” If we had not lost the manufacturing jobs those states would be even more democrat”
Not true! If the manufacturing jobs stayed, you’d have well-payed workers, with benefits, actually marrying their “babymamas”, buying homes, caring about their neighborhoods, and generally being solid middle-class citizens (i.e. the very sort of person who generally votes GOP). Instead, with the manufacturing jobs gone, you have a cohort of people working in low-paying service jobs (”welcome to Walmart”) usually with lousy benefits, not being able to afford to marry, probably on food-stamps, WIC or some such public assitence (i.e your classic ‘rat voter).
You make a good point. Married women went for Romney in substantial numbers as opposed to single white women. Both in 2008 and 2012 single white women according to Gallup voted overwhelming for Obama. Much of this has to do with the uncertainty that comes with being female and single.
People seem to forget that the 1994 "Republic Revolution" gave the Republican Party control of the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years. Most of those states Buchanan lists that were large states as far back as the 1950s have been heavily Democratic since before most of us were born.
Not even getting into good / bad of losing those manufacturing jobs. But more manufacturing = more unions and that means more democrat influence. so I don’t agree with Buchanan’s supposed point