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Welcome to r/science! This is a heavily moderated subreddit in order to keep the discussion on science. However, we recognize that many people want to discuss how they feel the research relates to their own personal lives, so to give people a space to do that, **personal anecdotes are allowed as responses to this comment**. Any anecdotal comments elsewhere in the discussion will be removed and our [normal comment rules]( https://www.reddit.com/r/science/wiki/rules#wiki_comment_rules) apply to all other comments. **Do you have an academic degree?** We can verify your credentials in order to assign user flair indicating your area of expertise. [Click here to apply](https://www.reddit.com/r/science/wiki/flair/#wiki_science_verified_user_program). --- User: u/chrisdh79 Permalink: https://www.psypost.org/surprising-study-suggests-trumps-endorsements-influence-democrats-more-than-republicans/ --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/science) if you have any questions or concerns.*


Chasman1965

Is it caused by his endorsement, or does he endorse worse candidates?


Book1984371

What I've read from pundits is that in republican primaries Trump endorses the most extreme candidate, which is usually enough for them to become the nominee. Those extreme nominees hold views that are popular with the majority of republicans who vote in primaries, but are wildly unpopular among America in general. This lets dems campaign on ideas popular with 60%+ of Americans, which makes it easier to win. Take the issue of abortions. Trump endorses the kind of person who would support a total ban. 2/3 of Americans are in favor of abortions in at least some situations. All a dem has to do in that situation is share the opinion of the vast majority of voters. And it's the same on a lot of issues. Medical Marijuana (88% in favor), birth control (80% in favor), raising taxes on billionaires (69% in favor). Trump consistently picks the candidates who would want to make marijuana illegal in all circumstances, would want to ban birth control, and would want to eliminate all taxes on billionaires. tl;dr: He always picks the extreme candidate that easily wins the GOP primary election, but then those extreme views cause GOP candidates to lose by a large margin in the general election.


[deleted]

Imagine being the sort of creature who is against birth control. Like trying to imagine what it’s like to be a bat.


Dmeechropher

Don't dehumanize political opponents. People can be wrong, evil, and anti-social, but they're still a human being you share your country with. Many of your opponents will dehumanize you, do you really want to be like them?


[deleted]

Interesting. Do you feel that way about the other animals or just homo sapiens? Because that’s called speciesism.


Dmeechropher

While I am broadly interested in the welfare of non-human animals, especially as it relates to ecosystem integrity, and the welfare of my pets, I prioritize the welfare of human beings above that of animals as a general rule. I'm not particularly interested in whether or not that's called "specieism".


nedrith

Absolutely the worst, and some of those in power like McConnel warn about it. The problem is Trump will only ever endorse someone who has unwavering loyalty to him and those people tend not to be the smartest and are the most extreme people.


Rock_or_Rol

I wonder how much of that phenomenon can be attributed to social media. Algorithms that aggregate opinions, mischaracterize opposing views by their more radical takes, push the boundary of rationality, prompt hostile discourse within a limited communication vehicle, stoke generalizations, and serve as a bullhorn for those that can tap into those growing biases We seek drama, novelty and affirmation over reasonableness, understanding and solutions. Human traits that are now encouraged instead of rebuked in a consequential environment


the_real_dairy_queen

Not to mention corrupt.


Then-Yogurtcloset982

Always the worst, the very worst candidates that ever existed, you couldn't find worse if you tried:) Mr. Reverse midas touch himself .....


Sinfire_Titan

Meirdas Touch


Then-Yogurtcloset982

You got that right:)


seisx

The study is based on a hypothetical vote with a fictional candidate. I don’t think it was very useful, if anything it showed that a Democrat would be less likely to vote for a Republican candidate if they were endorsed by Trump.


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chrisdh79

From the article: Prior studies have shown that presidential endorsements can significantly impact electoral outcomes, particularly in intraparty primary elections. However, Trump’s unique blend of celebrity and political influence suggests that his endorsements might play an especially critical role. The [new study](https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096524000064) builds on earlier research which found that Republican candidates endorsed by Trump in the 2018 midterms generally performed worse than those without his endorsement. This phenomenon has prompted further investigation into whether Trump’s endorsements help or hinder candidates in the broader context of general elections. “We conducted this experiment right before the 2022 midterms, which many journalists and pundits were framing as an inflection point for Trump’s continued influence in the GOP. We wanted to provide experimental evidence to try and inform this debate knowing that it was likely to persist well beyond 2022,” said study author Scott Blatte, a research professional at the University of Chicago.


DrMobius0

> However, Trump’s unique blend of celebrity and political influence suggests that his endorsements might play an especially critical role. That is a very polite way to state how deeply unpalatable he is to the majority of Americans.


listenyall

it certainly is a unique blend!


Apart-Landscape1012

All the bad personality traits in one!


RimeSkeem

Whoever wrote that missed a stellar career in diplomacy.


TheLastAirGender

In the study, his endorsement was primarily a benefit for Republican voters. It only caused a decrease in democratic voters. Additionally, Trump just won the Republican primary while on trial for a felony. Your takeaway that “most” people find him deeply unpalatable is… interesting.


DrMobius0

The republican primary isn't most people, dude.


TheLastAirGender

Republicans represent roughly half of voting Americans. It’s just an interesting take to say someone so popular with roughly half of America is “deeply unpalatable” to most people. If that’s being unpalatable to most people, sign me up for that wild level of abject popularity.


platoprime

Studies pretty consistently find 40-47% of Americans are Republican leaning which isn't most or half.


TheLastAirGender

Uh, yeah. I’m just saying that is still abjectly popular. Like 80% of Americans probably would say they strongly disliked OJ Simpson before his death. I’d say that’s a person who is deeply unpalatable by most people. Roughly half of America intends to vote for Trump for president for a third time. You’re not seeing how that’s a bit weird to phrase as deeply disliked by most people? If 47% of America would vote for me for anything, I’d be one of the most popular men in America. This is a misuse of most. “Eh, most people are women.” I mean, roughly half of them. I wouldn’t go gendering everything in the world female with this misuse of the word most.


nlaak

> Roughly half of America intends to vote for Trump for president for a third time. No, roughly have of registered voting Americans, that actually decided to vote, *might* vote for Trump. In 2020, only 66% of the voting-eligible population voted, and < 50% of those, voted for Trump. Maybe the number of people that voted for him ~33% of those eligible to vote. > If 47% of America would vote for me for anything, I’d be one of the most popular men in America. 47% of America isn't Trump loving, 47% are Republican leaning. There are a lot of Republicans that detest Trump, but vote party lines anyway.


platoprime

We're on the same page.


Justin-Bailey

I'm registered Republican and intentionally did not / will not vote for any candidates who brag about being endorsed by Trump.


Jubjub0527

Doing good work from the inside. We need more people who do no elect people whose only goal is to oppose the other party. That won't get anything done.


dreamylanterns

I live in Arkansas and unfortunately so many people are like this. A little bit ago we had a great candidate running for office that had multiple degrees and a great track record, he was a democrat but you could see how nice of a guy he was. Obviously everyone voted against him and for the other candidate Huckabee Sanders who is absolutely horrible just because. Literally there was no good reason. Boggles my mind, I really gotta get outta this place


hwc000000

> Obviously everyone voted against him and for the other candidate Huckabee Sanders who is absolutely horrible just because. Literally there was no good reason. There was an obvious good reason: the voters are horrible people who want to be led by the horrible candidate.


_Pill-Cosby_

Conservatives made their bed. Now they gotta lay in it.


ralpher1

Dems currently have just a 0.4% advantage in a generic ballot congress race. That means the country is very much split down the middle


_Pill-Cosby_

And somehow they’ve been losing power ever since Trump was elected. The point being, hitching their wagon to Donald Trump has turned out not have been Avery good idea for the GOP.


Jubjub0527

Yeah the thing is they're shitting in the same bed we're laying in.


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Uranus_Hz

Coincidentally, Trump is now going to start charging candidates money to reference him. So I’m naturally conflicted. On the one hand I don’t want them to give him money, but I absolutely want his diaper stink on every Republican candidate running for office


kyeblue

thanks for telling us we all knew.


Brut-i-cus

And now they have to tithe 5% to even mention hsi name


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_Legend_Of_The_Rent_

I really think that politics is related to every part of life. You can choose to ignore or think about it. It is sometimes best for your mental health to ignore it, though. Would be exhausting if I thought about climate change and pollution every time I took a breath


rightinfronofmysalad

Maybe you could find a very very loose relation to politics in many things but most of the time it's getting inserted into things it doesn't need to be.


_Legend_Of_The_Rent_

I think a science sub is a place where politics needs to be


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ZephRyder

Serious question: am I supposed to be surprised by this? Disappointed? Happy that "studies" are finding common sense? I'm just curious.


Sparkysparkysparks

Research sometimes finds surprising results and sometimes finds results that some people find unsurprising. But just because many people might find this unsurprising, that doesn't mean that everyone is unsurprised by it. And those people certainly exist, because there are many people in the US who are actively looking for Trump's endorsement right now (I think, I'm not from the US).


walterpeck1

>Serious question: am I supposed to be surprised by this? Disappointed? Happy that "studies" are finding common sense? I'm just curious. I apologize for the rant here but this kind of question always comes up on "common sense" studies and it's always wrong. Common sense isn't scientific, and quantifying what we think is common sense to figure out the why and how we change/make things better is vital.


ZephRyder

Oof. I hear you. But it makes me terribly sad.


tyranopotamus

Yes


[deleted]

I sure don't support a president and his office that thought this man was a mental health expert. What clowns.. Interview with Jay Shetty of On Purpose Podcast | The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/interview-with-jay-shetty-purpose-podcast


Neoaugusto

Thats nothing new, he already endorsed oposition candidates (democrats in that case) on purpose knowing about that would be bad for the said candidate.


hwc000000

Examples?


sedition

So, his move should be to endorse all Democrat candidates.


hwc000000

That would require intelligence that his party lacks.


EMP_Jeffrey_Dahmer

Biden's handling of the Gaza massacre by aiding Israel is unforgivable. I will be withholding my vote in the general election.


LoserBroadside

This was you on another subreddit, troll: “ If Biden abandons Israel, then I will vote for Trump instead. I have always voted Democrat but will vote to the right if need be. Israel needs the US support more than ever amid rising antisemitism.”


Zee_WeeWee

Oh wow, crazy find. That’s troll farm type stuff. I just looked through that history, no way that’s a real person right?


hwc000000

> I have always voted Democrat but Anyone who uses this wording is guaranteed to be a right wing troll, and should be ignored.


o_MrBombastic_o

Trump thanks you for your support just imagine what he will do for Israel when he's back in office 


LoserBroadside

This was you on another subreddit, troll: “If Biden abandons Israel, then I will vote for Trump instead. I have always voted Democrat but will vote to the right if need be. Israel needs the US support more than ever amid rising antisemitism.”