>>56193
I think it trends deeper than just a simplistic data vs people interpretation. There’s a lot of evidence that when a person holds a viewpoint deeply enough, there is no level of information that runs counter to it that can change them of that viewpoint, and that sometimes contrary information can even strengthen the belief. It takes a degree of personal emotional effort to even begin to change a person’s mind in that state.
You’re not wrong though - the media have deeply misunderstood the strength of belief that people have in the concept of Republican Party and / or Trump himself, and have been trying to change people’s minds through the more analytical methodology, such as using data, which has just been bouncing off his supporters.
I don’t necessarily think it’s entirely on the media however. Trump’s team have been running with indoctrinating rhetoric for a long time, and while the media should’ve been challenging it from day 1, they were never going to manage that. When I say “indoctrinating rhetoric” by the way, I mean stuff like “If the news isn’t positive to Trump, it’s fake news”, “If a celebrity doesn’t endorse Trump, they’re a nobody”, stuff like that. It’s purely designed to try and limit a person’s informational intake to a few sources, to be broadly non-critical of those sources, and to assume that when they make broad, overgeneralised statements, they’re talking about you specifically.
Thing is though, that this rhetoric has been ticking along in the background in a more minor form for years. The Republican Party, in my view, has been effectively eating itself alive since at least 2007 (probably before that point though as well). While the party has been undergoing a very significant political shift, its rhetoric of loyalty to the party’s ideals has created a real disconnect between the concept of the Republican Party, and the reality? It’s sort of like a rotten core at the centre of the party, where the views of those on the periphery (ie actual voters) don’t actually matter at all, instead being able to be placated by very broad and overly general language. “Small town values” = cheer. “Radical liberal policy” = boo. It’s fucking soundbites and buzzwords, and just sound and fury on the campaign trail, so people feel nice and happy ticking the little box next to Trump’s name, cause he’s standing for the same things that I believe in, when no one in that equation really believes in anything at all
(Christ knows why I’m actually bothering to write this out… I’m writing this on a fucking BBW porn chatroom which is a 4chan spinoff… caffeine and insomnia is a hell of a combo…)