Yep. For a lengthy but informative explanation of exactly why these people are supporting Trump (more specifically, how the Democrats lost them), see The New Yorker article I posted a few days ago.
Also, Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance seems to be among the most cited references among those analyzing the socioeconomic malaise of the WWC (Haven't had a chance to read it yet myself). Interesting interview with Vance here

If Hillary and her team are really smart, and she manages to win, first thing she should do is go on a kind of 'reconciliation tour', go to these places in the rust belt and the deep south and talk to these folks, try to connect with them a bit. Not a very Hillary thing to do, but it would be at least some small amelioration.

I wouldn't advise trying to reconcile with the south. People down here will be pretty damn sour, aren't graceful in defeat, and kind of relish the shit-talking for the next 4-8 years. They still talk about the abominable Obama presidency. Makes family events fun when I point out all the investment gains made in the last 8 years.

Hell, some of them are still bitter about the Civil War.

They talk about Sherman like Atlanta's still smoking.

I was surprised how relevant Americans still find the war of independence. It makes sense, I suppose, but that war is is hardly even a footnote in British consciousness.

It's OK, we don't take it personally. When you've suffered as many humiliating defeats as you guys have in the long, painful collapse of your once vast empire, I'm sure it's hard to feel bad about any one of them in particular.

that war is is hardly even a footnote in British consciousness.

cause we whooped yer ass

/s

I was expecting that response. And it might indeed be the reason. I just can't say because I don't actually know anything about American independence. But then I don't know anything about Australian, Canadian or Kenyan independence from the British empire either. Indian independence was something to do with Gandhi, I believe. That one was the only one that had any lasting influence on British culture.

Seriously, I think it's more because the revolution was tied to the formation of the country, and therefore holy.

We also don't have as much history as the UK. Your schools must skim over quite a lot of your own history, just hit the high points. Maybe Hastings, Cromwell, Wellington, Thatcher?

You should hear Canada talk about the war of 1812. They played an ad for that ad a movie theater when I was there. Having to stifle back the laughter was very uncomfortable.

Well, they did burn the White House.

Oh I'm under no illusion that Hillary could win these folks over. The idea is to just try to explain that she's not Satan and that her policies may actually bring them some benefit. Maybe it's futile but hell, not like she'd have anything to lose by reaching out. At least she could say she tried.

That makes sense, but I agree she won't do it. Doesn't seem like her vibe.

Folks, maybe. Politicians, no. That was Obama': mistake. And really at the end of the day he couldn't even keep much of his base happy. And while I think history will remember him fondly
The thing is, these people have been hurt by her policies and they do t trust her words.

She's more likely to win them over through policy, but that's spending political income with very little political payback.

Not saying she can't- but if she is able to, that's literally going to make her the most important polititian since the 1970s sans being a female

(I modded for the post reference and the links. Throwing the south a bone won't work for another twenty years and the foundations for education etc have to be laid down first.

That will take way more than twenty years.

I was half expecting a blank page.

white-space power !

It became simple: if I wanted to talk to a community overwhelmingly supporting Trump, I would go to a white town or neighborhood nearest the rusting factory surrounded by razor fence.

If I wanted to find Clinton, or Jeb Bush, or even Rubio voters, I would go near a university, or go to the wealthier neighborhoods near tech companies, or near headquarters of global corporations.

Sounds like not much has changed since the primaries. The results should be interesting.

This where you go if you're only talking to white voters, and still pretending race isn't fundamental to this division.

Actually, I was referring to the fact that Bernie beat Hillary handily out in those areas where Trump support is flourishing. So much so that it was often thanks to massive numbers in the "innovation" centers mentioned that she won enough votes to destroy Bernie's support in the rest of the state. This is a class war. Racism is just a tool of the top. Trump gets compared to Hitler so often you'd think people would remember the economic disparity that Hitler blamed on the Jews and other "undesirables."

But it's not a class war in the solely economic sense, but also a cultural one. That is, between the 'cosmopolitan elite' and the 'Wall Mart shoppers'. True that the former tend to be the higher earners, but the boundaries also transcend traditional economic considerations. If it was Bernie instead of Hillary vs. Trump, I sense the battle lines would have ended up in about the same place.

Bernie would've stomped Trump. This election should have been a slam dunk. A grand slam. A hole in one. Pick your sports metaphor. You've got a shitty, compromised candidate. You've got a candidate absolutely struggling against Donald 'tiny fucking hands' Trump. If that doesn't illustrate how shitty a candidate Hillary Clinton is, nothing will.

Well obviously Bernie would enjoy a higher level of enthusiasm, but he'd still be the candidate of the educated elite, culturally speaking. If we saw significant numbers of Bernie supporters moving to Trump, that would bear out your contention. But that's not what we're seeing.

Really? According to you, and quite a few others, our third party votes have been exactly that. Like I said, the results should be interesting.

Latest 4-way polling has Jill Stein at around 2%, Gary Johnson at around 4% (and falling). Assuming most hard-core Bernie supporters are going for Stein, that doesn't indicate a giant difference in actual numbers.
I'm not saying that Bernie wouldn't have beaten Trump, I'd certainly like to think he would, just that based on the established cultural divides (which have less to do with economic class than people assume) the numbers at this point would probably be about the same.

Again, the results should be interesting.

Educated elite, yes, but he struck me as far less elite than Hilary and he had more credit for believing-in what he's proposing. That said I think Bernie and Elizabeth Warren would be unstoppable- but taking them out of the senate and into an ineffective office of the presidency would hurt their agendas more than help them- but might have a very positive down the ballot effect and more millenials would come out without a doubt.

How Clinton’s Agenda Would Help Trump Supporters
She's been talking about this stuff throughout the campaign. How come brown working-class people can hear it, but white working-class people can't?

It doesn't matter what Hillary says. All that matters is that Trump is going to get rid of the Mexicans.

That's the big question, isn't it? It's a cultural disconnect, reinforced by the rise of identity politics and a perception that the Democrats have left them behind- dating back ironically to the Bill Clinton years.
Explained at length here.

How can brown working class people vote for the person that pushed policies that decimated their communites? The questions keep stacking up.

Maybe your premise is flawed?

A welfare bill that doubled extreme poverty rates and a crime bill that put a disproportionate number of people of color in prison. That's not a really a flawed premise. It's pretty well accepted at this point.

What I learned after 100,000 miles on the road talking to Trump supporters?

Don't.

Poor guy.

Actual title of the article:

What I MADE UP after no miles on the road, no talking to Trump supporters

#fiction