In his current column, Edsall deals with Democrats' difficulties in getting the votes of blue-collar whites, pulling together the views of a variety of pollsters and academics on this subject. Choice examples include:
When Trump stands up in front of his audience at rallies during the campaign and tells them he’s going to give them their country back, Trump is having a conversation about race. Our response is that we are going to raise the minimum wage — we are having a conversation about economics. We are playing checkers while Trump is playing chess. And he continues to do so as he focuses on things like Black N.F.L. players taking a knee.Actually, Republican readers will find Edsall's whole column refreshing and upbeat. N.B., The first time COTTonLINE wrote of tribal politics in the U.S. was 3.5 years ago.
Heightened tribal polarization is the primary hurdle to Democrats’ ability to better compete and win white non-college voters. Avoiding that conversation isn’t going to work.
The left’s lack of awareness of the excesses of their own evolving dogma makes it increasingly easy for Breitbart, Fox News, and similar-minded others to portray liberals as hypocritical and out of touch with the day-to-day lives of many Americans.
The cultural problem is Democrats looking down their noses at blue collar work and flyover country. (snip) Let’s get back to celebrating the work of those who fix pipes, install wind farms, etc. Many of us in Democrat bubble lands are just too full of ourselves.
