What is it about ignorance that seems to encourage an abundance of snark in those afflicted with it? This syndrome is especially pronounced among people who clearly don't understand Donald Trump's improbable path to the GOP nomination and his resurgence in the polls. That lack of understanding seems to result most often in lots of hysterical anger, shouting, and plenty of social media posts peppered with lots of "LOL's" and "WTF's."
This ignorance fueled snarkiness has been in full bloom lately as Trump haters and less biased election observers alike have been scratching their collective heads over what his campaign is hoping to accomplish with Trump's recent outreach to minority voters. That would of course include his visit to Mexico last week where he praised Mexican-Americans and his trip to an African American church in Detroit this past weekend where he spoke humbly and warmly to the community as a whole.
The consensus response to these moves from all too much of the professional and amateur punditry is incredulity and scorn. Critics are bemused that Trump seems to think he can win over black and Latino voters and they're laughing at what seems to be a big waste of time. Of course they're laughing even as Trump's fortunes in the polls continue to markedly improve. Tuesday's CNN poll showed Trump leading Hillary Clinton by two points nationally, and that comes just a few days after a Reuters/Ipsos poll and Rasmussen Reports showed him ahead by one point in each of those surveys.
Do those polls mean Trump's minority outreach is working, despite the chorus of derision? The answer is yes, but not in the two-dimensional/direct way many think. No, Trump's numbers will not significantly improve among minority voters due to this shift in campaign strategy and tone. But his numbers among supposedly undecided Republican-leaning/moderate WHITE voters will. In fact, as the above cited polls prove, they already are.
By doing more mainstream/"acceptable" things like visiting a black church and by sounding more conciliatory in his tone, Trump is making himself more acceptable to a good deal of voters who haven't been able to feel comfortable supporting him before… at least not publicly. It's probably more accurate to say these voters were always going to vote for Trump all along, but they were just waiting for some kind of visible change in his campaign or news event to use as an excuse to say that's what changed their mind.