As I recall, the "Reagan Democrats" included a lot of blue collar, union types.

[pnwmom]

People who once had been part of the backbone of this party. Do we want them back with us, or not?

Much as it turned my stomach to hear the Obama quotes, I've been rethinking the issue. A lot of former Democrats voted for Reagan. Don't we want them back?

[GodlessBiker]

1. Yep. Better to steal the republicans' thunder now.

[Ashy Larry]

2. You recall correctly

Jim Webb is a good example of a Reagan Democrat. I think we should be looking for more votes, not less.

[Larkspur]

3. Reagan won those blue collar Dems using racism and misogyny

The blue collar Dems who voted for Reagan were social conservatives -- Catholics and right wing Christians -- who supported FDR's and LBJ's economic policies but not the social policies of civil rights for blacks, women and gays. They are best characterized by the TV sitcom character "Archie Bunker".

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. They Were Populists

Liberal on economic issues...Conservative or traditional on social issues but most of these people are gone now...

[Ashy Larry]

8. Partly true

but don't you think we should try to get some votes based on economic issues? All long as Democrats are not using social issues to appeal to them, whats the problem?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

14. The Roosevelt Coalition Is Mostly Gone

My mom is going to be ninety, God bless her, she's one of the few people I know who actually voted for Roosevelt...

[EffieBlack]

16. Some, yes, but not all

Assuming that they all switched to the vote for Reagan out of bigotry is an oversimplification of the political, economic and social dynamics that led to the shift.

[pnwmom]

19. Archie Bunker wouldn't vote for Obama or Clinton.

The Reagan Democrats who might, aren't the Archie Bunkers.

Or maybe even Archie Bunker would have learned something by now.

[Barack_America]

4. Apparently their association with Reagan and the Republicans makes them unclean...

No longer worthy of voting Dem.

I, for one, would love to have them back though.

[polichick]

5. It's just that there have been a number of slaps to the base...

He's pandered to fundies, insulted gays, trashed boomers ~ and now this.

Perhaps it's smart politics in some ways, but it's very disrespectful in others ~ I'm pretty angry with Obama right now, but time will tell. I think he needs to show somehow that he respects our party.

[Larkspur]

9. Obama takes the Dem base for granted just like the Clintons do

Both Obama and Hillary know that the Dem base will not vote Republican, so they don't need to address our issues.

[polichick]

10. That's what it looks like...

But they'd both better be careful ~ today, I'd vote for an indie before either of them.

[stravu9]

27. I Agree.

Sad to say, they may ignore us right into writing in a candidate.

[Ashy Larry]

11. You mean

he sponsored a bill to ban flag burning? Grandstanding on violent video games? Oh yeah, that was Hilary.

[polichick]

12. That won't fly with me - I'm not a Hillary supporter...

He has fences to mend.

[robbedvoter]

7. So...do we lie to them like Raygun did - then we screw them?

[pnwmom]

23. No. n/t

[katsy]

13. At what cost to civil rights would be my concern.

They left the Democratic Party.

The choice would be theirs and theirs alone I would hope.

It would not be my Democratic Party if they threw civil rights under the bus.

[EffieBlack]

17. I remember when Howard Dean said he wanted the Confederate Decal crowd and when some blacks

objected, they were blasted out of the water by Dean supporters.

How is this any different?

[pnwmom]

25. Because the Confederate Decal crowd is specifically a racist group.

Reagan Democrats included some racists, but also many Jim Webb types.

[EffieBlack]

28. But people here are arguing that the Reagan Democrats are all racists, too.

And saying they don't want them back. So, what's the difference?

[pnwmom]

30. I disagree with those people. n/t

[EffieBlack]

33. I do, too. I'm just trying to point out their inconsistency

[katsy]

29. It is not any different.

Pandering to bigots of any flavor for votes is an acceptable Democratic Party agenda, IMO.

[pnwmom]

31. Not all Reagan Democrats were bigots.

Any of them who would vote for Obama either wasn't a bigot or has evolved.

In fact, having a black candidate or a female candidate would be one way to filter out the racists or the misogynists from among the Reagan Democrats.

[katsy]

37. I agree.

People will vote their conscious regardless of whether "we", here on DU, welcome them or not.

I have no animosity for raygun Dems. Only for reagan politics. Democratic leaders should be proud of the Democratic Party platform and history. I'm sure they can speak to that and point out our many successes as the backbone of why people should vote Democratic. Pandering to bigots, right-wing libertarians, or selling out Americans for $ or power... well, I have a problem with that. That shows a lack of character.

I'm not taking sides here about Obama's remarks about raygun (whom I believe was as big a tragedy for america as bush*). I just don't believe the issue will be a big draw or turnoff for many voters.

What I find reprehensible are posters (not on this thread) who criticize DUers for their open hatred of raygun and use that to manipulate people into thinking that moving to the right and behaving civil with right wing piranhas will bring voters to the Democratic Party, I call BS on that. That happened on a thread last night.

[Larkspur]

40. No, Dean said that he was going to be president of those that fly the Confederate flag

as well as those who don't. He didn't support their racism but as President wanted to get a civil dialog going about race. That's why the former black mayor of Atlanta, GA who endorsed Dean didn't have a problem with this statement by Dean.

Oddly, Al Sharpton hired a Republican campaign manager who engineered the attack on Dean over this issue. Al never challenged Dean on this comment until after Dean got the endorsement of Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr and other black leaders.

[Fierce]

15. Huh. A lot of them are gone.

Voting for Reagan went against their self interest. And a lot of those jobs are now gone.

But as long as we swallow the bait of "God, guns and gays" that the right wing throws out, we will continue to lose what's left of that bloc.

[terisan]

18. I think they came back already-disillusioned disenchanted, and poorer. nt

[pnwmom]

21. Maybe so.

And if they did, they won't mind hearing the kinds of thing's Obama's been saying.

[terisan]

32. such as? nt

[pnwmom]

34. Such as anything that will help them feel that they weren't complete idiots

for getting snookered by Reagan and his Rethugs.

[Avalux]

20. YES. Rural PA area is a perfect example.

Mostly it was over guns; that's why they went Republican with Reagan. So many of them have seen the light and are ready to be Democrats again. I will tell you though; they won't vote for Hillary.

[pnwmom]

22. They won't. But maybe their WIVES will.

Hillary carried NY with 75% of the women's vote because so many women in the red parts of the state voted for her.

[Avalux]

24. My mother won't and women her age won't. They don't trust Hillary.

That's the simple truth; it's a different atmosphere there than in NY.

[pnwmom]

26. I know MANY women ages 50 and up who would be happy to vote for

Clinton, if she's the nominee (even if they have another preferred candidate for the primary). In fact, older women are more likely to support her than younger women, probably because many of us identify with all that she's gone through.

[no name no slogan]

35. Socially conservative, economically liberal

They'd fit in the "populist" part of those four-way political spectrum thingys you see posted here all the time. In a way, a lot of them are like Hubert Humphrey or Dennis Kucinich: quite culturally conservative on a lot of things, but in favor of New Deal/Great Society-type programs.

If they want in, I say let 'em. As long as they have a "live and let live" attitude toward some of the more liberal social issues.

[OzarkDem]

36. They were also the George Wallace Democrats

in our area, the Dems who were Reagan Democrats (blue collar labor) also voted heavily for George Wallace.

These are people who vote according to their prejudices and bigotry. The only way they'll support their own party is when they vote with their pocketbooks. It takes hard economic times to bring them around.

Its not up to us, its up to them. There's little any candidate can say to appeal to them without pandering to their bigoted view of the world.

[loyalsister]

38. Maybe some history will help.....

Chisholm's base of support was ethnically diverse and included the National Organization for Women. Among the volunteers who were inspired by her campaign was Barbara Lee, who would go on to become a congresswoman some 25 years later. (Currently, Barbara Lee has a couple of pieces of legislation that would honor Shirley Chisholm, including H Con Res 9, calling on the US Postal Service to create a stamp honoring her, and HR 176, which would create a program to encourage educational exchanges between the US and Caribbean nations.) Chisholm said she ran for the office "in spite of hopeless odds, . . . to demonstrate the sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo."

Chisholm created controversy when she visited rival and ideological opposite George Wallace in the hospital soon after his shooting in May 1972, during the 1972 presidential primary campaign. Several years later, when Chisholm worked on a bill to give domestic workers the right to a minimum wage, Wallace got her the votes of enough southern congressmen to push the legislation through the House.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Chisholm

Was she pandering? Or, was she just being civil? Extending an olive branch so that they could work together regardless of other fights and get something good accomplished?

[HughMoran]

39. Oh, cmon, I was 18 years old and the economy sucked

I just wanted someone who wasn't using the word "malaise" to describe the electorate. Worst vote of my life as I learned very quickly to hate Reagan's guts.