It appears that middle and working class voters are shifting their allegiance away from the Democrats—despite the fondness President Obama and his party show for embracing them rhetorically.
In an article on “The Demographics that Sank the Democrats in the Midterm Elections,” Joel Kotkin argues that the realignment of these voters was behind the drubbing that Democrats got Tuesday.
Kotkin quotes a longtime Democratic activist Morley Winograd, a former Al Gore aide, saying that the Democrats have “committed political malpractice” because they “have not discussed the economy and have no real program. They are offering the middle class nothing.”
Actually, the president and the Democrats love discussing the middle class, but their policies make it difficult for those who want to get a job, work hard, and get into or remain in the middle class. Early exit polls showed that voters are frustrated with an American economy that doesn’t offer the opportunity it once did.
Kotkin writes:
Winograd believes that the depth of white middle- and working-class angst threatens the bold predictions in recent years about an “emerging Democratic majority” based on women, millennials, minorities and professionals. …
Rather than the promise of “hope and change,” according to exit polls, 50% of voters said they lack confidence that their children will do better than they have, 10 points higher than in 2010. This is not surprisingly given that nearly 80% state that the recession has not ended, at least for them.
The effectiveness of the Democrats’ class warfare message has been further undermined by the nature of the recovery; while failing most Americans, the Obama era has been very kind to plutocrats of all kinds. Low interest rates have hurt middle-income retirees while helping to send the stock market soaring. Quantitative easing has helped boost the price of assets like high-end real estate; in contrast middle and working class people, as well as small businesses, find access to capital or mortgages still very difficult.
Would you rather have a big, juicy slice of class warfare or a job?