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A “disdain for the working class”? What, pray tell, might that be? If the Democrats can gain 20+ seats in congress without a “message” I’ll count that as a suc
by akhilcacharya 8y ago
A “disdain for the working class”? What, pray tell, might that be?
If the Democrats can gain 20+ seats in congress without a “message” I’ll count that as a success.
- wu-ikkyu 8y ago>disdain for the working class”? What, pray tell, might that be? Implicit support for corporate globalization which vastly diminishes the bargaining power of the working class.
- maxxxxx 8y agoA “disdain for the working class”? What, pray tell, might that be? Calling people racist and bigots?
- akhilcacharya 8y agoThere are lots of working class people that aren’t racists and bigots (and in terms of bigotry against people of color, many working class people are people of color) and everyone accepts that there are many elites that are racist and bigoted. I’m not sure where the “working class” comes into the equation here.
- maxxxxx 8y agoI know plenty of liberal white collar people who immediately call someone who thinks about gun rights, has doubts about immigration or same sex marriage a racist and bigot. Independently of the merit of these opinions writing these people off is not a good idea.
- akhilcacharya 8y agoRemember when Obama said that thing about clinging to guns and religion? He ended up winning Pennsylvania by 10 points! Don’t pretend this is a new phenomenon or that anybody actually cares that much about it.
- LyndsySimon 8y ago> or that anybody actually cares that much about it. I assure you, those of us for whom gun rights are a central issue - an issue of basic civil rights - care. As it is, I have no particular love for the Republican Party, but I simply cannot see myself voting for a Democrat for state or national office given their history of voting as a bloc against gun rights. Objectively, I have no idea if gun control is a net positive for the Democrats at a national level - but I'm confident that by branding themselves as the party of gun control they are driving away a large number of people who would otherwise be reachable.
- akhilcacharya 8y agoI don't even disagree with you - but given that Obama won ~53% and 51% of the vote (a higher vote share than anybody since HW Bush in '88) it's not as important as some would think.
- gaius 8y agoWell, consider common terms like “flyover state” and “rust belt”. What do you suppose a person who talks like that really thinks about the people who live there?
- akhilcacharya 8y agoThose phrases have been used for decades. In the intervening years a Democrat has won the popular vote 6 times and the electoral vote 4 times.
- gaius 8y agoCoastal disdain for the middle has long been a thing yes. I suppose the modern difference is that when manufacturing was still onshore, no one cared what the coastal elites thought.
- akhilcacharya 8y agoManufacturing has been going offshore since the ‘80s. Springsteen wrote albums about it! This isn’t a new phenomenon at all.
- brookhaven_dude 8y agoDisdain might come in a more subtle form, for example disdain for candidates like Bernie.