Sifting through the rubble/data of the last election, it’s clear that a relative handful of minimally engaged voters in a few strategic states carried the Republican presidential candidate to victory. Often referred to as “low-information voters,” the popular narrative describes these members of the body politic as overwhelmed by the challenges of daily life, thus unable to follow events in Washington, D.C.
Trapped in low-wage jobs with little opportunity for advancement, the narrative goes, they are focused solely on immediate needs: buying shoes for the kids, keeping the old car running, paying rent, buying food, etc. People facing these challenges have little time to contemplate the nuances of American government.
What’s noteworthy from the last election is these voters generally put resistance to social change ahead of their own economic interests. They backed a candidate who pledged to slap tariffs on imported goods, which inexorably causes prices to rise. Their candidate also pledged to deport millions of farm workers, which inevitably will lead to higher food prices.
These easily foreseen consequences are less important to minimally engaged, low-information voters than the need to slow — or stop — society’s grudging acceptance of people with different lifestyles. Simply put, they want to yank away the “welcome” mat for non-white immigrants, the LGBT community, and any other group that threatens the hegemony of straight, white Christians.
If you are reading this, you are not a low-information voter. Congratulations, you are one of America’s reviled “elites,” and sorry, your vote was nullified by someone who pays far less attention than you.
As you peer down from your ivory tower, it’s easy to recognize some of the factors that motivate low-information voters — but it’s much harder to understand their prioritization.
Thanks to supply chain shortages wrought by the pandemic, inflationary surges in prices have been deadly for incumbent leaders around the world. In recent elections both here and abroad, economically frustrated voters have swept many heads of states out of office. Money worries are a core anxiety, so it’s no surprise that voters seek new leadership when prices rise faster than wages.
But the other, less quantifiable issues? Fear of immigrants? Hatred of gay and transgender people? This is the natural habitat of low-information voters.
At this point, nearly a quarter of the way through the 21st century, most Americans know — or know of — someone who is gay. There is still plenty of homophobia in this country, and that’s putting it mildly, but it is no longer the potent political wedge it used to be.
