by Robert Reich:'Did the white working class

[elleng]

'give up on the Democratic Party or did the Democratic Party give up on the white working class? Working-class and poor whites have been on a downward economic escalator for years, but Democrats have done little or nothing to reverse the decline. Relatedly, working-class and poor whites have succumbed to opiate addiction and rising rates of mortality, but here too Democrats have done little or nothing in response. Donald Trump is not giving them hope. He’s validating their anger – and directing it against Mexican immigrants, Latinos, Muslims, blacks, political elites, and Hillary Clinton.

The long-term goal must be a multi-racial, multi-ethnic coalition of poor, working class, and middle class Americans intent on reclaiming our economy and democracy from an elite that is running away with both.
What do you think?'

https://www.facebook.com/RBReich/?fref=nf

[elehhhhna]

1. The latter.

[geek tragedy]

2. working class whites left the Democratic party due to the culture wars of the 1960s-1980s.

Race, abortion, LGBTQ rights, immigration, guns, religion, anti-war protests, counterculture, hippy-bashing, drugs, etc.

They didn't start voting Republican because they thought supply side economics was a good idea, they did so because the Republicans promised to keep "those people" in line and preserve the social order

And, it generally stands to figure that if a group is determined to vote against a party, they won't be very well represented when that party makes decisions.

[whatthehey]

3. The former. God gays and guns

Outside DU and similar sites the real world criticism of Democrats from these WWC males, a demographic I drink and talk with almost daily, is never that they are elitist oligarchic bankster corporatist class traitors, but that they are weak, effeminate anti-American and unchristian. EVERY insult I have gotten as a Democrat has ignored class and economics and focused on attacks on perceived lack of masculinity and patriotism and, in this case I confess real, lack of religion.

[tonyt53]

4. In a nutshell

[MichiganVote]

5. This is a demographic that thinks that campaign talk= promises=fact.

Both things can be true but by and large, this was a cultural shift aided and abetted by republicans who pummeled the hell out of this demographic while also cutting, cutting, cutting and then raising taxes on all but the wealthy. They gave this demo an identity of god, guns and religion. It was a join the club or get out of 'merica.

[Warpy]

6. The former would have worked for only a short time.

If the Democrats hadn't stupidly accepted Koch money to install the DLC in the halls of power (and they're still there, no matter what they call themselves these days), the whole fantasy would have crumbled in the face of GOP inaction on the god/gay stuff and continued economic oppression by them.

Both parties were in full rebellion this year. The GOP thinks they can tame the man and the Democrats think they can selectively ignore the platform that popular support for Sanders forced on them.

The next rebellion won't be a peaceful one, I fear.

[orwell]

7. I hear...

...white male teamster drivers moan about the evil union (even though this is why they make a decent living), white male fireman moan about the "government", (even though they are "the government&quot , white immigrants with thick accents moan about immigrants (non-white non-english speaking), white evangelical Christians moaning about religious persecution by the Democrats (even though they want to kick out all the Muslims and deny them their ability to freely worship in the US.)

What do all these things have in common?

All the people are white. They all identify with Republican Con political propaganda. They all listen to RW media like Limbaugh and Faux News.

People are extremely easy to manipulate through repeated messaging rooted in fear. They check what little they have of a reasoning brain at the door. They will vote against their interests and put sleezeballs in office that have utter contempt for their economic or social well being. The Cons realized this years ago when they built the mighty one-sided, fact free Wurlitzer of propaganda that we now accept as "fair and balanced" political dialogue.

Trump was born of this toxic ferment. He is not a leader, but a symptom of a cancer in the body politic.

[emulatorloo]

8. God, guns, gays, Ellen. However recent polling suggests some are catching on to Trump's

bullshit and moving to HRC. I'm not talking major defection, just some indications that he's not doing as well as Romney did in 2012.