Can Democrats Bring the White Voters Back Without Selling out?
•June 7, 2017
I still vividly remember the analyses in the last year’s presidential elections. Pundits and editorial writers were writing obituaries on the Republican Party for heavily relying on old poor white voters. Now, the conversation about these very same “poor white voters” has radically made a 360-degree change. Yes, these pundits are now saying that Democrats are doomed and that they don’t have a chance to win the House of Representatives next year if they don’t bring these white voters back to the party. Latinos and African Americans are voting blocks that Democrats can not always count on. These two constituents don’t constantly vote and that has empowered the poor white working-class voters who support the Republicans.
There are 24 seats that Democrats need to win next year if they want to control the House of Representatives in Congress. Seven of these seats are here in California and one has a lot of potentials to be flipped. That one is Darrell Issa’s seat, he was almost beaten in 2016. Congressman Issa and other six Republican Congressional Representatives from California who voted for the repeal of Obamacare have become a target in next year Congressional’s elections.
The fact that almost 4 million people in California gained coverage through this act was not a factor in these seven California Congressional Representatives’ decision when they cast their votes. Good representatives, they first see what is for the best interest of the state they represent. Then, they look for the best interest of the district. These seven representatives might have done neither. Their decisions were ideologically driven.
That recent close vote in the House of Representatives, that repealed the Affordable Care Act, has pundits now taken a closer look at California for next year’s congressional elections. They all think California can actually lead the effort for Democrats to win back the House of Representatives. These experts are also making the case for the Democratic leadership to reach out to white voters in “a major way.”
Since Bill Clinton became President and Governor Wilson ruthlessly went after immigrants in the 1990s, for good or ill California became the most progressive and democratic state in the nation. Both political parties have utterly ignored California in presidential elections ever since. They don’t spend a dime campaigning here. They see California as an ATM machine. Hence most candidates running for federal government’s offices just come to California to get some cash and get the hell out.
Experts have sliced and diced the presidential election last year and they are still puzzled as to how Trump was able to replace the coalition used by Obama when he won the last two presidential elections. Poor white voters enthusiastically embraced Trump’s nationalistic message of “American First.” It might be true that Democrats need to somehow reach out to poor white working-class voters if they want to be part of the process of governing. But leaders within the Democratic leadership might be misreading these voters. These leaders see this as a problem with messaging. These white voters want more than just changing the substance of the messages. They want the party to re-adjust their positions in the political landscape.
It truly begs the question as to why these poor whites voters have abandoned the democratic party and have to support a man who has enriched himself exploiting them. Granted, the Democrats have failed to address their issues and have been mired in the cultural wars that at times scapegoated them. Supporting Trump in protest for rejecting what they call ‘left-wing politics’ might be counterproductive. Yes, how can these billionaires who have taken over Washington could ease the pain that these non-educated white voters might be feeling? These white voters are clearly victims of this thing known as the “winner takes all” capitalism. Trump and the Republicans leading Congress in no way could help these poor white voters.
Whites working class and poor voters have been abruptly abandoning Democrats in the last two decades. Even when they are consciously aware that embracing the Republican Party’s platform might mean to sacrifice their own economic interests. All those Democratic so-called “firewalls” in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania were all blown up by Trump. These working-class white voters badly wanted to give the finger to the Democrats and voted for Trump.
Regaining the support from uneducated poor whites voters might, for the Democrats, mean to engage in some sort of soul searching as to what positions they will be re-adjusting. That is, their long-standing positions on abortion, guns and support the LGBT community are some of the issues that they might have to modify. Interesting enough, Bernie Sander not long ago supported a pro-life Democrat. Yes, Bernie Sander, the former presidential candidate who is hardly viewed as a centrist. Hey, if Bernie could do it then there is no reason why Democratic leaders can’t, right?
It is important to highlight that Democrats don’t appear to be strategizing to seize the future. For starters, they elected Nanci Pelosi to lead them in the House and Senator Schumer to lead them in the Senate. Both leaders have been major players in the Democratic party that has handed all branches of government to the Republicans. New voices and new visions are not emerging to take this party into a path for success.
The problems of vision and strategies are compounded by internal destructive in-fights between very destructive factions. Bernie Sander’s supporters want more purity and want true progressive policies and while centrist Democrats are calling for more time and more conversations. There is nothing that Democrats can do if there is no compromise between these fractions. Also, the progressive wing wants to have a more clearly defined direction other than just pushing back to Trump. Indeed, at this point, there hasn’t been a major change in strategy. There is still no message for those who are not motivated by a distaste for him. Although those who dislike Trump with a passion are unified.
Last presidential elections elicited profound dissatisfactions of constituents for both political parties. It is being said that both parties have abandoned their ideological roots. Most people thought the Republicans were doomed. But it turned out to be that Democrats were the ones who appeared to have felt this dissatisfaction in a more profound way. They are no longer part of the process of governing. All branches of government are being controlled by the GOP.
One thing is crystal clear here, Democrats have their work cut out in getting back in the game and at the very least they should try to win the House of Representatives next year. And they should do it by sticking to the politics of convictions not the politics of convenience. Yes, bring those working-class white voters but without destroying the progressive foundation.
Thank you for reading.
Chamba Sanchez
06/07/2017
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Sources consulted.
Brownstein, Ronald. “Democrats Need These California Seats to Win Back, the House.” Atlantic 25 May 2017. Web. 2 June 20217
Griffin, Robert, John Halpin and Rui Texieira. “Democrats Need to Be the Party of and for Working People of All Races: And they can’t take Congress unless they win over more white workers.” American Prospect 1, June 2017. Web. 6 June 2017.
Scanlon, Kate. “Sanders Responds to Backlash for Campaigning with Democratic Candidate who once backed pro-life bills.” the blaze.com 21 April 2017. Web. 3 June 2017.
The Editors. “The White Working Class: An American, and a Democratic, dillemma.” American Prospect 1, June 2017. Web. 4 June 2017.
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Photos credit: Photos used in this piece was purchased from iStock website.
When you have an section of the party that says that it needs to “shut other white people down and let people of color speak, instead of allowing everyone to have a voice; when you have a party that tells whites that they are privileged even if they are homeless and tell them they don’t know what its like to struggle; when whites become victims of affirmative action where their merits are less important than diversity or losing their job to illegal immigration, you find the root problem with the Democratic party where it favors the minority. Republicans have this problem too. Both parties should stop playing identity politics and instead learn to represent every American and consider whats best for them.
The democratic party needs to restructure its policy, if it expects to regain the white voters that deserted the party in the 2016 election. For the party to secure a balance of power in congress; the democrats need to win 24 seats in the House of Representatives this following year. If the democratic party wants to contend in congress and stop the Donald agenda; it must focus on winning the open seats in the House of Representatives. California must be the state that helps the democratic party change the status quo; the citizens of California need to appoint progressive leaders that are not afraid to shake up things in congress. The democrats must stop fighting amongst each other; and look for representatives with new visions for the party. For the democratic party to be able to contend once again in congress; it needs to rethink its policy on some controversial issues that has labeled the party “the leftwing party”. This next year the democratic party will be tested and if it continues with the same played out policies it will continue to lose support not only from the white community, but the Hispanic and African American communities as well.
Before discussion about bridging the gap between people can be had, the Democrats must look to reorganize and reshape the party. The current leadership has decided that it is much more important to support the party elders instead of the invigorating a new generation. It is impossible for a party to survive when many members are over fifty. Now down to the main argument of whether the Democratic should concede its progressive ideas. That’s a hard no. But at the same time we should not completely shut out people with opposing views. The two factions within the party are going about it wrong. If the democratic party wants to be making change people have to open their minds to other ideas and not assume that everyone is wrong. We will never get anywhere with that rhetoric. On the other hand the party can not just sit around talking because the Republican party is taking action, getting elected, and passing policies. The Democrats need to take the party in a different direction. They need to take action and must remember not to be arrogant.
Democrats are in complicated situation in which they must decide what the best strategy would be for their party. Democrats have gradually lost their influence in the House of Representatives which the Republican Party currently dominates. In order for Democrats to gain their influence back in the House of Representatives, they must secure 24 seats in the year to come. Throughout the years, Democrats have relied heavily on votes from Latinos and African Americans, while completely shutting out the poor whites who support the party. With the poor whites being the minority in the party, they have decided to shift their hope towards the Republican Party as their issues have not been embraced by the Democratic Party. Although it may amaze some people that poor whites are now supporting a party that is conservative, their shift in party is said to be connected to the promises Donald Trump has made for this country. Poor whites do not feel that they are being represented as Democratic policy has continued to stay stagnant with its traditional ideals. The Democratic Party was not as active as it should’ve been in last year’s election. They ignore campaigning at the states they feel they have a secure vote on and have failed to address their issues as a whole party. They have grown tired of the lack of progress the party has done and have therefore gone against the Democrats completely shocking the world with the triumph the Republican Party had in the presidential election. In order to gain back those votes, they must readjust and compromise with what the individuals in their party want (the minority, not solely the majority). Democratic leaders must allow new voices and ideas to be heard from younger representatives. Democratic leaders have been selfish with the positions they have held all these years and it is about time for a reform within the party.
I believe this is true. I just don’t think they can get all white voters with out losing minorities that democrats represent. They could get some votes, but not all due to the fact that they would sell out, backtracking on things they’ve said or maybe done. To my knowledge, they would have to take certain risks and just see the outcome because people are unpredictable. They must come up with new improved ideas.
Can Democrats bring the white voters back without selling out, I believe it’s the democratic’s party responsibility to do so. The Democratic Party needs to find ways to appeal to potential voters, as mentioned poor white people, I assume the working class. If there was a clear message from the Democratic Party to white people, these white voters have made it clear that it’s not about change, it’s about racial superiority, their racial superiority, for most. I agree there is no clear message although those against and for Trump are unified. They can appeal to white voters without selling out, they can focus on Trump’s failures and if Trump falls short that can be useful to the Democrats. I believe this generation has no ideologies and we lack motivation, that’s why North Korea, China, racism all these distractions appeal to us because our government is in crisis and the American message lags.
We understand that being a Democrat would symbolize one to be a minority. The Democrat party can only be the way to help the low income minorities to understand the standard affect of those who came before Obama. We learned that during the Kennedy elections we saw how he would help his campaign to make the minorities understand that the democrats would be the ones to save and relief their suffrage by just boring voting for him. Our parents learned to symbolize that being a Democrat was about the struggle for the people. We saw many generations being bias in making the decision on how to select a political party. So in order for the white , lower income Americans to select being a Democrat we would have to have them familirized themselves and views to understand that being a Democrat would not diminish them as Americans. Many need to get motivated and challenge their aspect on how a political party represents you. We need to have the ability not just to choose a side but to help choose a decision on how to make this country “great agianagian”.
I believe that the Democrats can bring white voters without selling out but it is up to the Democratic party to figure out how they can compromise their ideas. One major thing to focus on is how to talk to the working class and choosing credible candidates. I don’t think this would be in any way selling out to want to gain white voters. The Democrats need a strong message and they should not prioritize bringing white voters back, although it should be a goal, but they should also focus on growing their vote I believe they can achieve this by creating a new and improved message that speaks to all Americans.
I feel like Trump and the Republican Party really outsmarted everyone for heavily relying on old poor white voters. These voters were already lost and forgot of but they new where exactly to target that is where they won “Electorial College Victory.” He decided to reach out to these poor white class since they did composed about 70 percent of the eligible voter population in 1980s. Knowing that they would just have to take these people in mind and win them over. The voter population on whites has significantly declined but when they are taken in mind they will have the support no one has gave them for years. Can Democrats Bring the White Voters Back Without Selling out? I feel that you sell out in order to get something back. It might not be getting money in return but what ever you are trying to pursue. I mean Donald Trump reached out to these people and in return they got their vote. So in life we do things like vote for something in return for example, the white want jobs and better pay. I feel like democratics need to improve the way they reach out to everyone and they need to find new ways and tactiques because if something isnt working and they just use the same strategy to try and improve it, it just might not work and they need to change it. Democratics should represent the working class of all race and deliver core needs to represent their concerns.
The differences in opinion between the whites and minority will always be different, and to me will always be the biggest problem. It shouldn’t have to be that way, they need to realize that the minority will not always be there. They need to find a way to change up their ways & methods because they seem to be in this thought process where they feel like they don’t need to focus on other groups. I mean look at the last elections, Donald Trump won because he won the white middle working class, which I saw that Hillary just wasn’t connecting with. That all comes back to the the Democratic Party in general, the people see no change it’s literally almost always the same people in these positions of power and look at what they have accomplished; nothing. I guess the people finally got fed up, they say nothing was coming out of this and that’s the reason Donald Trump won, he reached out and made them buy it that they shared the same ideals, now if he does do what he set out to do that’s a different story. Idk about all this selling out stuff, but at the end what the Blue Party needs is a big shake-up because obviously as of now, their ways are looking more and more oudated. Until they can find real political leaders, then they might not end up with the majority in the house, and will really need to work with the Republicans in order to get stuff done.
To bring back poor white voters democrats have to ‘sell out’ to a certain extent. Not much has changed as far as their political views go. And with citizens being more liberal than ever, ex: gay rights, LGBT communities, and awareness/sharing incidents of racism on the internet the democratic party has yet to change their views in order to catch up with the times. And I agree that Bernie Sanders, a favorite among young democratic voters was pro-life. But Sanders covered a majority of issues young voters wanted to hear. Democrats could benefit from also relating to their voters and change their long-time stance and ideas. If not the same ideas and same vision will keep democrats in the same place they are now, hopelessly in need of 24 seats that Democrats need to control the House of Representatives in Congress. The most damaging to democrats is the issues they have within themselves. Within the party democrats must find a middle ground and agree on what they want. To date democrats cannot compromise on a vision they would like. Resolving this issue first will be a huge step in the right direction.
Democrats need to stop blaming white people as if they are the problem. White people are feeling attacked and ostracized. They feel like minorities are being favored for the sake of diversity rather than merit, which often times happens to be the case. People of color are being hired for jobs rather than whites even if the white person has more skills and is better qualified for the job because companies want to give a non-racist image so they go for the people of color. White people are considered the majority and privileged because of their race. They aren’t thought of facing difficulties like those of minorities, but they do. There are white peoples who are homeless, poor, struggling, etc. as well.
One thing is clear, if the Democratic Party want to regain control, they must change their strategies. I don’t feel that it is possible to change direction without changing their views. Maybe it is time to change everything up, or maybe not everything but the way in which they are sending messages out to the “old white poor” class. They need to be more appealing to them without changing the values used to bring in the Latino and African American community. After all, the older generation that was given to the Republicans, are the pushed aside. I think they forget that there still is that older generation because they are making way and trying to appeal to generation X and to the millennials. Trump focused on their fears and their weaknesses. Maybe the Democratic Party should learn a little from him to pull that group back. They should do some digging and find out what these people want/need. It is time to promote a different pitch, one that has not been introduced by either parties.
I do believe it’s true that the Democratic Party has lost its strength in the house of representatives. I think that it would take extreme changes and proposals in order to influence the silent majority-Poor white working-class. It has been known that African-Americans, Latinos, and other minorities have not really voted, which gave the white poor working-class the ability to uphold strength in the house of reps by voting for President. Trump, but what I don’t understand is why would they vote for someone who takes advantage of them. In order for the Democratic Party, to regain strength back in the house of reps they would have to compromise with Progressive policies and those that the white working-class wants in order to strive and regain political influence.
I believe in this day and age in America many young adults have become lazy and desensitized to caring about our government. In the past they’re have majors protest to things we as a people didn’t agree with, but now we live in such an entitled world. Where people see things as black and white. Trumps being elected into office was one of those examples, I remember all of the people at my school who assumed it was a joke and laughed at it. But in the end they weren’t laughing and by then it was already too late. However depending on how trump handles his presidency will hopefully enlighten many white voters to really evaluate who is right to run this country.
A clear divide between progressive and centrist Democrats was ongoing throughout the 2016 Presidential election. Many people blamed the progressives for the loss of the Democrat in that position. However, there were many ideals the democratic nominee could have inherited from the progressive candidate. Factions created a divide between this party because as you stated there are minority groups that get left out of the conversation i.e. abortion, LGBT. The Democratic party needs to elect officials that are willing to combine both views of the Democratic spectrum, in order to evolve with the evolving ideals of the new Democratic voters. The Democratic nominee emphasized the factions by mainly focusing on the changes made that will be made to benefit the minority groups. This hurt her votes from the middle/lower class white people. They could not relate to the platform she presented because they were not in the same circumstances. Along with the fact that the nominee did not do very much campaigning in the states who had large middle/lower white class Americans. Hopefully, the nominees for the House of Representatives will contribute more focus on the middle/lower white class because they have more voting power. Unfortunately, immigrants don’t have a vote and lower class minorities have a low voter turnout. More campaigning needs to be done to target the entire Democratic following not only the groups that are left out.
I definitely agree that the old poor whites need to remain constant and vote, vote fro change. I do believe it is possible to win the House of Representatives this upcoming election. In addition it is the sad truth that Latinos and African Americas are not always reliable and we can not count on their numbers to get the House back to the democratic party, but with the rising recent interest in politics presented by the millenniums we may have a change. And if the democratic party seeks to gain and maintain voters they shall reconstruct their policies. Candidates as well shall be held responsible for not ensuring there votes the California example is the best to describe how many forget to advertise and promote to each and every state to reinsure all votes and motivate the people because eat the end everyones vote really does matter and if we seek to regain the House of Representative we must be on our toes and regain trust from each and every citizen especially those who are on the right path but need a little reinsurance.