Blue-collar Democrats return to their roots

[cal04]

The cornerstone of Republican success is crumbling after it was built up by Ronald Reagan

EVEN in the febrile atmosphere of modern US politics, you can tell a candidate is in really deep trouble when he screams at his opponent during a televised debate: “Quit lying to them Bob! Tell them the truth! You’re lazy!”

The man screaming is Rick Santorum, one man Democrats would love to destroy more than any other in next month’s midterm elections. Mr Santorum, the third-ranking Republican in the Senate, has become one of the most polarising polticians in the country thanks to his abrasive social conservatism. And he is clearly not going down without a fight.

(snip)
But there are greater forces working against him other than his 43 per cent unfavourability rating. Republican analysts believe that Mr Santorum’s problems are rooted in the return of white, blue-collar voters to the Democrat fold, a generation after Ronald Reagan wooed them to the Republican cause.

(snip)
“The Republican party has failed them. It didn’t cut spending. It wasn’t honest. It hasn’t controlled immigration. On issue after issue it didn’t do what these voters expected.” Mr Luntz says that this political remigration of Reagan Democrats — which if realised next month would represent a profound change of the American political landscape — is occurring across the Midwest, where the economy is arguably an even greater issue than Iraq.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2414298,00.html

[Union Thug]

1. Reagan Dems amazed me... punk ass traitors to their class. n/t

[brentspeak]

2. Prodigal Democrats are always welcome back. n/t