Originally Posted by
manker
In my stats hunt yesterday, I found it remarkable that there were almost four times the amount of votes cast for minor candidates as last time out. Over six times as many as the time before that.
I imagine that by now much has been made of that, but I reckon that influx of protest votes is more evenly attributed to the distaste of both main candidates than one might initially think.
He'd have won anyway, certainly in Florida, which was key as always.
That def plays a role. I'd dare to say that people's like/dislike of primary candidates is the most important factor in choosing a candidate. Few would admit it however. And it's impossible to ignore that the
high disapproval ratings played a part in sending votes beyond the main two candidates. Another reason may be that despite the rhetoric surrounding Clintrump and the overwhelming amount of polarization they created, they weren't really much different on paper. When you remove the bits that a lot of people focused on (Clinton: woman, first woman president, blah blah) (Trump: controversial immigration, loudmouth, celebrity, orange, blah blah) and just looked at policy, they were almost the same candidate, focused on more war and more protectionist policies. Again I think that just goes to show that it was never about policy with most people, it was about him and her. People don't vote for some thing, they vote against someone.
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