What Barack Obama and Chicken Contact Lenses Have in Common
By Brian Dutt (OE), Viewpoints Editor
Issue date: 10/14/08 Section: Viewpoints
The answer may lie in the difficulty for Obama to connect with the working-class. For as long as I have been alive, the Republican party has been the party of the steel-toe, lunch pail voter (i.e., Joe Sixpack), who sided with the Republican party for its laissez faire attitude to government and its various stances on cultural issues (guns, abortions, same-sex marriage, religion).
Ironically, what originally sent the working class running towards Republicans was Lyndon Johnson's signing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964, which disillusioned many working-class voters who saw the Act as the evolution of the Democratic party into a party of handouts to the very poor and unemployed, African Americans, and other groups. The Act in combination with anti-war protests in the '60s against a war which sent the sons of many working class men to their deaths sealed a victory for Richard Nixon in 1968. Over time, issues of gun control, religion, and capital punishment all came into the mix, but working-class voters tended to vote Republican more on cultural issues than anything else.
The trends have stayed true almost up to the present day. Working-class voters largely supported George W. Bush during both of his victories, and a group known as the "Reagan Democrats" - socially conservative, small town, white, working-class democrats who voted for Reagan in 1980 and 1984, continued to play a significant role in elections. 2008 also brought a new dimension - Barack Obama's race, which many indicate may be playing a role in the election dynamic. A recent Stanford University poll attributes as much as a 6% loss for Obama in polls due to his race alone. With history on his side, Mr. McCain made his first stop on his campaign tour with his bubbly new running mate Macomb County, Michigan, considered the home of the Reagan Democrats - telegraphing his plan to hold on to the white working-class.
"What John McCain doesn't understand" is that with that whole pesky "economy not working" thing, and with the Republican party now brandished with a Scarlet W., the working-class may have a new agenda in this election year. Three weeks ago, before the impact of the crisis truly materialized, Obama and McCain were in a dead heat in the polls, with McCain up by 18 points among working-class whites, according to a Wall Street Journal poll. As the financial crisis unfolded, McCain's lead with working-class whites dropped by 11 points, and Obama surged ahead in the popular vote according to almost every poll.
Ironically, what originally sent the working class running towards Republicans was Lyndon Johnson's signing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964, which disillusioned many working-class voters who saw the Act as the evolution of the Democratic party into a party of handouts to the very poor and unemployed, African Americans, and other groups. The Act in combination with anti-war protests in the '60s against a war which sent the sons of many working class men to their deaths sealed a victory for Richard Nixon in 1968. Over time, issues of gun control, religion, and capital punishment all came into the mix, but working-class voters tended to vote Republican more on cultural issues than anything else.
The trends have stayed true almost up to the present day. Working-class voters largely supported George W. Bush during both of his victories, and a group known as the "Reagan Democrats" - socially conservative, small town, white, working-class democrats who voted for Reagan in 1980 and 1984, continued to play a significant role in elections. 2008 also brought a new dimension - Barack Obama's race, which many indicate may be playing a role in the election dynamic. A recent Stanford University poll attributes as much as a 6% loss for Obama in polls due to his race alone. With history on his side, Mr. McCain made his first stop on his campaign tour with his bubbly new running mate Macomb County, Michigan, considered the home of the Reagan Democrats - telegraphing his plan to hold on to the white working-class.
"What John McCain doesn't understand" is that with that whole pesky "economy not working" thing, and with the Republican party now brandished with a Scarlet W., the working-class may have a new agenda in this election year. Three weeks ago, before the impact of the crisis truly materialized, Obama and McCain were in a dead heat in the polls, with McCain up by 18 points among working-class whites, according to a Wall Street Journal poll. As the financial crisis unfolded, McCain's lead with working-class whites dropped by 11 points, and Obama surged ahead in the popular vote according to almost every poll.
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