The White Working Class.
Lost in all the coverage last night about how shocking it is that 33% of Hillary’s supporters in Kentucky would support John McCain in the Fall instead of Obama is the fact that, in 2004, 42% of white working class Democrats voted for George Bush over John Kerry. Same thing in 2000, give or take a point. Not only is the percentage basically the same as it always is (these are folks who are generally registered as Democrats for a lot of reasons, but then go on to vote Republican in the general election, largely over cultural issues) but if the percentage willing to vote for Obama actually did vote for him, he’d do better than Gore or Kerry. Norah O’Donnell I thank you! And this all assumes that people will do in November what they say right now to pollsters in a total vacuum that ignores the fact that there are going to be five months of campaigning between now and then.
I’ve never MET a working-class white male, of course, except for that one time at the Bike Stop in Philly (rawr. And thank you!) but if I see one somewhere and he’s on a lunch break I’ll make sure I ask him what he thinks. Also as Stirling pointed out, Oregon is full of dumb ass crackers. Dude. You are white hard working white class people! You were supposed to vote for the white person!
About The Author - Ben Wyskida is a writer, activist, conscientious hedonist and political communications strategist living in Brooklyn. Formerly a co-conspirator at Philadelphia's design firm for the people, Design for Social Impact, and then the Communications Director at Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Ben is now Publicity Director for the Nation Magazine. Ben's work has been published in Mother Jones, Yes Magazine, Fret Magazine and others. Ben has a remarkable gift for writing in the third person only when appropriate. - Visit Ben's site.
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Comments
first off, amazing photo with this post. secondly, thanks for making this point. It’s one we’re not hearing very clearly. Thirdly, someone needs to talk sense to the old Jews in Florida (see the NY Times today) who say they’ll vote for McCain over Obama because of Israel. Once you’re done clearing things up for the white working class could you get on the phone with some Florida Jews? Thanks.
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The role of race in this election has been greatly exaggerated. The fact of the matter is that most of the “issues” we are seeing with working class white men are a result of geography and not ethnicity. The demographics of Kentucky and Oregon (racially and economically) are basically identical. The difference is that one of them happens to be Kentucky…