Why the White Working Class Votes Republican

Kevin Drum is fed up with liberal columnists wondering why working class/middle class Americans vote Republican when this is "against their economic interests":

Why is it that the working class often votes against its own economic interests? Well, let's compare the sales pitches of the Republican and Democratic parties when it comes to pocketbook issues:

• Republicans: We will lower your taxes. 

• Democrats: We, um, support policies that encourage a fairer distribution of growth and....and....working man....party of FDR....um....

There are two problems with the Democratic approach. First, it's too abstract to appeal to anyone. Second, it's not true anyway. Democrats simply don't consistently support concrete policies that help the middle class. Half of them supported the bankruptcy bill of 2005. They've done virtually nothing to stem the growth of monopolies and next to nothing to improve consumer protection in visible ways. They don't do anything for labor. They're soft on protecting Social Security. They bailed out the banks but refused to bail out underwater homeowners. Hell, they can't even agree to kill the carried interest loophole, a populist favorite if ever there was one.

Democrats have done a lot for the poor, Drum says, but the middle class?

Apologies for being peevish. But honestly, Democrats have done virtually nothing for the middle class for three decades now. They're nearly as reliant on the business community for campaign funding as Republicans. Can we all stop pretending that there's some deep mystery about why lots of working and middle class voters figure there are no real economic differences between the parties, so they might as well vote on social issues instead?

I think Obamacare is a major step that will end up helping lots of middle class people, but mainly by keeping things from getting worse. Otherwide I agree with Drum that the difference between the parties on economic policy is not nearly what it could be. Too many Democrats are afraid to denounce predatory behavior by the rich and powerful, and afraid to push for anything that smacks of socialism. I especially wish Democrats would support curtailing the patents and copyrights that the rich are using to soak us, but given how close their leaders are to Hollywood and Silicon Valley, and how close New York's big Democratic delegation is to Wall Street, this is not likely to happen.