On the heels of his Nevada caucus victory on Feb. 24, 2016, Donald Trump famously said “I love the poorly educated.” As it turns out, he had very good reason to, because his greatest source of support comes from Americans with limited education. Ironically though, this obvious correlation has become the third rail of political analysis, because the risk of offending this particular subset of the electorate is now deemed way too high. As we watch the punditry clumsily walk on eggshells around Trump’s poorly-educated coalition, it’s easy to wonder if they remember the last 20 years of the Republican assault on reason and public education. In other words, why is the media so afraid to merely discuss the lowered expectations the GOP has explicitly stated it has—of its own voters?Have we forgotten George W. Bush’s immense pride in being a “C” student at Yale? Do we not remember Rick Santorum calling President Obama a “snob” for having the gall to suggest higher education as a national goal? Who can forget Sarah Palin’s embrace of the Joe Six Packs of America, or the congressional GOP’s refusal to prioritize climate change science ahead of their Bibles? The truth of the matter is that the entire Republican Party has applauded and orchestrated the dumbing down of its own electorate.As failed 2016 presidential candidate Bobby Jindal so aptly stated on the heels of Obama’s second inauguration in 2013, today’s Republicans have allowed themselves to become the “stupid party.”“We must stop being the stupid party. I’m serious. It’s time for a new Republican party that talks like adults. It’s time for us to articulate our plans and visions for America in real terms. We had a number of Republicans damage the brand this year with offensive and bizarre comments. We’ve had enough of that.”
Source: The poorly educated made a poorly-informed decision