Title: There's No Such Thing as a Presidential Mandate - Foundation for Economic Education
Headings: There's No Such Thing as a Presidential Mandate
There's No Such Thing as a Presidential Mandate
What Is a Presidential Mandate?
Votes Are Not Policy
No Consensus among Trump Voters
The Myth of Democratic Socialism
Even Voting with Dollars Is Hard to Interpret

Content: Election outcomes vary for a host of irrelevant reasons including the weather and local football games. Teasing out actionable policy from election results is not only impossible but irresponsible. No Consensus among Trump Voters
Surveys illustrate how dispersed voters’ priorities are. Emily Ekin’s exhaustive work on Trump voters at the Voter Study Group showed there’s no such thing as a “typical Trump supporter.” She identified not one but five types of Trump voters, each with a very different worldview. The five types — Staunch Conservatives, Free Marketers, American Preservationists, Anti-Elites, and the Disengaged — are all over the political map. For example, Ekin’s work suggests a lack of consensus on the border wall. While voters weren’t asked specifically about the wall, they were asked to rate their feelings about immigrants using a temperature scale. Among Trump voters, only 42 percent had “cool” feelings towards immigrants (a 1 or a 2 on a 6 point scale). Though the wall was popular with his base, it’s doubtful that it's still a major priority, especially among those who know Mexico won’t pay for it.