On the rift between working class & elites
And how a Seattle-Times columnist illustrated the challenge for Democrats
Stories of the division in Washington politics typically focus on the Cascade Curtain. This week, columnist Danny Westneat of the Seattle-Times described how the national trend of a populist Republican party is increasingly leaving Democrats as the party of college-educated elites and it’s particularly noticeable in “blue Washington.”.
He’s not the first to observe the growing isolation of the Democratic party from the working class. Author and journalist Batya Ungar-Sargon, opinion editor for Newsweek magazine, recently released her second book, "Second Class: How the Elites Are Leaving Middle America Behind." It’s an interesting development for those on both sides of the Red-Blue political divide who once were convinced by the demography is destiny argument that we were facing a century of Democratic dominance at the American ballot box.
Westneat would do well to consider the deep digging by Ungar-Sargon into how the Democrats lost the working class in this election cycle. Republicans would benefit from her cataloguing of how to represent the interests of the working class, beyond merely inviting Sean O'Brien, the General President of the Teamsters Union, to speak at this year’s RNC Convention in Milwaukee.
The 60% of Americans in the middle between the dependent poor and the independent elites aren’t 100% happy with either party. They have to be persuaded they will be listened to and understood, not patronized or taken for granted. Party loyalty is not a hallmark of the working class, or as Ungar-Sargon put it in a panel discussion at the Braver Angels National Convention in Kenosha WI earlier this month, the only party the working class hates more than the Democrats are the Republicans.
What prompted my commentary was this statement from Westneat: “The Democrats at least talk about winning back the working-class. But what Republican is even pretending to speak to the Ph.Ds.?” Then he admits even typing that made him laugh.
And right there is the Democrats’ problem. They talk about winning back the working-class while laughingly assuming the clearly more valuable highly educated are naturally on “their” side, and by definition anyone not on their side isn’t educated or elite.
There are college-educated folks in that 60% of persuadable voters who identify with and live culturally working class, epitomized by a respect for hard work, advancement by merit, and a desire for a government safety net that doesn’t become a snare. The working class – with or without a college degree - want opportunity, not condescending lectures about identity politics, pronouns and microaggressions.
Republicans don’t need to address PhD’s as a special interest group. Conservative friends with PhDs or any other college degree have no problem figuring out which party better represents their values.
Beneath the surface, blue WA has a massive political fault line: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/beneath-the-surface-blue-wa-has-a-massive-political-fault-line/
Second Class: How the Elites Are Leaving Middle America Behind: https://www.city-journal.org/article/review-of-second-class-by-batya-ungar-sargon
Last week’s Spokesman-Review column was Part 1 of a two part series, with Part 2 submitted today for publishing on Thursday, July 18. Next week’s podcast will include both the July 11th and July 18th columns on the challenge of rebuilding trust in election integrity.
Your points have played out in my own family; my late husband joined the Navy right out of high school, stayed for 30 successful years, advancing through the ranks to a command enlisted position. His younger brother is a PhD, a historian, a published author. My sister's husband also had a successful 30 year career in the Navy who chose to take the 'mustang' path and went from the enlisted ranks to officer. All 3 of these men...conservatives who vote Republican.