Why are straight white men such a strongly Republican voter bloc?

[YoungDemCA]

According to this link (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/16/us/politics/gay-vote-seen-as-crucial-in-obamas-victory.html?_r=0), Obama won 76 percent of the LGBT community's votes in 2012.

According to this link (http://feministing.com/2012/11/12/race-and-the-gender-gap-white-women-supported-romney-by-56-to-42-percent/), Obama's single-best voter bloc was black women, winning a whopping 96 percent of their votes. White men were Romney's fourth-best group, and he won 62 percent of their votes (compared to 47 percent of the nation's votes as a whole).

I imagine Romney did even better among straight white men than he did among white men as a whole. The question I pose is simply this-why are straight white men voting for the Republican Party en masse? Surely straight white men are just as progressive as anyone else? (After all, I learned on a progressive site that there is no such thing as white privilege or male privilege-or straight privilege, for that matter. )

[unblock]

1. simple, that's the one demographic republicans actually attempt to appeal to

mostly in the negative sense, by running down gays, non-whites, and women.

but a lot of people vote simply and instinctively based on "which party is most like me" or "which party do i identify with" and it's easy for straight white men to identify with a party of and for straight white men.

[ismnotwasm]

2. I think it relates somewhat to your other thread

Political platforms aside, at it's core, Conservatism means stasis, unchanging, solid values

Liberalism means examining options, being open to change, in fact encouraging it when it's the right thing to do.

When you look at party platforms, and sort out the verbiage, this is what you'll find. Straight white men have been in power in western nations for a long time, and before that colonialized a lot of the east.

So now change is happening at a rapid rate, and many men are unprepared to deal with it, so spout of 'family values' and the like-- not understanding that even the definition of family is changing.

Politics are fear driven, but much more on the conservative side, because people are constantly 'othered'-- blacks, women, Latinos, Gays, Etc. Once someone is 'Othered' they are not seen as fully human and are excluded from reasonable discussion--- the only wish is for control.

[rock]

3. None of those characteristics make them smart

!

[Downwinder]

5. What are the demographics of sports fans?

[geek tragedy]

6. because the Republican party is a white nationalist party that also

hates women's rights and hates GLBT people, thus drawing the homophobe vote.

Also, the Democratic party is the party of people of color, GLBT Americans, and women's rights, so that drives a number of the SWM into the arms of the Republican party.

[theHandpuppet]

7. Because it's the party that supports the status quo...

Which has always been to the favor of straight white males. That particular Republican demographic views the world in terms of elementary math. Ergo, you can't grant something to anyone else -- even an abstract concept -- without subtracting it from your pile. And they don't like to share.

[seabeyond]

8. really waht i see? it is the manly mans party. that simple.

they do not have to have guns. they do not have to go to church. simply, manly man

[Flatulo]

9. I used to vote Republican until Reagan came along. I think I also voted for Carter due to his

sheer integrity.

Back in the day, voting Republican meant you stood for fiscal conservatism and a strong national defense, and not much else. Then Roe v Wade came along and the Rs got themselves all tangled up in the pro-life, family values movement, which was a turn-off for me, and I imagine, the rest of their shrinking demographic.

They've gone completely off the rails with the rise of the Tea Party and the endless push for tax breaks for the wealthy. I believe a lot of the current Rs, while still fiscally conservative, are sick of the whole morality play.

What permanently sealed the deal for me was watching the last 30 years of rising income inequality. I personally saw quite a few incompetent VPs get lavishly rewarded for essentially putting a viable enterprise into the ground with endless outsourcing. There are very, very few good leaders in the business world today. The current crop is the most entitled bunch of talentless brats to come along in many generations.

[theHandpuppet]

10. "Entitled bunch of talentless brats"

That's perfectly fits my opinion of the Log Cabin Republicans, too.

[seabeyond]

11. yes. the repug party was taken over.... nt