I recently watched a video in which a Trump supporter said he'd vote for Bernie over Rubio or Cruz. I wasn't surprised in the least. Because you're absolutely right that being fed up with the status quo and wanting change is the overarching sentiment among the populace. Meanwhile, anyone who is seen as establishment or representative of the status quo is persona non grata (with good reason).

But ignorance is also a major factor. Trump is the epitome of the status quo (only he's even more corrupt than the average politician). But he has successfully sold himself as an agent of change, even though his administration (outside of being more isolationist and incompetent) operated pretty much like any other Republican administration. Trump is ignorant about a great many things, but he's got some political savvy.

"Some want to take the road to the left. Universal income. Healthcare for all. Quality childcare for all. Tax credits for parents. Better safety nets for those in need. Strong public schools. Reproductive rights. LGBTQ rights."

Surveys demonstrate widespread support for leftist policy proposals (like the 80+ percent of the population that supports paid family leave). This suggests that many who are voting Republican support many leftist policy proposals. But the culture war and being clueless about what policies are supported by the GOP contribute to people voting in a way that makes little sense. It would be one thing if they weren't voting at all or were voting for, say, Cornel West. But voting Republican is batshit crazy.

I wrote a piece about the ignorance among Republican voters in particular. 76% of Republicans believe the GOP supports health insurance protections for those with pre-existing conditions. Close to a third of Republican voters believe their party wants to raise the federal minimum wage to $15/hour, something not even most Dems support. I gave other examples in the article linked above. The ignorance is jaw-dropping.

Biden and even Clinton beat Trump among those who make less than 50k per year. Racism, sexism and transphobia, as well as a lack of education, are much bigger factors than being working class. A majority of working class people continue to vote for the lesser evil. It's the "white" in white working class that's key.

Another important point is we have an increasingly anti-majoritarian political system. I'm not sure most people grasp just how skewed in favor of Republicans the political system is (and it's becoming more so all the time). I provided some details about halfway through this piece.

And the fact that Republicans know they're in the minority is evidenced by the extreme measures taken to gerrymander, the baseless claims of widespread voter fraud, limiting the options for voting, etc. Still, a very vocal minority of nutjobs are convinced they constitute a silent majority. Up is down, down is up. We live in a nation in which tens of millions of people are completely out of touch with reality.

Speaking of things being skewed, the American political perspective is laughably horrifying. We have 2 right wing parties and neoliberals dominate both parties. The biggest differences are that the GOP also features a growing number of neofascists, and the Democratic Party is willing to support social justice in so far as it doesn't interfere with predatory capitalism.

Yet the mainstream media and politicians from both parties have convinced tens of millions of people that there are "extremists on both sides," as if wanting single-payer healthcare, a living wage and a Green New Deal is somehow equivalent to suggesting Jewish space lasers start wildfires, that climate change is a hoax, that there's an evil LGBTQ agenda or that undocumented individuals should be murdered.

In a sane country, people would consider Bernie to be just barely left of center. And the likes of Manchin would be considered far right extremists. Alas, we live in an asylum. Where an unpopular president would rather try and appease racist assholes by waiving key regulations so as to build more wall along the southern border than demand leftist reforms supported by the majority. An unpopular president who assured big donors there’d be no fundamental change on his watch, as if it wasn’t already obvious Biden has spent his entire career kowtowing to moneyed interests.

Finally, I’m all for splitting up the country (the US is much too populous to not be dysfunctional), but a simple red/blue split wouldn’t last more than a few months. Red America would be in total chaos with people literally dying in the streets, as I wrote here. Assuming it would actually be run in accordance with right wing ideology (total deregulation, no labor laws, no safety net, etc.). Of course, there’d be no way to prevent those policies from impacting Blue America (e.g., unregulated, shared drinking water would be polluted — like back when restaurants thought they could have a smoking section right next to a nonsmoking section).