A Professor of Psychological Studies has figured out what Hillary Clinton and many Democrats have been baffled about for the past 16 months. Dt. Ryne Sherman says he has figured out why Donald Trump won the 2016 Presidential election, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Sherman says it had nothing to do with fake news, or the Russians, or sexism. He says Trump just did a better job of expressing personal values that people could identify with.
"I think what we saw during the election was that Donald Trump appealed to the values of a key demographic in the key states," he told News Radio 1200 WOAI.
And then, when national media figures blasted Trump, he could say that it wasn't him that was being criticized, it was not him, but 'your values' which are being ridiculed by 'the elites.'
"The language that he used, the way he talked, made people think, I like the way he talks, he's one of us, and people like people who are like them."
Sherman says your average Trump supporter is 'low in altruism and high in power, commerce, and tradition.' So he says those were the values the Trump talked about on the campaign trail and still talks about at his rallies.
"Those who supported Trump more were likely to say 'welfare programs just encourage people to be lazy,' or 'people who are poor just need to work harder,' or 'in life, winning is the only thing that matters'," Sherman said. "On the other hand, people who did not support Trump were more likely to say, 'raising the minimum wage is a good idea,' or 'building relationships is more important than building profit'."
Sherman rejects suggestions that social media was a key to Trump's victory, pointing out that 'fake news' has been making the rounds on social media since before Barack Obama was elected.
"Everybody is using social media outlets," he said. "When Barack Obama won, he was using the exact same kind of social media outlets to get access to voters as well."
And Sherman says Trump has become masterful at communicating the sorts of values that his voters can agree with. He says Trump's ability to communicate one on one with voters is under appreciated, and could easily help Trump win re-election in 2020.