It’s becoming clear that the Democrats are losing their grip on America’s working class. In fact, some might argue that they’ve already lost it.
Recent polls and election results show that Republicans are taking over the working class vote. But why is this happening? Experts say the answer is simple: the Democratic Party has become out of touch with the needs of the average American worker. The GOP, on the other hand, has been speaking directly to their concerns, and it’s paying off in a big way.
The Democratic Party of the United States claims to be the voice of the people; the party of the working class. Yet recent data has shown that the Republican Party has taken over the mantle of representing the blue-collar workers, leaving the Democrats far behind.
The evidence is overwhelming, and the trend has been in place for decades. A recent chart produced by Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur reveals that a whopping sixty-four percent of congressional districts with median incomes below the national average are now electing Republicans.
The trend is especially pronounced in rural areas and secondary cities; areas where the working-class communities are concentrated. The virus-induced economic hardships resulting in inflation rates have compounded this trend, driving the working and lower-middle-class people from the Democratic Party. They feel that their party has become a facilitator of the elites and educated people of the cities who conduct their own affairs without considering the needs of the working class.
The shift is dynamic and has been ongoing for decades. Especially after Trump’s upset win in 2016, many thought his success was due to appeals to working-class white voters. Later studies mitigated this notion. Indeed, it was the lower-earning stratum of Americans who felt that Republicans were increasingly speaking to their concerns.
This trend has resulted in a political realignment that may take the Democrats by surprise. The Democrats are increasingly representing affluent, highly-educated urban voters that may not have a real understanding of the problems facing the working class. The growing chasm between the haves and have-nots seems to have left the Democrats lagging behind.
The situation has created an opening for outsiders such as former President Donald Trump and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders who seriously contested for the 2016 and 2020 Democratic presidential nominations. As angst with the current political environment has grown, so too has voters’ taste for outside candidates like the aforementioned pair.
Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio has done a service to her colleagues and constituents by sounding the alarm. The longest-serving female member of Congress in American history has produced a chart that lists every US House district by median income in 2021, with Democratic-held districts highlighted in blue and Republican-held districts highlighted in red. It shows a pattern of blue in areas with the highest earning districts and a sprinkling of red in areas where the lowest-earning districts are found. Kaptur has given a version of the chart to President Biden and presented the document to members at a caucus meeting. The visual has reportedly taken some lawmakers by surprise, from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to rank-and-file lawmakers.
The working class is the backbone of America, and it is imperative that they are heard. Democrats need to take action and start listening to the voices of the working class. Listening implicitly means taking serious action. It means understanding and appreciating their problems and attempting to solve them. Failure to do so may relegate the Democrats to a position of political irrelevance. The Republican Party has taken over the goal of representing the working class. It is time for the Democrats to do a little soul-searching and find out why they are losing out. If they fail to do so, they will leave themselves open to accusations of politicizing with the elites and the censure of the working class.
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