This is, I feel, a biased but fair summation of the supporters of the three major candidates in the theater of the 2016 presidential election.
It seems to me that Hillary supporters satisfy themselves with the surfaces of things and with looking good, asserting things as they would prefer them to be, disregarding things inconsistent with their preferred view. For the sake of a consoling ideal -- a woman in power at the White House -- they disregard the long pattern of value inconsistencies in the behavior of
this woman, in particular. Thus, her candidacy is considered, "HISTORY being MADE" despite well-documented evidence of the kinds of behavior her supporters would not want done to them, or want to be seen being that way, themselves -- excused because she is a woman -- as if all women were of the same character. It is the politics of privileged interest, disregarded ideals, and superficiality masked in the appearance of manifesting an ideal, at last -- a Woman President" (perhaps to set all the wrongs of men, aright? You may be disillusioned, I fear.).
Bernie supporters seem to me to feel things more compassionately, to be more idealistic and to value the value of integrity more than the supporters of the other two candidates named in this writing. A
very diverse bunch, they band together in spirit in a kind of tribal fashion or "Bernie Culture" sharing certain general values, however different they may be in other ways. For them, the failure to live up to professed ideals is a betrayal of those ideals -- an
issue framed in terms of the conflict between (a) selfish/egocentric interests of a privileged few acting unfairly -- to the detriment of a great many and (b) the greatest good for the greatest number, carried forth in a spirit of fairness for all involved. However, the tendency of some of Bernie's supporters to "boo the villain" during his speeches shows a certain, shall we say, level of maturity of some of his supporters -- even if it shows the tolerance and grace of the elder statesman.
Donald supporters are possibly beset by movie star fantasy-hallucinations -- the glamour of a familiar television face -- and so excuse many faults and verbal behavior that, had their neighbors behaved that way, they would consider them crazy, very rude, or crass, at best. There couldn't be that many crazy, rude, crass people in America who consider Trump's behavior and arrogance normal. Could there? There has to be another reason.
There is another population who support Donald: business people. Now, understand that Donald's business dealings have a reputation of his stiffing vendors for payment, underpaying, late paying, and that he has a reputation as a bully. What this says about his supporters in this group is that they disregard these behaviors -- which indicates that they find it acceptable: As long as you get the property built, the product to market, that's all that counts; never mind how many people you step on. It's the profits. Business is business; it's not personal. Unless, of course, it's happening to them.
Possibly, going along with, "TV familiarity", goes a kind of consumer behavior. They buy the familiar, especially if it appears on TV -- a familiar person who expresses feelings that are familiar to them: I speak of outrage and frustration in life. They don't know who really is on their side and are foolish enough to blame the wrong persons and situations. They may simply be too simple-minded to think through what they hear him saying, and simply rise with the tides of emotion at his rallies and TV appearances. They are like chickens voting for Colonel Sanders.
Bruck Bruck
The following article is written about Donald Trump -- but test its assertions in terms of Hillary Clinton.
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/donald-trump-s-real-ambition/
Post your comment, below.
