Why are American "liberals" so enamored by protectionism?

[Mr. Illini]

The premise is faulty.  Liberals in America (certainly the elected democratic pols) are the possibly least protectionist and most economically right-wing of all of the OECD countries.

Protectionism is most popular among conservatives in America because there's a significant part of the coalition that is older and uneducated and therefore gets screwed the hardest by trade agreements.  Contrast with the upper middle class educated professionals that are a significant part of the Democratic base.

News to me and exit polls everywhere!

A sizable majority of voters with graduate degrees vote Democratic these days.

That by no means exclusively indicates a high income (finance majors with bachelor's degrees are going to make a lot more than education majors with a PhD), and it ignores the fact that college graduates as a whole still voted substantially Republican in 2014.  Let's not even get into the very, very clear evidence that Republican voting and a higher income are directly linked.

Affluent and educated people are AT LEAST as much of a part of the GOP's coalition as they are to the Democrats' coalition.  That should be beyond debate, but I guess it's not?

Yeah, I don't dispute that Rs are more likely to hold college degrees and be a little wealthier (the fact that they are all white helps in both of these regards).  But Democrats are more likely to hold postgraduate degrees, and that group of postgraduates in combination with the gigantic portion of the democratic party that is more identity-politics motivated than class-motivated has, I think, substantially if not totally neutered the class angle in the Democratic party in the past few decades.

Which is why in opinion polls Democratic voters (not really Democratic politicians) tend to favor protectionism less than the Republicans.

Why not, considering that it is just not true? Don't let RINO Tom fool you with his posturing - Obama won the college-educated vote both times. Everyone wants to pretend like their side is "smarter" - as in most issues (climate change, voter suppression, etc.), actual statistics back up our side.

[Mr. Illini]

The premise is faulty.  Liberals in America (certainly the elected democratic pols) are the possibly least protectionist and most economically right-wing of all of the OECD countries.

Protectionism is most popular among conservatives in America because there's a significant part of the coalition that is older and uneducated and therefore gets screwed the hardest by trade agreements.  Contrast with the upper middle class educated professionals that are a significant part of the Democratic base.

News to me and exit polls everywhere!

A sizable majority of voters with graduate degrees vote Democratic these days.

That by no means exclusively indicates a high income (finance majors with bachelor's degrees are going to make a lot more than education majors with a PhD), and it ignores the fact that college graduates as a whole still voted substantially Republican in 2014.  Let's not even get into the very, very clear evidence that Republican voting and a higher income are directly linked.

Affluent and educated people are AT LEAST as much of a part of the GOP's coalition as they are to the Democrats' coalition.  That should be beyond debate, but I guess it's not?

Yeah, I don't dispute that Rs are more likely to hold college degrees and be a little wealthier (the fact that they are all white helps in both of these regards).  But Democrats are more likely to hold postgraduate degrees, and that group of postgraduates in combination with the gigantic portion of the democratic party that is more identity-politics motivated than class-motivated has, I think, substantially if not totally neutered the class angle in the Democratic party in the past few decades.

Which is why in opinion polls Democratic voters (not really Democratic politicians) tend to favor protectionism less than the Republicans.

Why not, considering that it is just not true? Don't let RINO Tom fool you with his posturing - Obama won the college-educated vote both times. Everyone wants to pretend like their side is "smarter" - as in most issues (climate change, voter suppression, etc.), actual statistics back up our side.

LOL, you're ridiculous.  I'm not fooling or posturing anyone.  Mitt Romney won 51% of college graduates.  Republicans won college graduates HANDILY in 2010 and 2014.  Are these the statistics you're speaking of?

Democrats win postgrads, but they also win over 60% of high school dropouts.  To say statistics back up the claim that Democrats are "smarter" is holy-shlt-type stupid.

I'm ridiculous - yet you are the one measuring "college educated individuals" by taking only those with Bachelor's degrees. If undergraduate and postgraduates are added, Obama won the electorate. You're very right - the numbers do not lie.

[Mr. Illini]

The premise is faulty.  Liberals in America (certainly the elected democratic pols) are the possibly least protectionist and most economically right-wing of all of the OECD countries.

Protectionism is most popular among conservatives in America because there's a significant part of the coalition that is older and uneducated and therefore gets screwed the hardest by trade agreements.  Contrast with the upper middle class educated professionals that are a significant part of the Democratic base.

News to me and exit polls everywhere!

A sizable majority of voters with graduate degrees vote Democratic these days.

That by no means exclusively indicates a high income (finance majors with bachelor's degrees are going to make a lot more than education majors with a PhD), and it ignores the fact that college graduates as a whole still voted substantially Republican in 2014.  Let's not even get into the very, very clear evidence that Republican voting and a higher income are directly linked.

Affluent and educated people are AT LEAST as much of a part of the GOP's coalition as they are to the Democrats' coalition.  That should be beyond debate, but I guess it's not?

Yeah, I don't dispute that Rs are more likely to hold college degrees and be a little wealthier (the fact that they are all white helps in both of these regards).  But Democrats are more likely to hold postgraduate degrees, and that group of postgraduates in combination with the gigantic portion of the democratic party that is more identity-politics motivated than class-motivated has, I think, substantially if not totally neutered the class angle in the Democratic party in the past few decades.

Which is why in opinion polls Democratic voters (not really Democratic politicians) tend to favor protectionism less than the Republicans.

Why not, considering that it is just not true? Don't let RINO Tom fool you with his posturing - Obama won the college-educated vote both times. Everyone wants to pretend like their side is "smarter" - as in most issues (climate change, voter suppression, etc.), actual statistics back up our side.

LOL, you're ridiculous.  I'm not fooling or posturing anyone.  Mitt Romney won 51% of college graduates.  Republicans won college graduates HANDILY in 2010 and 2014.  Are these the statistics you're speaking of?

Democrats win postgrads, but they also win over 60% of high school dropouts.  To say statistics back up the claim that Democrats are "smarter" is holy-shlt-type stupid.

I'm ridiculous - yet you are the one measuring "college educated individuals" by taking only those with Bachelor's degrees. If undergraduate and postgraduates are added, Obama won the electorate. You're very right - the numbers do not lie.

Are you seriously using millennials' heavy Democratic lean and the most racially diverse college-aged population in history to try to draw a correlation between being college educated and being a Democrat?!  Surely, you're familiar with lurking variables.

Ah, so you'd rather exclude educated minorities and youth from the discussion to get the statistic that you would like. I'm very pleased with the emerging college-educated, racially and ethnically diverse Democratic majority.