Liberals’ Class Warfare on the Working Class Keeps Trump Afloat

Democrats won’t win back voters they view with contempt.

From John Fund/National Review:

The House Majority PAC last month released an exhaustive survey. McClatchy’s Alex Roarty summarized the findings as “white voters without a college degree still view Trump relatively favorably, their opinion of Democrats is in the dumps, and they reject some of the party’s favored economic initiatives.” 

Asked which party will “improve the economy and create jobs,” Republicans have a 35-point edge among white working-class Democrats. They have a 19-point edge when it comes to ensuring people are rewarded for their hard work, and a 15-point edge on middle-class tax cuts. Democrats have only a four-point edge on health care, a surprise given the unpopularity of the GOP’s failed Senate plan. 

The biggest challenge that liberals will face in trying to win back the voters who have drifted to the GOP is finding a way to conceal their agenda. The poll and its accompanying focus group found that Democrats are hurt by the perception that they care mostly about upper-income concerns such as free or reduced college tuition, and they look down with thinly veiled contempt on working-class voters. Many of those voters don’t think college is a ticket to prosperity, and many prefer blue-collar jobs. “In short, when these voters hear people tell them that the answer to their concerns is college, their reaction is to essentially say — don’t force your version of the American Dream on me,” the House Majority PAC concluded. 

John Fund