The Guardian: The deep historical forces that explain Trump's win

[andym]

24. Essay is a bit over the top, but it rightly points out the ongoing realignment of the working class with the GOP

Trump even got 45% of households with Union members.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1535307/presidential-election-exit-polls-share-votes-union-membership-us/

By income:
under 30K-- Trump 46% Harris 50% (minimum wage workers favored harris but only by 4%)
30-49K -- Trump 53% Harris 45% (Trump wins big in what was once Democratic Party voters)
50-99K -- Trump 51% Harris 46% (Trump wins in the heart of the middle class)
100-199K -- Trump 47% Harris 51% (Harris wins the ~10%)
200K-up -- Trump 45% Harris 51% (Harris wins the upper middle class)
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1535295/presidential-election-exit-polls-share-votes-income-us/

How could this be happenning?
First, Trump actually has middle-class folks believing he cares about them through his anti-elitist ramblings (contradicted by the presence of the richest man campaigning for him).

Much of the working class is not excited by the cultural/social policies of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, which the GOP uses to their advantage. Right-wingers in Europe follow a similar playbook. Think back even to the 70's and fictional union member Archie Bunker who loved Nixon and Reagan because of their conservative social policies. Norman Lear, the quintessential liberal, caught lightning in a bottle with Archie because Archie reflected a portion of working-class America that existed and persists even to this day, and not all with the extreme prejudices of Archie, but with at least some resistance to social change. Fortunately, the social changes of the 60's and 70's have been mostly accepted and integrated so those will not be reversed.