Can Clinton Win Back the White Working Class?

[cali]

Hillary Clinton's support of deferred deportation of millions of undocumented workers might help the Democratic Party's putative presidential nominee win over Latinos in 2016. But among the voters most responsible for the Democrats' midterm wipeout this year, it could very well make things worse—and therein lies Clinton's dilemma.

Support for Democrats among white, working-class voters was especially sparse this year: A measly 34 percent of them backed Democratic House candidates, exit polls found, while they fled in almost equal measure from Senate candidates like Rep. Bruce Braley in Iowa and incumbent Mark Udall in Colorado. Democrats still performed relatively well among black and Hispanic voters, but the deficit among whites without a college degree—who constituted more than one-third of the nationwide electorate—was too much to overcome.

One of the central challenges facing a Clinton campaign will be managing to win back enough of those voters, especially in a working-class-heavy battleground like Iowa. But as her quick support of deferred deportations shows, she'll have to do so while also motivating black, young, and Latino voters who formed the core of President Obama's coalition in 2008 and 2012.

At times, the two imperatives will work against each other.

"Democrats, to win regularly, not just the presidency but other levels of government, they need to do better among ... noncollege whites than they've been doing," said Ruy Teixeira, a demographer who has written extensively about the electoral advantages inherent in the nation's changing demographics. "You can't ... just rely on the coalition of the ascendant."

<snip>

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/can-clinton-win-back-the-white-working-class-20141130

[cantbeserious]

1. No - Poor People Can Spot The Duplicitous Servitude To The 1% Immediately

eom

[JI7]

2. there are no poor minorities ?

[BeyondGeography]

4. Poor whites aren't focused on rich people

They're focused on nonwhite poor people. The GOP makes sure of that. Nixon's southern strategy, Reagan's welfare queens, Willie Horton...more recently, immigrant-bashing and Romney's 47 percent "gaffe." The most Hillary can hope to do with this group is reduce the vote deficit while she's running up the count with the base, and it isn't because of her "duplicitous servitude to the 1%."

[cantbeserious]

8. Maybe - However, Poor People Know When 1% Policies Won't Work For Them

eom

[BeyondGeography]

9. Ok, you're banging that 1% drum

When you put Hillary's policies next to whomever she runs against, a lot of them would benefit poor people. That's if she's the nominee. Same for any Democrat, unless you're in the "they're all the same camp," which is a poor substitute for thought.

[cantbeserious]

10. HRC Represents The DLC - The Third Way - By Definition She Represents The 1%

eom

[BeyondGeography]

17. Hillary, like Obama, is a Communist disciple of Saul Alinsky

It's all here:

http://www.google.com/search?q=hillary+clinton+communist&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari

[cantbeserious]

18. You Lost Me

eom

[JI7]

3. Who can without throwing some minority group

Under the bus ?

Her better chance would be to get white women .

[stevenleser]

5. I think that Demographic is key to why she will be virtually impossible for the GOP to beat

She naturally cuts into that 34% by appealing to white women.

[cali]

7. that's her best hope but at the same time she has to motivate large numbers

of minorities. One thing is clear- and it's reflected in polls: she won't be "virtually impossible to beat". Not by a long shot.

[geek tragedy]

16. Nobody is impossible to beat in our system.

The risk of loss is always there, but the likelihood of loss does vary by candidate.

[BootinUp]

12. Ohio, PA she should do very well

[on point]

6. Can a Leopard change it's spots? Nope. Only through a marketing con

[DeSwiss]

11. Of course, she loves the little people because they remind her.....

...of she and Bill's poorer days. And boy what a hoot that was!

- It'll all come back to her, I'm sure of it!

K&R

[Warren Stupidity]

13. The white suburban male voter is a fucking lost cause.

They are not going to vote Democratic anytime soon for any candidate. The party needs to stand up for a better society for everyone, for human rights for everyone, for universal healthcare, for full employment, for job security, for retirement security FOR EVERYONE and not worry about pandering to bitter racist god-smacked gun toting white suburban males as if somehow they are the only people who matter.

[cali]

14. that's not the white voter that is referred to. It's white working class voters that

she needs to appeal to.

[Warren Stupidity]

20. You tell me who this "white working class voter is". Exactly. Cause I think it is a bullshit

demographic made up by republican pr outlets. What they are actually referring to is the white male suburban voter, and that voter is a lost cause. The only way to get that vote is to run as a republican. Appealing to that demographic means being "tough on crime (by people of color)", being "tough on immigration (i.e. harass lots of Hispanic people)", being for "family values (enough of this LGBT rights crap and against reproductive health care rights)", being against "big government (so no ACA, cut taxes on the rich, and in some vague way stop everyone except white suburban voters from getting social security and medicare)" and the rest of the Republican litany of insanity.

Screw that shit.

[geek tragedy]

15. if she does better than Obama (a very low bar) with them she'll win the White House

She doesn't need to win working class white voters (no national Democrat will win that group in our lifetime).

Her formula, if nominated, is pretty simple: keep the Obama coalition intact and motivated, and win back a modest amount of ground with white men, etc by focusing on working family issues.

[dsc]

19. No remotely palatable candidate to our current coalition will do more than very marginally better

among what working class voters than we currently are. Maybe a candidate can do 3 or 4 percent better but that is it. It isn't Obama it is our voters who turn off that demographic.