Democrats vie with Republicans to capture the working-class vote

[RiverLover]

Democrats vie with Republicans to capture the working-class vote
12/22/14



Some people think Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts could pose a threat to the presidential ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton. She could. But she also could pose a threat to the next Republican presidential nominee. Her attacks on America’s big banks could get her more than just media buzz. They could generate lots of votes. Republicans would do well to take her seriously.

It has been a long time since a populist wave washed over the nation and significantly influenced campaign discourse and political events. It happened in the 1820s with the emergence of Andrew Jackson, in the 1890s with the emergence of William Jennings Bryan and in the 1930s with the fiery “share the wealth” rhetoric of Huey Long until his 1935 assassination destroyed his movement.

Today, we see economic and political developments that could generate another such populist storm. The key is the plight of the white working class. Andrew Cherlin of Johns Hopkins University tells us that in 1996, the average 30-year-old man with a high school degree earned 20 percent less than a comparable man in 1979.

He outlines the devastation of blue-collar occupations: the percentage of workers classified as precision-production, crafts and repair workers, as well as operatives, fabricators and construction workers, decreased from 28 percent in 1970 to 17 percent in 2010. During the same period, the number of workers operating lathe, milling and turning machines plummeted from 345,000 to 14,000.

...Democrats have given Republicans a valuable gift by sticking it to the American working class, once the bedrock of the party’s New Deal coalition. But, if Mr. Schumer and Mrs. Warren have their way, their party will begin taking steps to reverse that situation and bring those working-class Americans back into the fold. If Republicans are flat-footed, the new Democratic populists could create a major fault line between themselves and Republicans on the issue of the big Wall Street banks. That represents the biggest threat to Republicans going into the 2016 elections.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/22/robert-merry-elizabeth-warren-the-populist-could-t/

Also posted in EW group.

[Jacoby365]

1. Wow. I see this article as nothing but a hit job on the Democratic Party.

I don't even know where to start, but I see a lot that is wrong with the article. Republicans are better for working class Americans than Democrats? "Democrats have given Republicans a valuable gift by sticking it to the American working class".

[RiverLover]

2. This is the reality of the changes going on in the party right now & the purpose of this group

Just for 2 examples out of many, look at what NAFTA has done, along with the destruction of unions. And the repeal of Glass-Steagall. All done as a parting gift from a a Democratic president. We want to bring the GREAT Democratic Roosevelt principles back to something other than what people talk about when campaigning but then do the opposite in office.

[KansDem]

3. "Washington Times"

The political views of The Washington Times are often described as conservative.[48][49][50] The Washington Post reported: "the Times was established by <Unification Church, Sun Myung> Moon to combat communism and be a conservative alternative to what he perceived as the liberal bias of The Washington Post."[5]

Conservative commentator Paul Weyrich commented:

The Washington Post became very arrogant and they just decided that they would determine what was news and what wasn't news and they wouldn't cover a lot of things that went on. And the Washington Times has forced the Post to cover a lot of things that they wouldn't cover if the Times wasn't in existence.[51]

In 2007, the liberal Mother Jones news magazine said that the Times had become "essential reading for political news junkies" soon after its founding, and quoted James Gavin, special assistant to Bo Hi Pak:

We're trying to combat communism and we're trying to uphold traditional Judeo-Christian values. The Washington Times is standing up for those values and fighting anything that would tear them down. Causa is doing the same thing, by explaining what the enemy is trying to do.[52]

In a 2008 essay published in Harper's Magazine, historian Thomas Frank linked the Times to the modern American conservative movement, saying:

There is even a daily newspaper—the Washington Times—published strictly for the movement’s benefit, a propaganda sheet whose distortions are so obvious and so alien that it puts one in mind of those official party organs one encounters when traveling in authoritarian countries.[53]
In 2009 the New York Times reported:

With its conservative editorial bent, the paper also became a crucial training ground for many rising conservative journalists and a must-read for those in the movement. A veritable who’s who of conservatives — Tony Blankley, Frank J. Gaffney Jr., Larry Kudlow, John Podhoretz and Tony Snow — has churned out copy for its pages.[34]

Though not listed, another conservative writer who trained there was New York Times op-ed columnist David Brooks, a Washington Times editorial writer in the 1980s.[54]

The Times has also been criticized for using the word "homosexual" rather than "gay."[55] In 2010, the Times published an editorial opposing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act because it granted legal protective status for transgender people. The editorial criticized some transgender people and said that gender identity can be a choice, not an innate characteristic.[56][57][58]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Times

It is to newspapers what FOX is to TV news...

[RiverLover]

4. How about Huffpo then-The New Populist Movement: Organizing to Take Back America.

The new progressive populist movement is rising up in the United States. Inspired by an expansive vision of greater economic opportunity for all Americans, this new movement is also fueled by anger over politicians' broken promises. After decades of recurring economic crisis, which now seems systemic and permanent, millions of Americans have come to realize that much of our democratic system is now owned by a moneyed elite that use their power to resist real change and to manipulate the economy for their own financial gain.

Even the mass media know something big is going on. At the end of November, a Washington Post headline announced, "More liberal, populist movement emerging ahead of 2016 elections." And the New York Times, in a September article, reporting on the new progressive insurgency, cited the excitement generated by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and the new populist mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio. These and other media reports have been based on important new populist victories that represent the visible tip of a very large iceberg:

Low-wage workers and their allies have filled the streets of America's major cities, demanding a living wage and the right to bargain for wages and benefits. Their basic demand, echoed now by political leaders, is that full-time work should pay enough to keep a family out of poverty.

The cry of "break up the big banks" is now heard from protests at bank shareholder meetings to the halls of Congress. Many of the groups who worked to pass the Dodd-Frank bill have joined with housing advocates and others to demand Wall Street prosecutions - and real bank reform championed by Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown and Sen. Warren.

Lawrence Summers, President Obama's top choice for Chair of the Federal Reserve, was stopped from getting that important job by a coalition of civic activists, including women and financial reform groups. Their favorite, Janet Yellen, was appointed instead.

The national debate on the future or Social Security has been flipped - from "Stop cutting benefits" to "Expand Social Security." Activists got Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin to introduce a bill with Sen. Sherrod Brown to expand benefits. Sen. Warren helped achieve critical mass. Conservative "Third Way" operatives attacked, but actual Third Way Members of Congress denounced their own group - and several actually embraced Social Security expansion. And after grassroots pressure, President Obama withdrew his plan to cut Social Security benefits...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roger-hickey/the-new-populist-movement_b_4899347.html

[djean111]

5. Thank you. You have given a cogent reply to what was really just a kill the

messenger post that did not address the content of the OP.

[RiverLover]

6. ...

djean111

[Jacoby365]

8. I am an Elizabeth Warren supporter.

I am an Elizabeth Warren supporter, and I am grateful she is bringing this issue to the forefront, but I found it curious that the Washington Times article seemed to be making the point that all Republicans need to defeat Democrats is to go after the big banks. I don't buy it. But yes, this country needs an Elizabeth Warren. Or ten just like her.

[sabrina 1]

12. That may be, however the plight of the working class is the issue and it is a real issue. The WT

Last edited Mon Dec 29, 2014, 12:56 AM - Edit history (1)

would not be able to print such an article if Dems would stand up for the working class the way they used to. Actually the very fact that they are writing about this, JUST AS MANY LIBERAL publications have been doing for a long time now, shows how vulnerable the party that is supposed to be the party of the working class, has become.

And that is why Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have become so popular.

Dems ARE handing issues to the Republicans.

When Dems talk about CUTTING SS, when they falsely imply that SS ever had anything to do with the Deficit, instead of screaming from the highest roof tops the REAL REASONS why we had a deficit, REPUBLICAN POLICIES, they PROTECTED Bush's Tax Cuts for the Wealthy which contributed TWO TRILLION dollars to the deficit.

Did Dems point THAT out, NO. Nor did they go after them on the unnecessary wars they started. THEY contributed trillions more to the deficit.

And how about Wall St corruption? Dems did NOT go after Republicans on these issues.

All we heard about was the lie that SS had anything to do with the deficit, which it did not.

Now, imagine if today's Dem Party was the party of FDR.

IF it was, there is no way the Washington Times or anyone else could write an article like that. Because they would be laughed at.

It IS sad that the right can now attack Dems on issues they should be unable to do.

And they will, take this article as a warning. There will probably be lots more from the Right. Not that they will be sincere, we know that, but they have been given the opening.

Which is why we have this group. NOT to divert attention from real issues by pointing at sources and then ignoring the issues, for that people can go to GD.

But to consider the issues, the sources, what it all means and mostly to try to figure out how to get the Corporatists out of our party and replace them with Progressive Dems who actually care about the people.

[RiverLover]

13. x10000000!

Thank you Sabrina.

[RiverLover]

7. The author of this Washtimes article is also the author of

Sands of Empire: Missionary Zeal, American Foreign Policy, and the Hazards of Global Ambition

http://www.amazon.com/Sands-Empire-Missionary-American-Ambition-ebook/dp/B000FCK6CA/ref=la_B001IXSCMG_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1419515851&sr=1-4

Anything but a rethug.

[sabrina 1]

14. Thank you, seems like he's an excellent reporter especially on our disastrous Foreign Policies. This

tactic of ignoring the message and attacking the messenger has become a real problem and I hope we can keep it out of this group.

What should have occurred here before the immediate attack on the source, was to discuss the issue which certainly is a legitimate issue.

I just read the synopsis of his book on our Foreign Policy and I could not agree with him more.

Thanks for that link, I wish we had more journalists joining him in letting the public know the facts about our foreign policies.

[Cosmic Kitten]

9. Populists have real challenge on the issues

Capturing "working-class", votes while simple enough
on the basic Populist platform of FDR, will have to address
the WEDGE issues that turned them away previously.

The Democratic party lost the middle-class voters
because of WEDGE issues such as GUN owner rights.
It's inconceivable how the Populists will get a majority
of the middle-class if 2nd Amendment , or other
"perceived liberal" issues get pushed forward.
Building a voting coalition is the priority to win elections.

There are third rail issues that Populists must be aware
will turn off average blue collar voters in the blink of the eye.
It's not a matter of sacrificing values so much as realizing
that there is much more at stake, and a strong working-class
coalition is THE PRIORITY.

Wedge issues will be the death of the Populist movement.
Divide and conquer, the right-wing knows that game all too well.
Take notice, EW does NOT focus on the wedge issues...
she speaks for average American concerns and against "special interests"

[Wellstone ruled]

10. Without real actions meaning real Legislation passed into law,

the Joe and Jane Six pack voters will trend toward a conservative safe message. Our Party Propaganda people can yap and yap,take the money and when some meaning full piece of People Legislation goes South,bring in the Wordsmith's and play CYA all day. When we spot light the weak Legeslator's within our ranks,notice what happens. Mr. Schumer and his arms length Citi Group crap,no finger prints here,but,the stink won't leave. The worker class is asking for someone and someone's to stand up for them,well,we as progressives have to take the pen and find these representatives.

For the most part,it's our Party's message and actions that will recapture the so called Family Vote,the folks out there just trying to make a difference and leave to the next generation a better opportunity to succeed. We just handed these folks a questionnaire check the boxes that best suit your family unit in the next year. OOP's, some of our so called Democratic Friends did this,pensions cuts coming,Citi Group gets a trillion dollar safety net,Banks will be able to confiscate savings and other depository accounts in case of a emergency if so claimed by said Bank,funding for women and children cut as well as food stamps which by the way affects seniors on fixed incomes and you wonder why the Joe and Janes of the this country who work their asses off get pissed at our Party. We did not put a picture to the names of these so called Dino Dems in a timely fashion. Compromise,bullshit,that's nothing more than cover for the get along go along group. Fear is the tool of the Right Wing,and facts are the best tool of the Progressive Wing.

[RiverLover]

11. Yes. Absolutely.

"facts are the best tool of the Progressive Wing."

I wish we had a truly progressive cable news channel to counteract Fox 24/7 propaganda too. And a strong personality spewing facts on the radio to counteract Rush & co on RW radio....that would help.

But in the meantime, we can only support our true loyal progressives like Elizabeth Warren & Bernie, Sherrod Brown & Al Franken, Whitehouse over in RI, etc. And get things happening locally. That'll be easier to do once the Primary gets cranked...