'I Vape and I Vote': How Will Vaping Industry Affect Trump's Election Outcome in 2020
ALEX ZEIG12 comments
With the popularity of e-cigarettes and other vape products coming to an all-time high through 2019, the people who consume these products are beginning to make up a respectable chunk of the United States voter base.
Their opinions matter when it comes to the upcoming election. Policies that impact their wants and needs are going to sway their decisions.
If you were curious about how the "I Vape I Vote" movement might impact the upcoming election, you're not alone. Here are some important factors surrounding the movement that could be swaying voters who vape in the United States.
The Ban on Flavored E-Liquid
Was this the first domino that started it all?
United States President Donald Trump announced his support for the ban on flavored e-liquids in September of 2019, inciting anger amongst the vaping communities. This support seemed largely unfounded and was upsetting and confusing to people country-wide.
States were rolling out bans slowly, covering both nicotine and THC cartridges (sometimes flavored or unflavored), and the consumers were angry. The president, through his cosigning of the ban, alienated two groups of potential voters. Some of these voters had voted for him in the past.
Later on, in November, President Trump decided to pull back from his stance on this ban.
Although he was supposed to make the final call on the ban of flavored e-liquids, he retreated, potentially because of the uprising from the "I Vape I Vote" crowd that retaliated against his initial stance.
Backing off didn't necessarily help his position though, as he was still considering other problematic policies to further regulate the use of vapes and e-liquids to legal adult consumers.
In January of 2020, a temporary and minimal ban was actually enacted. While it is a ban on several products, it's not an all-encompassing ban. This hits store owners and consumers but still give the whole industry a space to grow and thrive. This cautious move means Trump administration somewhat sees vapers, vape business owners, and millions of people employed by the vaping industry as a very important pool of voters.
The New Age Limit
After the push for a ban on flavored e-liquids, Trump stepped back. He did this, however, with a call for another potential amendment to rules already in place.
Donald Trump signed a spending package that will raise the federal age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21. This begins country-wide in the summer of 2020 and will include e-cigarettes.
Vapers who were already legal adults, but not yet 21 years old, may take issue with this age change. Considering that it happens right before the election, this was likely a poor choice on the part of the president, who perhaps didn't realize that he was alienating a large group of voters (or future voters).
The age limit change infantilizes adults that are between that 18-21 gap who are now no longer able to legally partake in something that potentially helped them to stop smoking completely.
But how big was this misstep? What exactly do the vaping voters look like, and are any of them even in Donald Trump's voter base to start with? You might be surprised.
What Kind of Voters are Vapers?
While the media tries to paint the average vape consumer as someone who doesn't know or care about politics, this simply isn't true.
Rather, when it comes to things they care about, people who vape care quite a bit.
They come from all walks of life and have a variety of political backgrounds and opinions. Painting them all with the same brush is dangerous, especially during an election year.
Some of the voters are standard "small government" people who want as few restrictions on them as possible. Does this sound like your typical Donald Trump voter? It probably should.
These people want to know that they're able to get the products that they rely on for their day-to-day use without having to go through any loopholes. When a ban happens, that becomes complicated. The government is making decisions for them on a product that, in one form or another, they should have been legally able to consume from the time they were eighteen years old.
This overstep by the government can be a huge mistake for the Trump administration. His voters don't want the government getting into their business.
Some of the voters are business owners. They're people who own stores who sell these liquids who now have to find a way to stay afloat despite the ban (and potential bans in the future. Does the ban stop here, or will more products be impacted?). Some people can lose their entire livelihoods from one event like this.
Alienating small business owners is not a good look when running for re-election. The United States thrives on small businesses.
Some of the voters are more typical. Already not in Trump's base, but even less so after the ban. Many of them are young and anxious about the future of politics, but already politically active. The young voters were already alienated by the ban on tobacco products to people under 18. Who's left?
Are You a Part of I Vape I Vote?
Many vapers are single-issue voters, or at least, this is an issue that dramatically impacts where their vote is going to go. They won't vote against their interests, and they want politicians to listen.
Donald Trump's actions over the past year could have a huge impact on his reelection campaign, and if someone who opposes him has solutions that satisfy vape users, he might be in trouble.
"I Vape I Vote" seemed to cause an initial back down from the initial ban, but will it do more? Time will tell.
For more articles on vaping, or to check out some new products, visit our site.
By VaporDNA
Comments (12)
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I believe we The People need to impeach most, if not, all politicians and "leaders.’ They are mostly all terrible people, and we the people should never feel like all candidates are evil, but have little choice on what really goes on in this country. we need to come together and truly brainstorm on how we the people will take back control of our lively-hood. Whether you agree, or disagree with me, contact me at Parrott497@Gmail.com. I am 25, still learning and would love to hear everyone out. My ideas can coexist with your ideas, and we should never be forced to live in the United States of Corporate Dictatorship. I am personally going to run for election the moment I am 1. legally aged and 2. meet the people all over the U.S. I am here for all of us, I am here with the ideas of the forefathers and, I am here with the power to take back our true freedom. Thank you all for taking the time to read this, this is our government, not theirs.
-Jeffrey ParrottThis is insane. I have heard if single issue voters before, but that vaping alone would inform your choice for the leader of the free world is wild to me. Human rights violations, sexual assault, racist violence, destroying the plant, treating this country like a family run corporation, a complete moron with no working knowledge of how government operates, generally not a good person… all that is cool, but banning vaping that’s where you draw the line. I’m not suggesting that Biden is a knight in shining armor to lead us all to the promised land, but an decent human has to see the Donald Trump is the worst possible option available right now. Also, nobody is banning airplanes 🤷🏽♀️ Where do y’all consume the news? Comic strips and vaping newsletters? Come on now. Maybe vaping is actually worse for us than I thought( because it’s clearly comprising peoples brains. I’m so ashamed to belong to this community. Get it together, people.
It looks like most comments realize, even though some may not like President Trump, Biden will not only ban airplanes, fossil fuels and a million other things but vaping may be included. On the other hand maybe they can double or triple the taxes on all vape products to help fund some of the “new green deal”. Votes should stick to who they think will best serve each person and the way they want to see America go and grow. Personally, I think many are glad to see America stepping back up in the world stage. The I Vape I Vote did have a liberal slant to it. Just saying
Unfortunately it doesn’t matter who is elected. Vapers will need to continue to fight for their rights. Hmmm…. which old white jackass with a history of sexual harassment should we choose…. my state rep Scott Cyrway is a Republican with a vandetta against vaping. He’s introduced multiple bills to completely ban vaping. So neither party has our backs.
Why just bring up President Trump? Nancy Pelosi’s represents San Francisco, which has banned the sales of all vape products. The state of New York attempted to ban all flavored e-cigarettes, which was struck down in court. From the tone of this article, i don’t think they would be voting for President Trump, but by the actions of others, it seems like a vote for Joe Biden would put VaporDNA out of business. So I guess the question is, do you want a president that will listen and take the voices of the people into account, like President Trump did, or do you want a president from a party that is slowly removing the right to vape regardless. If you like your vape shop, you may want to consider what would have happened if you had been located in San Francisco and not Torrence or Huntington Beach.
I have to agree with Warren and Anthony on this. Some Democrat-controlled cities in Minnesota have even enacted menthol cigarette sales bans! Now, I really don’t know many kids that prefer menthols – all the kids I know and have known throughout my life seem to prefer Marbs. As for what Anthony said, the house especially is great at inserting their crap into important bills and sometimes the President has to compromise to get things passed. Case in point, the CARES Act. The Democrat-controlled house tried to put in the Green New Deal and all kinds of other crap. As it is, in order to get the Cares Act passed, there was money in the bill for the Kennedy Center and a few other things that had absolutely to do with the Cared Act. In the case of the ban on vaping, the only ones I have heard pushing it are the Dems – I have written to both Democratic and Republican Senators and have gotten very nice replies back from the Republicans. I have gotten nasty f@@k you answers back from the Democrats. And no, I am not a Republican nor a Democrat. I have always voted for both parties depending on who I felt was the best candidate. As far as the age limit goes, I live in Alaska and turned 19 when the legal age to drink was 19. The following year the legal age changed to 21. I was grandfathered in, but others had to wait. Sure, they complained, but they got over it and adjusted. I never heard anyone threaten to vote out those that voted to change the age. As someone who follows politics pretty closely these days, I would say if you want to have more restrictions and more government restrictions and regulations, ie: bigger government, vote for Democrats. That’s what they seem to be wanting these days; government control over everything.
Congress prolly shouldn’t have raised the age to 21 just before reelection. i’m not against it as far as smoking, but if you’re old enough to kill or die for your country then you’re surely old enough to smoke or vape (or drink, for that matter). i doubt that the portion of 18 – 20 year olds this affects are even that politically active or that giant of a group to make a huge difference but still – dumb decision. the administration prolly looks at it as a compromise but it was bad timing. the gov’t should just leave vaping alone tho & not mess w/any further restrictions b/c cigarettes are far more dangerous & unhealthy – i mean, there’s no comparison. & one would be a fool to argue otherwise. i’m no single issue voter, but i vape & i vote – and i wouldn’t be able to live w/o flavors & online sales!