Losing the Working Class

[babylonsister]

Pretty remarkable when you consider the source...

Losing the Working Class
As Ohio goes . . . ?
Nov 21, 2011, Vol. 17, No. 10 • By HENRY OLSEN



Last week’s election indicates that the GOP marriage with the white working class is on the rocks. That’s bad news, since the epic Republican landslide in 2010 was fueled by record-high margins among these voters. It’s doubly bad for the GOP frontrunner, multimillionaire Mitt Romney, who is already struggling to connect with non-college grads in the primaries. If white working-class independents need to be wooed to win in 2012​—​and they do​—​Republicans need to ask themselves: Is Romney the right man to do the wooing?

As in any troubled relationship, the cause of the GOP’s difficulties is simple: failure to listen to the other’s needs. On issue after issue, the opinions of the GOP’s conservative base are out of step with those of white working-class independents. Rather than grasp this fact, however, many Republican political leaders have listened solely to the base and ignored the other partner in the marriage.

more...

http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/losing-working-class_608007.html?nopager=1

[TBF]

1. There's a big opportunity here -

time for the Obama campaign to ramp up efforts with labor.

[GoCubsGo]

2. Silly Weekly Slandard...

They don't know the difference between a wife and a concubine.

[Jack Rabbit]

5. That's because it's been in bed GOP politicians too long

I'm not sure a lot of them know the difference between a wife and a concubine, either.

[Kber]

3. And once again the GOP concentrates on message over substance

The issue, according to this GOP strategist, isn't that the GOP has consistently voted against the interest of the working class and that the working class is (finally) starting to notice. Oh no. The problem is that we need a new message in order to continue to convince them to vote against their own interests yet again.

Maybe they should try being a little less anti-worker and pro-average-american for a change? (No - too hard and not in the interest of the REAL GOP base.)

[Armstead]

4. But the question is whether Democrats have the stuff to win the working class

...Not if they continue to trim, around the edges and continue to ignore the core issues that affect people in terms of distribution of wealth and power.

[JoeyT]

6. Probably not.

About the best we're going to be able to hope for is they get disgusted enough with the GOP to just start staying home and hope we haven't driven off enough of our working class and poor to make up for it.