Rethink partisan ties

On Nov. 8, Arkansas voters will, it appears, humiliate the state and vote for Donald Trump. The South flipped Republican between 1960 and ’64 over Democratic support for civil rights legislation. It took Arkansas longer than most of our neighbors, but we have now fully transitioned.

Psychologists (my field) and political scientists have done solid research on how people vote, and the picture is not pretty. Very few people actually vote on issues. While other factors are involved, most people pick a party and then systematically distort reality about policies, economics, and people to conform to their party’s positions. How else could anyone think tax cuts for rich people generate economic growth, or that Hillary is a criminal?

When they vote in lockstep for Republicans, what do people in Arkansas think they are voting for or against? People will say “pro-life” or “a liberal agenda” with little concrete idea of what that means.

What we are going to get for our votes is our Republican governor taking us down the path of Kansas with high-end tax cuts and giveaways to business paid for with cuts in education and services. The disaster in Kansas is becoming increasingly clear, but that is where our present party affiliations will take us.

My great hope is that the truly deplorable Donald Trump will force some Republicans to rethink their party identification. He’s a tough frog to swallow for anyone still capable of rational thought. Changing party affiliations are required to change the political behavior of the state, and our best interests and values require we change. ROGER WEBB

Little Rock