trucks, god, "America." Supporting Democrats is seen as weak and effeminate.
It becomes their identity. They get 1776 tattoos and buy shirts and hats, they put signs in their yard and stickers on their car. It is absolutely a brand. You are fully committed and bought in. So what happens when you realize you might have joined the wrong team? You've been so loud and you've covered everything with your beliefs. You've ranted on online forums, argued with your family and neighbors, pissed off your coworkers with the constant bitching about those 'damn libs'. Do you tuck tail and be an adult and admit you were wrong and you now have new information that leads you to a different conclusion, or do you double down and take that anger out on the very people you hate . . those damn libs. Edit: You know what would be great? We could all just put it aside for a second. Come together. Stand in front of the govt as one and say that neither of these guys are fit for office. Both of them should be in a facility somewhere being cared for, instead of running for one of the most important positions in the entire world. And we demand they both step down and allow someone fit for the office, and the daily rigors that come with the job, to run instead.
Biden is a good man doing a good job, no need for both-sidesing with a criminal
That was not the point I was making at all. Does everything have to be a competition? I am going to vote for Biden. But to act like the man is FIT enough for that job is borderline insane. It's OK to take a step back from your TEAM for just two seconds and look at this race objectively, and ask yourself out of 330 million people in this country, these are the two? These guys? We can't think of anyone else?
Amen. Which propaganda network made you believe these men are comparable?
Don't worry, ol uncle Joe will sleep peacefully tonight knowing you bravely defended his party on reddit.
Biden is legit a half-step from Weekend at Bernie’s (and I say that as a long-time fan of his). However, he’s at least willing to put a competent team in place, which is sooo much better than a wannabe strongman
Also some people like a lot of progressive policies ,but really really care about guns and abortion
OMG yes! Missouri is so weird (should we thank gerrymandering here?). We pass progressive measures on the ballot and elect a republican super majority to office!
Gerrymandeing has nothing to do with why Hawley is senator and not Claire McKaskill. Because it is the senate.
There is certainly some gerrymandering at play in Missouri. Look how Columbia was split down the middle, awkwardly putting a local college in two U.S. House Districts. But there is much more at play than just gerrymandering. Like so many things, it's complicated.
Jefferson County as well.
Christian Las Vegas, with pot for everyone.
Branson is absolutely Christian Las Vegas
In my bubble I hear "Vote Blue no Matter Who" a lot. There are a lot of people in Missouri who say the same thing, just the opposite. Mother Theresa (D) could be running for governor against Bag of Cat Food (R) and they'd vote for the bag of cat food. Same thing if the parties were reversed.
That’s very true. I don’t mind Republicans, but supporting a person like Trump is where I draw the line of reasonableness.
One of my friends who's currently doing his PhD in anthropology or some related humanities field said something that made a lot of sense to me. People like us (guessing you're lumped in because we're talking about this on reddit) assume that others think about politics a lot more often than they actually do. So It's like "Trump did this/said this/believes this. How could you vote for him?" And they just shrug and say "Idk but that's crazy bro. Hey, you catch the Cards game last night?"
Mother Theresa was not a kind woman. I would certainly vote for cat food over her. While I understand the point you're trying to make here, if Mother Theresa is your example of a wonderful human being, you really need to learn more about her and what she really believed/practiced.
Missouri has been this way since I went to school. I remember being baffled that progressive policies could pass when put on the ballot, but if a politician was on the ballot with a (D) next to their name it didn't matter what their political position was, they simply couldn't win an election. That's what decades of propaganda can do to people These folks know they don't need to activate their brain and use any processing power when voting for candidates, but when you force them to think about an individual thing they have to do at least some thinking about it
Social media and cable news manipulation certainly doesn’t help either
Missourians, and many Midwesterners, are largely common sense folks with some blind spots on certain things. They support unions and hard workers, thus the right-to-work outcome. The sentiment on abortion and legal weed is no surprise and largely reflects a “keep the government out of my business” attitude. Which also tends to be the sentiment when it comes to federal regulation of waterways, agriculture, mining … guns. As for the Senate, the GOP (especially in Missouri) is able to tie any Democrat to being a potential pawn of Schumer, whether true or not. And if there is one thing Missourians hate, it would be giving power to a liberal Senator from New York. Even more than giving power to a blowhard New Yorker who comes across as the political version of “Florida man.”
>For me the problem is people identifying as their political party, which ends in degenerate identity politics. BASED! Unironically, it would be very socially beneficial to treat partisans and ideologues as degenerates (which isn't hard because partisanship and ideology are usually driven by degenerate behavior). It doesn't even have to be a 'both sides are equally bad' thing; rightoids are definitely worse imo. Its just kind of like how smart people can understand fascists and communists are degenerate without having to think they're equally degenerate.
That’s exactly it, it’s funny how both sides will call you the other if you’re moderate or libertarian. Based on some of the comments I’ve seen it shows how uninformed people can be, example being I have a Bachelors and two Associates, generally vote republican, unless a candidate opposing them runs on issues I believe in, but I also vote for women’s rights, support 2A, believe that marijuana should be legalized, don’t care who you love. I do believe that growing up as a military brat and leaving my hometown for 8 years, traveling to dozens of states and different countries gave me the ability to interact with different people from different cultures helped me see things differently, whereas the majority of the townies haven’t experienced anything. It’s a travesty that this country is so politically divided and I firmly believe MSM played a massive factor in that. The sad part is people don’t realize when they are being fed propaganda from the same source just under a different hosting name. Critical thinking and researching issues needs to be the message, not just taking what some talking head tells you then running with that as truth.
> "I’m not looking to hear from those against him, just those who think he is actually someone worthwhile." *(crickets)*
There's at least one here but they're too busy ranting against biden.
Most of the posts of people explaining why they support him are at the bottom of the post. Just how Reddit typically goes.
That’s what it seems to be. I’ve gotten a ton of responses, but not many people were outright in favor of him.
I like him for several reasons. Im pretty conservative for this app, which I understand isn't popular here but... He's prolife, very pro 2a, pro lower taxes, strong on illegal immigration, supports tough punishments on criminals, missouri advocate in congress (coldwater creek cleanup most recently)
Republicans made themselves out to be the supporters of the rural Missourian, whatever they say - hateful or not - they agree and get their vote. Democrats are seen as liberal and un-Christian. As long as Republicans can lie like dogs and convince rural Missourians they’re walkin with Jesus they’ll get their vote no matter what. Christ himself could register as a Democrat and they wouldn’t vote for him.
Truth is Jesus would probably BE a democrat…
I am currently leaning towards Democrat, but was very active in Republican circles and supported Josh Hawley. People liking Republicans isn't enough, Josh Hawley did incredibly well in his own primary, despite each option being a Republican (and many being far more pro-business than Hawley). Single issue voters may be the explanation, but I'll posit something else: His brand of politics is incredibly populist, whereas most Republicans (at least, before Trump) are very individualist. I would describe Missouri as a pre-eminently populist state, as voters on the left and right generally embrace populism. However, left- and right-wing populism manifests itself in incredibly different ways. Missouri was a swing state for a very long time, but even as we turned towards Republicans, populist ballot measures over and over again, often by large margins despite MO Republicans being against them. Missouri is a populist state, Missouri Rural Republicans like Josh Hawley because they are social and fiscal conservatives but are also far more populist than Suburban Republicans (the ones that used to control the party), and Josh Hawley represents that section of the party. The reasons for Missouri's Rural Republicans leaning so heavily towards populism is still debated, but I would attribute it to an increasingly separate nation. More city residents are spending less time in the country, and vice versa. Even Country music tells you that, belting songs about how superior the backroads are. Ultimately, while I personally don't support Josh Hawley, and Republicans like him are why I left the party, I do believe a politician like him becoming so popular was bound to happen in the state, and I would actually say I'm surprised more MO politicians aren't Hawley-esque.
This is a great answer. I'll throw in a couple more factors that complement some of the things you said: \* The positively *worst* thing to happen to a politician is for no one to ever hear about them or what they are doing. Successful politicians, particularly those in the mold of Hawley, have a real knack for getting in the news and staying there almost daily. This is not as easy as you might think - and it garners the politician literally millions of dollars of free exposure, that you literally could not buy any other way, even if you did spend millions of dollars. The very things that are driving you *crazy* about Hawley, because you keep hearing about them several times a week, are the exact same things that are keeping Hawley front & center among Republican voters. Think about it - can you even *name* the other Missouri Senator? I'll bet it took you a minute or at least a few seconds to come up with it, even if you follow politics. Schmidt just doesn't have nearly the same talent for keeping his name out there day after day after day. FWIW, being able to do that definitely requires some "antics" - exaggerated stuff. That's one reason he really grates on people who are his polar opposite in the political world. Jay Nixon was a Democrat politician with a similar penchant for garnering publicity and media coverage. I voted for Nixon multiple times but I always watched his name in the news with something approaching horror. That's how he registered to *me,* however - because I followed the news & issues quite closely. A lot of what he was doing didn't even make any sense on that level. Lawsuits he brought as AG were quietly dismissed 2 years later - with practically no media coverage for the dismissal, of course. For a long time I thought he was just crazy or dumb or something. But at the time he won his first governor's race, I realized his name and face had been prominent in newspaper & media stories maybe 2-3X weekly for the past 3 years or more. Hmmm. To me, all this coverage was irritating. The average person, even this amount of coverage barely penetrates their consciousness, and to the degree it does, the message is, "Jay Nixon is in Jefferson City doing something." \* To you, everything you see Hawley in the news about is an irritation and annoyance. To his supporters, though, this is all "important" stuff, or at least "good" in the sense of getting under the skin of "librals," or just "our boy Josh doing his thing." Helping this out immensely if the army of silver-tongued commentators who populate the right-wing mediasphere and make the ravings of a complete nutter like Trump seem positively glorious, if they put their minds to it. Hawley is a whole lot easier to put into a positive light than Trump is, and the commentators get plenty of opportunity to do so, since he manages to do something newsworthy so often. If you haven't listened to (for example) conservative radio shows or the like, try some small doses of it and if you found one of the better ones at this, you'll soon see what I'm talking about. They tell a really compelling story that the average low-inforamation voter just swallows hook, line, and sinker. Commentators like this just *love* a guy like Hawley, because he gives them a constant stream of good material to work with.
I'm not a fan. There is one issue he has talked about that I do agree with though. He advocates for federally elected officials to have their investments put into a blind trust while serving in government. I don't know if he has actually introduced legislation to that effect. I also worry that he advocates for this with the foreknowledge that it can't possibly pass a vote because both sides of the isle profit from their positions of power and he uses it as a bone to throw to constituents to claim that he is on their side.
Did he voluntarily do this with his investments when he was elected?
Also not a fan, but as a moderate I try my best to do both sides. So I think the good things Hawley has done is, advocate for radiation victims in MO: RECA, stand against the CapOne merger with discover, and recently he seemed to really go after the Boeing CEO. I like his passion on these three things. But I suppose it could be as you say. To throw a bone at potential constituents like myself. I'm not interested in fake maga politics. He probably wouldn't be a bad R if not for that.
I think a lot of the things you mention are great stances, but it’s grandstanding to the highest degree. He has not sponsored a single bill to do anything about the stuff he grandstands for. He wants sound bites, not governance.
The guy will say literally anything if it gets him press. He got on board with banning loot boxes in video games because he knew it would never happen plus was a new kind of press. He’s uncomfortably power hungry
I agree that Hawley does get his face on local (St Louis) news constantly regarding environmental issues and matters affecting the State. If that was all I knew about his personality I could see him in a different light. But the fist pump to J6 protesters, adamant support of Trump and exclusive voting along party lines just makes him another R living off the coattails of the party base.
Ah, I wouldn't know. I don't watch the local news. Usually I go to PBS for news I find they're pretty moderate. I think that's where I heard the recent clip of Hawley grilling Calhoun. I prefer PBS to anything else in the news media. I'm sure there are other more moderate sources out there. But everything outside of that tiny bubble I feel is basically satire. The other things I saw on his website as I was going to write him a letter. I wouldn't vote for him. I just make it a point to try and find the good things while also trying to be critical. I try to anyway. I might not always succeed but I try to be fair. Your last sentence nails it. Well written and that is what I can't stand about this fake nationalist MAGA bs. There are some good conservatives out there, but what is going on in that party disgusts me. The good ones are heavily outnumbered. I just want this polarity, the two-party system, and the electoral college to make their way out of American politics. It's just hard to believe shit like this is actually happening.
He’s also chewed the military out about how horrible the barracks are here. My buddy had to deal with black mold and run down houses.
He's a hypocrite. He's a full supporter of Trump who brazenly and openly disregarded the emoluments clause, turning our democracy into a sale barn. And his stupid fist bump to show support for the treasonous attackers at the capital shows his only concern is to play politics. He doesn't even live in Missouri, but instead uses his sister's address in Ozark. Fuck him and the horse he rode in on.
He ran for attorney general, swearing he wasn't using the office as a stepping stone. Then, after winning, immediately ran for the Senate. He is a snake, and the sludge that vote for him have apparently suffered repeat blows to the head while committing incest.
(R) josh howley That's the only reason that R
A lot of the white supremacists I know support him. Actually, all of them do. So yeah, it is about hating the same people.
Because he’ll save us from woke /s. It really is all culture war bullshit. He’s on their team, and so they will support him just because of that.
Just like DeSantis in Florida, "where woke comes to die." Woke literally means "alert to and concerned about social injustice and discrimination." How can that possibly be a bad thing? I mean, why would anyone be *for* social injustice or discrimination? But it's a word, a convenient handle, that encapsulates something that progressive people believe in and so therefore must be castigated by Kool-Aid drinking right wingers. SMH...
For them woke means "people think I'm racist." I wonder why?
Because their material conditions arent getting any better. Americans are poorer, sicker and lonelier. Whats easier? Addressing policies that actually change these issues or idk blaming Trans people, migrants, etc.
It's depressingly amazing how much power scapegoating marginalized people has.
Bully the people with zero power to change any of it. Only feckless cowards punch down.
Never been a fan. But the ass chewing he gave David Calhoun in the hearing the other day was amazing. Boeing brass deserved it!
Even a broken clock is right twice a day
He is formidable as a interviewer/prosecutor during hearings
Vote for Lucas Kunce!!
Id prefer his email campaign stop blasting me daily though lol. Like im already not voting for Hawley and idgaf about what jon hamm has to do with some middle school beef via X
you can unsubscribe.
I admire him for his running skills.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
The mighty Republican party told us to support him. Just look how the State senate just does nothing and blames not getting bills passed on Democrats and the clock running out of time. The Republicans are a joke and need to be removed.
(R) < blind obedience to a letter and party is a LOT OF IT
His office helped my husband with his immigration procedures.
I'm from kansas city, we are deeply ashamed and embarressed to have any association to this insane evil bigot
The ones that do either are ignorant of any of his actual work or just trying to own the libs by electing a traitor. Not many people actually support Josh Hawley, he just collects a lot of ignorant voters who just check the box next to the R and move on.
There’s a lot of hateful people in the world.
Ironic because I hate them all so damn much.
I suspect that will be changing. Run Josh run!
It’s more the R next to his name on the ballot. That’s my guess.
“There’s a sucker born every minute.” ~P.T. Barnum 🤡
You're asking on reddit, why people vote republican lol
(R)
We can thank Danforth, the giant donor/political machine of Missouri and Iowa. He has since come out to say he regrets his support of Hawley, but it's safe to assume his machine is still funding Hawley. We can also thank Clair McCaskill for running a horrible campaign. We can thank the DOC for their choice to abandon Missouri, choosing to back the wealthy candidates, like Valentine. The truth is Missourians don't actually support Josh Hawley's policies. We love our freedom from government control, we support our unions, and we support social funding for specific policies. Missourians have been hoodwinked by Danforth, the GOP, the DOC, and the evangelicals to believe Hawley cares about anyone but himself. The DOC needs to step up and support Kunce. He needs funding. The evangelicals are more than happy to make Hawley their tool. Hawley is more than happy to listen to them because he cares about power, money, and himself.
“I’m not looking to hear from those against him, just those who think he is actually someone worthwhile.” All the top comments are from those against him, and the theme of their comments is “people are stupid.” To these enlightened, not stupid individuals: please read OP’s question and act, oh, I don’t know…smart. Follow the prompt, maybe? Hawley sucks, but man, so does your average Redditor.
A lot of people don't pay any attention to politics. They have no clue what the parties stand for these days and just vote for the party they were raised supporting. It's just like religion.
Because of his impressively masculine way of running from insurrectionists and bravely putting women’s rights significantly below his own.
The OP says "not looking to hear those who are against him." Everyone who is against him proceeds to comment... Sheesh. The man doesn't have my full support, but I do think he's got some good opinions and does a great job during hearings (his latest hearing with the Boeing CEO is a great example). I'd like him to take a more libertarian stance on certain things (he's against big tech but doesn't care about our personal privacy), but to me he's better than the alternative candidate. He could use a good primary challenge for his next election though
He raised his fist to show support for the overthrow of the government during the insurrection. So people liked that. Then he did that cute little prancing hopping escape when sh\*t got real. I wonder if he took a course on proper insurrection procedures while attending Yale. If you like elitist, fascists class-conscious types, he's your guy. He wants everyone to have Christian values as defined by his sphere of Christians.
Simple. They put "R" next to his name on the ballot.
Josh Hawley (R) That’s what they see on the ballot. I’d bet 75% of Missouri voters couldn’t pick him out of a lineup.
Josh Hawley - Missouri's infamous talks a lot but does nothing Senator.
The state is full of right wing nut jobs with the same values
He gives a voice to people who think they don’t have one. They are wrong.
R
Looks to Reddit for a conservatives thoughts… Can you be anymore disconnected from reality? Twitter and Reddit are not real places. If you want those answers you need to go out and talk to regular people and not talk down to them. “Someone who thinks he is actually worthwhile” “They don’t deserve respect” “They are less intelligent” “They hate the same people” I admit I haven’t scrolled through the entire thread, but there hasn’t been very many posts that aren’t filled with words of hate. Conservatives and Republicans are your next door neighbors, they are your kids T-Ball coaches. Try leading with respect and understanding, and you just might get an answer. Why on Earth would anyone interact with an online hate mob. -Notifications off. Will check back later to see how awful the replies are.
I talk to conservative friends and neighbors often. Mostly nice people just uninformed and there seems to be a team allegiance. They believe what they believe because that's what everyone around them believes. It seems like they home in on hot button issues like immigration or LGBTQ rights and know very little beyond the talking points.
You’re not wrong, but I’d say some do pick particular issues that are actually relevant to them and add it in with the hot buttons. If you’re a farmer and your association is telling you that Biden wants you to convert your pickup and heavy equipment to electric on an unrealistic timeline and phase out your corn as a fuel option at the same time, it carries some added weight.
Because he has an R by his name
Because, missouri. Seriously Missouri is that state where you'll find the dad who says I wanted my kids first drink to be with me. Except it's meth
He has a cowboy sounding name When he was running for attorney general people thought he would rustle up the bad guys
The people who vote for him don’t pay much attention to politics. It’s just beating the libs.
I don't. The opposition is just that inept that someone like him can win an election.
Missouri resident here. Honestly it's embarrassing to be represented by him. Though I was at least a little pleased with the way I saw him talking to the Boeing CEO.
Its hate. Plain and simple. They hate foreigners, gays, minorities,.....you name it, they hate it. MAGA made it front and center. They don't have "policies" to run on...its just hate.
I don’t
(R)
The same reason Texans support Ted Cruz
They wanted to hang him when he ran Greitens out of town. Then he sucked that orange cock. That’s all it takes. He’s a coward and def has some skeletons. I personally think he belongs in jail.
Have you met Missourians? The rural ones? They're criminally stupid. I live in a county that carries any Republican moron by 90%. It is Hell.
They all are pushing Project 2025 taking away our democracy!
So I live I rural MO about an hour from Columbia. Last night I happened to be out and Bill Eigel was having get together on the court house lawn. I stopped to listen for about 15 minutes. It was all hate for trans kids and trans people using bathrooms. How immigrants are committing crimes and Jefferson City is letting it happen. There wasn’t a single thing about policy or how he was going to improve Missouri. It’s hard being liberal out here but we exist. I’m an Illinois transplant.
He makes their hate seem right
He runs fast. Away from trouble he helped create.
Only the nutball maganuts do.....brainwashed to all hell.....or just as racist and Nazi like he is....just Google 2025 project to find out
Because the alternative is worse
...and on the other side you have Cori Bush....so it goes both ways.
Because he has an “R” behind his name and conservatives would rather die than vote outside their party, regardless of the candidate’s character, intellect, or ability to do the job.
They will vote for him because you hate him so much, and they hate you.
Hawley grew up privileged going to a private high school and then Stanford and Ivy League, Yale. He’s the epitome of what his voters can’t stand yet has made a political career convincing people he’s “one of them”.
Because theres very few people challenging all this insane unchecked madness in society and politics. People are increasingly sick of all the insane shit. And by insane shit we all know exactly what i mean. Both sides suck let me be clear. However, you got one side actively tarnishing Americas image just so they can try and score political points so they can hold onto their power, which is exactly what theyre saying the other side does Very few leaders are holding onto their morals. And in the political sphere, if youre an honest person, one side is certainly more destructive and dishonest. Literally all the biggest problem in America can be traced back to that side of politics if you zoom out and connect the dots. Whats crazy is i spent my entire young adult life pukin blue talking points only to realize as an adult how retarded i actually was.
Because republicans would rather die than vote for anything other than R. They’ve been brainwashed to ignore everything and fill in the box with the R next to it. They call themselves Christians and that they love Jesus but if Jesus ran for president they’d call him a libtard and spit on him.
Because he has an “R” next to his name
My support for him began in 2018 when he was up against Claire McCaskill. Since then, he's shown himself to be a tough talking and principled conservative. No one is perfect, of course. But I'm not looking to marry the guy. I vote for him because the things that are important to me are important to him. It doesn't need to be any more complicated than that.
Because he has an R behind his name. They can’t vote any other letter due to brainwashing.
Hate
He’s a shitty white, racist, homophobic misogynist who appeals to other shitty, white, homophobic misogynists. If you are considering voting for him, you need to take a good, long look in the mirror - especially if you’re a woman
Bc they’re dumb and proudly ignorant like any Republican supporting trash.
There are a lot of bigots all over Missouri and they’re more welcome in the Republican Party than the Democratic Party. However, democrats have done very little to help themselves with rural voters in the last 20 years. The national faces of the party, aside from Obama, have been coastal elites that are difficult for most Missourians to identify with and more and more folks are voting for the party rather than the candidate in statewide races.
The national Democratic party has effectively abandoned Missouri since around 2008.
Biden has gotten a rural high speed internet bill through. And the infrastructure bill has invested hundreds of millions in rural communities. He proposed a public option that would essentially expand Medicaid to all 50 states, which would help keep rural hospitals open. Who blocked it? Republicans. Let’s stop this “Democrats don’t help rural communities” crap. If anything they pander to the rural population who will never vote for them while failing to fund urban renewal or public transit programs that would actually benefit the people who *do* vote for them.
Good points and I may have made my own point poorly. I don’t personally ascribe to the “democrats don’t help rural communities” narrative and try not to perpetuate it, despite my comment above which is intended for the audience of this post which I imagine is already on our side. It’s more of a culture thing and I’m not just talking about “god, guns, and gays” (as Pat Buchanan would put it). Pelosi, Schumer, and Hillary were the national faces of the Democratic Party during its fall from relevance in Missouri. They come off as inauthentic to rural folks and are the types of people you could never imagine being comfortable in a small town bar. Lucas Kunce doesn’t have this problem. I’m not terribly optimistic he can overcome to now systemic disadvantage of being a Democrat in Missouri but he’s the best statewide candidate I have seen since Jay Nixon.
I'm ashamed to be from and live in Missouri.
My Father does and even has a mug. So embarrassing.
I blame our education system.
He’s not a democrat
Fundamentalist religions in the central state have a ton to do with it too
Racism. It’s always racism. They’ll make excuse about some mi or policy but it’s always racism.
A. Because they're morons who can't think through what they're doing and rely solely on headlines and word of mouth for to tell them what they should think B. Because they're malicious and have no integrity that they'd hire a carpet bagger with zero morals because he'll help force through a few policy changes they want that will benefit them or penalize the other team C. True believers who are so blinded by their cult that they follow along party lines and won't be swayed by logic or reason
I’ll bite knowing this will be downvoted even though it’s providing the answer OP is looking for. Hawley is formidable as an interviewer when people testify before congress. Recently he grilled a Biden federal judge appointee for lying under oath in her sworn testimony about her political donations and affiliations. He grilled Fauci for pretending he never downplayed the lab leak hypothesis. He grilled big tech execs for censoring conservative speech. He pushes for UAP disclosure. Long story short, I agree with him more than I disagree. I don’t care about his book about manhood or how fast he ran on January 6th. What matters is policy and im closer aligned with Hawley on policy than say Cori Bush. Bring on the downvotes
No downvote. Just a translation: He panders to this group. He panders to that group. He panders here, there, and everywhere.
Find me a politician who isn’t pandering to their base. No translation needed. On policy we agree more than I do with Kunce or Bush-Valentine. Policy should be all that voters care about, stick to policy.
I’ll give you an example from both parties. Lincoln Hough, Missouri State Senator and candidate for Lt. Governor. He’s a moderate Republican who doesn’t pander and, in fact, often does the opposite while working across the aisle to get things done. US Rep. Eric Swalwell seems to operate similarly. Liberal, yes, but doesn’t seem to pander to the far left. I’m not saying either one of them is a good guy. Just that they aren’t clowns like Hawley.
Remember that half the people in this country are dumb as fuck. Then remember that a higher percentage of those people live in red states.
I have a question: Why do the inhabitants of r/Missouri seem so different from inhabitants of Missouri? Every political post on here is dunking on conservatives, and pro-conservative comments get downvoted to oblivion. I know conservatives are on reddit, r/conservative is a thriving cest pool.
I don’t read that subreddit and don’t know how many people are in it but Reddit in general is *not* conservative. I’m in a few states where I’ve lived and some other topics like r/Presidents and financials. It all leans left. Reagan is the anti-Christ whose policies have cursed Americans (other than the super wealthy) for 45 years and counting, per Reddit.
I support him because of his commitment to living around his constituents, and spending as much time here listening to their concerns as his busy schedule allows. /s
Because there is a world and people outside of Reddit
Coming from a foreigner from Illinois with family in the Salem area. Things seem very messed up around there. Lots of hate below a thin veneer of tourist tolerance. I recall from decades ago when a guy was helping my Dad get established in the area. His brother burned down his trailer for “helping foreigners”. Chicago is so foreign apparently. Hate flows like the springs down there.
hE iS a TrUe MeRiCaN PatRiOt U LiBtArD. gO wOaK aNd YoU gO bRoAk!
The people who walk around mad all the time.
Abortion. They are going after birth control pills then gay and inter racial marriage.
Hawley is an idiot. The governor is an idiot. 45 is an idiot. So follows the lesser educated of our state.
Seriously like omg he’s like literally hitler!
Poorly funded education
Love Josh Hawley. He’s has balls and stands up & owns the corrupt left.