David Jackson

USA TODAY

WALTERBORO, S.C. — They dislike "politicians" ... They love his brash style ... They want to overthrow "the establishment," be it Republican or Democratic.

They're Donald Trump voters who echo his calls — some of them controversial — to change the country.

"He really wants to change politics," said Foster Hester, 64, a boiler technician who with his wife, Gladys, arrived hours early for a Trump event at a hunting ground in the South Carolina low country. "Our politicians are bought and paid for by Wall Street and lobbyists and special interests."

Gladys Hester, a loan administration specialist from Moncks Corner, S.C., cited Trump's business career: "He's financing his own campaign — he doesn't have to answer to anybody once he gets into office."

Trump himself — who holds large leads in South Carolina polls ahead of Saturday's primary — drew cheers from a couple thousand people Wednesday as he denounced "stupid" politicians who have turned the United States into a "third-world nation." They also cheered as Trump said "politicians are bad people — boy, are they bad."

Pollsters and demographers will spend years analyzing Trump's people, from rural South Carolina to the granite hills of New Hampshire, but some things are already becoming clear.

USA TODAY's 2016 Presidential Poll Tracker

For one thing, many of Trump's fans are simply angry — at President Obama, at the Republican "establishment," at the government in general.

They cheer for Trump comments that would sink other Republican candidates, whether it's accusing immigrants of being rapists or blaming President George W. Bush for 9/11. Like their candidate, they criticize foreign trade deals, back his call for a temporary ban on Muslim entry into the United States, and endorse the idea of building a wall along the southern border to block illegal immigration.

"He's not scared" of being politically incorrect, said Marion Sauls, 50, a retired power plant operator from Smoaks, S.C.

There is also evidence that Trump is drawing new voters into the process. Republican pollster Frank Luntz said that, according to his research, some 15%-20% of Trump's support are not regular Republican primary voters.

Whether old or new, Trump voters are angry with both political parties, as well as "the elites and institutions that they believe have run America into the ground," Luntz added.

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They are optimistic in the sense that they think American can "win again" — a frequent Trump phrase — but only with the right leadership, said Luntz, who did work for Ross Perot during his 1992 independent candidacy.

Trump supporters are similar to those who backed Perot "in that their anger is economic in its origins," Luntz said, "but different in that they are much older and somewhat less educated than the Perot voter of 1992."

Awaiting Trump's appearance — complete with hay bales on stage — the businessman's backers said they are more frustrated than angry at the nation's slide. They recited a Trump-ian litany of protests against the government, including the loss of jobs, the size of the debt, the influence of lobbyists, bad trade deals, illegal immigration, and threats to Second Amendment gun rights.

"It's a lot of stuff, because we are going down the tubes," said Tammy Long, 52, a nurse from Green Pond, S.C.

Other Republican voters throughout South Carolina said Trump's people are being fooled.

Brent Walsh, 36, a sporting goods salesman from Columbia who attended a Ted Cruz event, said people are right to be angry at how things are going, but Trump is a "populist demagogue" who is only telling people what they want to hear.

"Whatever position he needs that day, he'll take that day," Walsh said.

Pollsters also see a darker side to Trump's support. Public Policy Polling, a Democratic-leaning firm, reported that his support in South Carolina "is built on a base of voters among whom religious and racial intolerance pervades."

Among PPP's findings: 70% of Trump backers said they would prefer the Confederate battle flag still flew atop the state Capitol in Columbia and 38% said they wish the South had won the Civil War. The vast majority of Trump's backers support his call for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States — and 31% would apply it to gays as well.

Poll finds strong support for Confederate flag among Trump supporters in S.C.

David Woodard, a political science professor at Clemson and a Republican consultant who has not endorsed any primary candidate, offered this description of Trump voters: "Very angry, very passionate, not experienced."

Trump supporters in South Carolina echoed those in Iowa — where the billionaire finished behind Ted Cruz in the caucuses — and New Hampshire, where he won the primary handily. Many said they preferred a businessman to a politician, especially one who is financing his own campaign.

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Renee Sedlacek, a businesswoman who waited hours in line to see Trump in Marshalltown, Iowa, said: "He's got his own money — he's not bought — he's making his own decisions."

After a Trump town hall in Exeter, N.H., retired veteran Richard M. Garcia said "he talks like a construction worker ... he's a Harry Truman guy."

Beth Orear, 72, a retired government worker from Aiken, S.C., who wore a "Hot Chicks for Trump" button to the Walterboro event, said she wouldn't describe herself as angry.

"I'm happy that he's running," she said. "Very happy."

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