Mike Rowe Makes Great Point about Trump's "Uneducated Voters"

[Veritas]

http://dailycaller.com/2016/08/23/r...uneducated-mike-rowe-has-a-powerful-response/

An electrical contractor wrote to the 54-year-old host of “Dirty Jobs” to say that he finds it offensive when the media constantly refers to majority of the Republican nominee’s supporters as “uneducated white men.”

“Let’s assume that Donald Trump is indeed popular among white men who didn’t graduate from college. The first question is, so what? Is this information newsworthy? Obviously, thousands of journalists think it is.”

“To your point, the words ‘uneducated white men’ now appear in hundreds of articles about Trump. But if this is truly important information, where were these reporters four years ago? In the last election, an even greater majority of African-American males who voted for President Obama had no college on their resume. Maybe I missed it, but I don’t recall any headlines or articles that delved into Obama’s popularity among ‘uneducated black men.'”

“If the media didn’t care about the lack of college among black men supporting Obama, why do they care so much about the lack of college among white men supporting Trump? Moreover, when exactly did a lack of college become synonymous with a lack of education?”

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Obviously the reason why nobody highlighted that in the Obama election is because they would've been immediately labelled as a bigot...I don't think there's any mystery in that regard.

However, you have to look at how the statements are worded, there is a subtle difference.
"The majority of Trump's support base are uneducated white men"
vs.
"A larger majority of African American males who voted for Obama were uneducated"

There is a subtle difference in terms of how those phrases are incorporating people...or a difference in implication as it were.

Here's a simplistic example to illustrate the difference in logic.
55% of candidate A's supporters like pasta
90% of the Italians who support candidate B like pasta

In this instance, just because 90 is a bigger number than 60 doesn't mean that candidate B has more pasta eaters. It's failing to take into consideration that Italians only made up 15% of candidate B's support base...the other 85% might have hated pasta.

 

[cow451]

http://dailycaller.com/2016/08/23/r...uneducated-mike-rowe-has-a-powerful-response/

An electrical contractor wrote to the 54-year-old host of “Dirty Jobs” to say that he finds it offensive when the media constantly refers to majority of the Republican nominee’s supporters as “uneducated white men.”

“Let’s assume that Donald Trump is indeed popular among white men who didn’t graduate from college. The first question is, so what? Is this information newsworthy? Obviously, thousands of journalists think it is.”

“To your point, the words ‘uneducated white men’ now appear in hundreds of articles about Trump. But if this is truly important information, where were these reporters four years ago? In the last election, an even greater majority of African-American males who voted for President Obama had no college on their resume. Maybe I missed it, but I don’t recall any headlines or articles that delved into Obama’s popularity among ‘uneducated black men.'”

“If the media didn’t care about the lack of college among black men supporting Obama, why do they care so much about the lack of college among white men supporting Trump? Moreover, when exactly did a lack of college become synonymous with a lack of education?”

Mike must've sat out the last two elections where the "low-information voters" (minority voters for Obama) were such a big deal.

 

[iluvatar5150]

In the last election, an even greater majority of African-American males who voted for President Obama had no college on their resume. Maybe I missed it, but I don’t recall any headlines or articles that delved into Obama’s popularity among ‘uneducated black men.'”

I usually like what Mike Rowe has to say, but his comments on this are really puzzling to me and I think he's letting his passion for one topic (promoting the skilled trades) cloud his judgment on another (the reporting of statistical breakdowns among the population). I was tempted to respond to him on FB (he does read the comments), but by the time I saw it the other day, there were already hundreds of replies.

The reason there was no distinction made between Obama's black voters was because there was no distinction to be made: Obama got 96% of all black voters. Their college education was not a factor in his appeal. The same is not true for Trump.

 

[Cearbhall]

The reason there was no distinction made between Obama's black voters was because there was no distinction to be made: Obama got 96% of all black voters. Their college education was not a factor in his appeal. The same is not true for Trump.

That's what I was going to try to get at. It was obvious that the determining factor was race. There was no need to look further. The white vote is not so clear-cut.

 

[jayem]

The link is to a demographic breakdown of the 2012 election vote by various groups. It's from the Roper Center.

Some interesting data about the choices of voters with differing levels of educational attainment:

• Those completing some high school were 3% of the voters. They voted Obama, 64%; Romney 35%.
• HS graduates. 21% of the voters. Obama, 51%: Romney 48%.
• Some college. 29% of voters. Obama 49%; Romney 48%.
• College graduates. 29% of voters. Obama 47%: Romney 51%.
• Postgraduate study. 18% of voters. Obama 55%; Romney 42%.

Obama won all groups except college graduates. But he won biggest among voters at the two ends--those with the lowest and the highest levels of education. That's intriguing. I'd like to hear some reasons why.

Whites were 72% of the voters and went for Romney 59% to 39% for Obama. That's a big margin. But Obama's key to winning was women. Who were 53% of voters, and went 55% for Obama, to 44% for Romney. For Trump to win, I'd say he needs 65% of the white vote. Or he needs 50% of women.

http://ropercenter.cornell.edu/polls/us-elections/how-groups-voted/how-groups-voted-2012/

 

[cow451]

The link is to a demographic breakdown of the 2012 election vote by various groups. It's from the Roper Center.

Some interesting data about the choices of voters with differing levels of educational attainment:

• Those completing some high school were 3% of the voters. They voted Obama, 64%; Romney 35%.
• HS graduates. 21% of the voters. Obama, 51%: Romney 48%.
• Some college. 29% of voters. Obama 49%; Romney 48%.
• College graduates. 29% of voters. Obama 47%: Romney 51%.
• Postgraduate study. 18% of voters. Obama 55%; Romney 42%.

Obama won all groups except college graduates. But he won biggest among voters at the two ends--those with the lowest and the highest levels of education. That's intriguing. I'd like to hear some reasons why.

Whites were 72% of the voters and went for Romney 59% to 39% for Obama. That's a big margin. But Obama's key to winning was women. Who were 53% of voters, and went 55% for Obama, to 44% for Romney. For Trump to win, I'd say he needs 65% of the white vote. Or he needs 50% of women.

http://ropercenter.cornell.edu/polls/us-elections/how-groups-voted/how-groups-voted-2012/

Facts can be pretty boring, you know. But they can be illuminating as well.

I think America could do a great deal to improve the opportunities in the skill trades. Unions and business could co-partner more in training rather than simply being adversaries. But I don't see either major candidate with a plan.

 

[Thunder Peel]

The media has a long history of painting Republicans as gun-totting rednecks with no education. I've always found that funny, especially since I know many of them who are doctors, nurses, lawyers, police officers, teachers and entrepreneurs. They can give me reasonable arguments as to why they vote the way they do and why they believe what they believe.

Mike Rowe's a sharp guy and I like a lot of what he says. The media will always try to make the Democrats look smart and the Republicans look dumb. No one should be surprised by this.

 

[Paulos23]

I think America could do a great deal to improve the opportunities in the skill trades. Unions and business could co-partner more in training rather than simply being adversaries. But I don't see either major candidate with a plan.

True, we need to bring back the image of the gentleman craftsman to promote trades. This image of being under educated is both incorrect and hurtful.

That said, Trump has screwed to many labor unions for them to trust them.

 

[cow451]

The media has a long history of painting Republicans as gun-totting rednecks with no education. I've always found that funny, especially since I know many of them who are doctors, nurses, lawyers, police officers, teachers and entrepreneurs. They can give me reasonable arguments as to why they vote the way they do and why they believe what they believe.

Mike Rowe's a sharp guy and I like a lot of what he says. The media will always try to make the Democrats look smart and the Republicans look dumb. No one should be surprised by this.

It's good that the Republicans no longer have to rely on the media to craft their "dumb" image.

 

[J Cord]

http://dailycaller.com/2016/08/23/r...uneducated-mike-rowe-has-a-powerful-response/

An electrical contractor wrote to the 54-year-old host of “Dirty Jobs” to say that he finds it offensive when the media constantly refers to majority of the Republican nominee’s supporters as “uneducated white men.”

“Let’s assume that Donald Trump is indeed popular among white men who didn’t graduate from college. The first question is, so what? Is this information newsworthy? Obviously, thousands of journalists think it is.”

“To your point, the words ‘uneducated white men’ now appear in hundreds of articles about Trump. But if this is truly important information, where were these reporters four years ago? In the last election, an even greater majority of African-American males who voted for President Obama had no college on their resume. Maybe I missed it, but I don’t recall any headlines or articles that delved into Obama’s popularity among ‘uneducated black men.'”

“If the media didn’t care about the lack of college among black men supporting Obama, why do they care so much about the lack of college among white men supporting Trump? Moreover, when exactly did a lack of college become synonymous with a lack of education?”

Because uneducated white males is Trump's *only* significant demographic. That's newsworthy. You can look here, this is from June, so Trump's numbers are even worse today.

Obama had many significant demographics, including minorities and women.

 

[jayem]

The media has a long history of painting Republicans as gun-totting rednecks with no education. I've always found that funny, especially since I know many of them who are doctors, nurses, lawyers, police officers, teachers and entrepreneurs. They can give me reasonable arguments as to why they vote the way they do and why they believe what they believe.

Mike Rowe's a sharp guy and I like a lot of what he says. The media will always try to make the Democrats look smart and the Republicans look dumb. No one should be surprised by this.

Always blaming the media. As Shakespeare would say if he were a Republican, the fault is not in our press coverage--it's in ourselves. At the Presidential level, Repubs are losing 2 vitally important groups of voters:

1) Women. Who are over 50% of all voters, and over half of whom are voting Democrat. Especially younger, single women who are repelled by socially conservative rhetoric. The anti-choice, anti-contraception, anti-LGBT stuff has be extensively de-emphasized, or better, abandoned.

2) Non-whites. Nearly 30% of the voters. About 90% of whom vote for the Dems. And are especially concentrated in high electoral vote states. Donald Trump is totally demolishing the party's appeal to these voters. I don't know what can be done to get them back.

Republicans have to realize the 50s are never coming back. The country has changed culturally and demographically, and to win the Presidency, the party has to change too.

 

[brinny]

http://dailycaller.com/2016/08/23/r...uneducated-mike-rowe-has-a-powerful-response/

An electrical contractor wrote to the 54-year-old host of “Dirty Jobs” to say that he finds it offensive when the media constantly refers to majority of the Republican nominee’s supporters as “uneducated white men.”

“Let’s assume that Donald Trump is indeed popular among white men who didn’t graduate from college. The first question is, so what? Is this information newsworthy? Obviously, thousands of journalists think it is.”

“To your point, the words ‘uneducated white men’ now appear in hundreds of articles about Trump. But if this is truly important information, where were these reporters four years ago? In the last election, an even greater majority of African-American males who voted for President Obama had no college on their resume. Maybe I missed it, but I don’t recall any headlines or articles that delved into Obama’s popularity among ‘uneducated black men.'”

“If the media didn’t care about the lack of college among black men supporting Obama, why do they care so much about the lack of college among white men supporting Trump? Moreover, when exactly did a lack of college become synonymous with a lack of education?”

Thank you.

 

[J Cord]

Thank you.

It doesn't change the facts though, does it.

 

[brinny]

It doesn't change the facts though, does it.

It seems we disagree.

How unfortunate that you seem to believe that your "facts" are with merit.

Yet you are entitled to believe as you wish.

As am i.

 

[J Cord]

It seems we disagree.

How unfortunate that you seem to believe that your "facts" are with merit.

Yet you are entitled to believe as you wish.

As am i.

That's one of the advantages of being educated, and having a university degree, you have learned to evaluate information so that what you believe is factually true, rather than the Trump base's "it's on the internet, so it must be true!" logic we see so evident in threads like this: the-truth-about-hillarys-bizarre-behavior.

 

[PeachyKeane]

I think it I saw an example back when we discussed the value of polls. When we show that the vast majority of polls show Clinton in the lead, and Trump's supporters look at them, claim conspiracy, and say that Breitbart has a poll with Trump in the lead, so it must be right. That's where I shake my head and say "uneducated voter".

It's also when this group of people present articles from right-wing blogs, and YouTube and point to them as though they hold journalistic integrity, or some sort of authority. Or make a claim to "scientific proof" with a link to search results on Google Scholar of articles that contain some keywords.

Or those people who run into a thread, make a whole bunch of claims, and then leave before they are burdened with questions, or it looks like their argument is faulty. The number of posters on here who, when faced with evidence that counters a claim or argument, just leave, or announce that you're on ignore, or that they won't discuss it anymore, is absolutely uncanny.

The thing is, you don't need an education to know how to handle information well. You can pretty much learn how to do it on your own. I just don't think this particular brand of Right-Winger has any interest in doing that. This time, uneducated voters are leaving their mark.

 

[J Cord]

The thing is, you don't need an education to know how to handle information well. You can pretty much learn how to do it on your own. I just don't think this particular brand of Right-Winger has any interest in doing that.

Yes, it requires a certain amount of intellectual curiosity, and Sarah Palin proved quite conclusively that there is a segment of conservatives who are lacking in this department.

 

[brinny]

http://dailycaller.com/2016/08/23/r...uneducated-mike-rowe-has-a-powerful-response/

An electrical contractor wrote to the 54-year-old host of “Dirty Jobs” to say that he finds it offensive when the media constantly refers to majority of the Republican nominee’s supporters as “uneducated white men.”

“Let’s assume that Donald Trump is indeed popular among white men who didn’t graduate from college. The first question is, so what? Is this information newsworthy? Obviously, thousands of journalists think it is.”

“To your point, the words ‘uneducated white men’ now appear in hundreds of articles about Trump. But if this is truly important information, where were these reporters four years ago? In the last election, an even greater majority of African-American males who voted for President Obama had no college on their resume. Maybe I missed it, but I don’t recall any headlines or articles that delved into Obama’s popularity among ‘uneducated black men.'”

“If the media didn’t care about the lack of college among black men supporting Obama, why do they care so much about the lack of college among white men supporting Trump? Moreover, when exactly did a lack of college become synonymous with a lack of education?”

By the way, thanks for the reminder about Mike Rowe.

he's GOT to run fer president.

 

[cow451]

By the way, thanks for the reminder about Mike Rowe.

he's GOT to run fer president.

Well, it is a dirty job.