General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Thomas Frank: Dems have gone from the party of the New Deal to a party defending mass inequality [View all]Yavin4
(35,421 posts)Franks makes it seems as though the Democrats abandoned the working class where the direct opposite is true. White working class, blue collar, union voters abandoned the Dems in '68, '72, '80, '84, and '88. Each year in those campaigns the Dems either nominated or had a candidate with strong Liberal/pro working class ties and aliiances running.
In 1984, no other Dem was more strongly pro-union in America than Walter Mondale, yet, he lost every state except 2. In 1972, McGovern was anti-war and pro-big government. He lost every state but one.
Excluding this context, he paints a picture that it was the Democratic party leadership that abandoned the White working class, whereas instead it was the other way around.
The party HAD to develop another strategy or face continued losses.