Mitchell: The myth of the "white working class" vote as part of the Dem coalition

[featherman]

"Accepting this different road to 270 electoral votes will be difficult for many in the Democratic Party who have spent decades searching for the silver bullet that would bring white blue collar workers home to the Democrats. Unwillingness to accept this was at the heart of Hillary Clinton's electability narrative. Her narrative, that she was uniquely positioned to bring Reagan Democrats back home in November was prima facie absurd, but got an enormous amount of traction and was largely unchallenged in the media or, frankly, by the Obama campaign. The reality was that Clinton remained unpopular with this group, with 55% of white voters who had not completed college viewing her unfavorably in an April, 2008 AP poll.

The broader notion, however, that the only way for the Democrats to win was by sweeping the rust belt, is so widely accepted that Clinton's argument went unquestioned. The question that should be asked is that given that in each of the last two presidential elections the Democrats tried this strategy and failed, why would Clinton's chances in 2008 be any different. In 2004 the Democrats ran a war hero, albeit a liberal and extremely wealthy one from the Northeast, against an unpopular president who was viewed as mishandling an unpopular war, and still managed to lose Ohio, and, of course, the election. Betting the farm on the notion that in 2008 the Democrats can carry Ohio and win the election by running very liberal and very wealthy senator from the Northeast with no war record against a Republican who is a war hero and who has been critical of the mismanagement of an unpopular war, seems to fit at least one definition of insanity-doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."

more at the link

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lincoln-mitchell/1964_b_102540.html

[BlooInBloo]

1. Dude - you're SOOOO behind the times. We're talking about how *sexist* Obama is now...

not how racist.

Get with it! :eyes:

[mcctatas]

2. I thought we were talking about how great Karl Rove is...

damn, I can't keep up;)

[featherman]

3. LOL- I don't care about that stuff. I'm looking at the GE matchup

[AtomicKitten]

4. Obama doesn't have a problem with white voters, he has a problem with racist voters.

[featherman]

5. I think the point is that Democrats have had a problem with these voters

since 1964. At least we have never won them since the 1964 blowout... this has been construed as an Obama race problem in 2008 but Humphrey, McGovern, Carter, Clinton, Gore and Kerry all had the same problem as white men. It's more about "tribal" identity and culture than race IMO.

[AtomicKitten]

9. The Clintons made it their business to make Obama black enough.

And unfortunately that is being used to muddy the waters of what are, I agree, really cultural differences. The fact that she continues to rally the divide is most disturbing.

In my opinion, a realignment of the electorate is in process. I believe the racists that exist within the Democratic Party have been rallied into a lather by Clinton. I also believe Obama will be fine, in fact will soar with half of her supporters. He has expanded the electorate and brought all kinds of new voters into the process. I'm fine with allowing those that have declared they won't vote for Obama in that special vindictive dangle. Racists don't belong in the Democratic Party anyway.

[janx]

6. Very thoughtful analysis.

Thanks for posting this.

[Adelante]

8. Hey, you

:hi:

[democracy1st]

7. K & R

[mystieus]

10. Add to that the fact that the Dems haven't won that segment of the voting population since 1964

and that the only two Democratic presidents of the last 40 years got elected because of the black vote, not the white vote (which they lost).

[Laughing Mirror]

11. "a Republican who is a war hero"

Which is an even bigger myth ... the war hero part, that is.