The irony of this election of course is that Donald Trump was actually a repudiation of the Republican party. His election however, rewarded the Republican establishment even though they lost house seats and Senate seats. This turn of events is the total opposite of what the core base of Trump voters intended. Sure they will get a lot of immigrant/minority hating and dangerous saber rattling about terrorists and other hyped up bogeymen. This is because their minds have been conditioned by the RW/conspiracy media establishment to react to those things as THE MOST important things to consider for their vote. In other words they have been conned.
For Freida Lockaby, an unemployed 56-year-old woman who lives with her dog in an aging mobile home in Manchester, Ky., one of America's poorest places, the Affordable Care Act was life altering.
The law allowed Kentucky to expand Medicaid in 2014 and made Lockaby – along with 440,000 other low-income state residents – newly eligible for free health care under the state-federal insurance program. Enrollment gave Lockaby her first insurance in 11 years.
"It's been a godsend to me," said the former Ohio school custodian who moved to Kentucky a decade ago.
There are 440,000 residents who depend on Obamacare in Kentucky who are now in fear as a result of the devastation of 2016. Clay County, Kentucky, is one of the poorest counties in America and 60% of its residents are covered by Medicaid, yet Trump took 89% of the vote in the county.
Lockaby finally got treated for a thyroid disorder that had left her so exhausted she'd almost taken root in her living room chair. Cataract surgery let her see clearly again. A carpal tunnel operation on her left hand eased her pain and helped her sleep better. Daily medications brought her high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol level under control.
But Lockaby is worried her good fortune could soon end. Her future access to health care now hinges on a controversial proposal to revamp the program that her state's Republican governor has submitted to the Obama administration.
Next year will likely bring more uncertainty when a Trump administration and a GOP-controlled Congress promise to consider Obamacare's repeal, including a potential reduction in the associated Medicaid expansion in 31 states and the District of Columbia that has led to health coverage for an estimated 10 million people.
Please read of the whole article by Phil Galewit
Its easy to dismiss these voters, easy to be angry at them, easy to feel that they will get what they deserve, easy to take out some of our frustration on them. The difficult part will be to convince those of them who can be reached, to start pulling the lever for progress in coming elections.