President Donald Trump’s rallies continue to attract a broad coalition.
While Democrats are trying to out-compete one another by moving further and further to the left, alienating many voters in the process, Trump pitched the GOP as a big tent party last night. And that shows in his audience.
Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale polls the audience at all of Trump’s rallies, and during last night’s rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, the figures showed Trump attracting Democrats and the previously politically-apathetic. “10.4% of attendees didn’t vote in 2016,” Parsale wrote in a tweet. And 26.3% were Democrats.
Of note, the Wildwood rally was historic for the Trump campaign, garnering more requests for tickets than any prior rally.
While New Jersey leans heavily Democrat, this audience composition continues a trend seen at recent rallies Trump has held in swing states.
At President Trump’s rally in Ohio, 42.5% of attendees identified as either Democrats or Independents. At his Wisconsin rally, the majority of attendees were not Republicans, with 57.8% identifying as Democrats or Independents.
It’s not just your perception that the Democrat Party is becoming increasingly left-wing. While the GOP has remained ideologically consistent since at least the 1980s, the Dems have veered further and further left, to the point where a self-described socialist is a series contender in their primary. As recently as 1994, an equal share of Democrats identified as conservative and liberal (while barely any Republicans ever identified as liberal).
Now the party’s range of ideology stretches from liberal to socialist. That’s not good for the country – but it is good for the electibality of their Republicans competitors.
