In deep-blue Philly, working class voters are shifting toward Republicans
https://t.co/qvm4aXTOvt— Philadelphia Inquirer Politics (@PoliticsINQ) October 2, 2024
Posted on 10/04/2024 8:54:15 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
The battle for the City of Philadelphia may not be a slam-dunk for Democrats, and local and national officials are worried. They see the numbers—they’re not stupid. The Philadelphia Inquirer decided to get into the trenches in the brawl for the City of Brotherly Love, where they found Democrats have significant problems when it comes to keeping their historical voter blocs intact. It’s not about the result here since the city isn’t going to flip red. However, Biden only won Pennsylvania with 80,000 votes, and marginal shifts among the white working class can alter the race. To compound matters, non-white and Latino communities are also drifting toward the Republican Party.
The most damning indictment of the Democrats’ leftward shift into crazy town on public policy is right there in the numbers, which the publication highlighted: “Philadelphia precincts with the highest proportion of residents in poverty shifted furthest to the right. Precincts with the lowest poverty rates shifted furthest left.” The rich are in a bubble, and they vote Democratic.
In deep-blue Philly, working class voters are shifting toward Republicans
https://t.co/qvm4aXTOvt— Philadelphia Inquirer Politics (@PoliticsINQ) October 2, 2024
The paper spoke to various activists on the ground, and most who went on the record noted the messaging problem for Democrats, most notably that no one cares about defending democracy when you can’t keep the lights on. The lack of support among the working classes keeps some Democrats up at night, while another concern is getting people animated to vote. The article says the Democrats have a crackerjack get-out-the-vote operation, but talk is cheap (via Inquirer):
Gabriel Lopez grew up in a family of Democrats in the Kensington neighborhood of deep-blue Philadelphia. So in 2016, the first presidential election he was old enough to vote in, he picked Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump.
But Lopez, now 27, says his views have changed. He switched his registration to Republican this year, and he plans to vote for Trump, who’s running for president a third time.
[…]
Lopez embodies one of Democrats’ biggest problems in Pennsylvania: working-class voters in Philadelphia, a once reliable voting bloc for the party, have drifted right in recent years. And they’ve been disproportionately affected by rising prices over the last several years, an issue many blame Democrats for.
[…]
The shift was most stark in working-class communities. An Inquirer analysis of election results found that, in 2020, Democrats lost the most ground in neighborhoods where education levels were lowest and poverty rates were highest.
[…]
Class and voting patterns are closely tied in Philadelphia. Between 2016 and 2020, the Philadelphia precincts with the highest proportion of residents in poverty shifted furthest to the right, according to the Inquirer’s analysis.
[…]
Vote totals in Philadelphia’s working-class communities have moved right, regardless of race, but in 2020, the most pronounced losses for Democrats were in the city’s majority-Latino areas.
[…]
Rafael Álvarez Febo, a Puerto Rican and LGBTQ community leader based in North Philadelphia, said Trump’s anti-establishment rhetoric is appealing to some Latino men who believe government has failed them.
[…]
Álvarez Febo said he hasn’t seen a renewed effort from Democrats to win back those voters, or targeted outreach to working-class residents on key issues like inflation.
“They’re saying Kamala is going to save our democracy,” Álvarez Febo said. “That means very little for people who can’t keep the lights on.”
The Republican Party has become the real party of the working and middle classes—that’s been trending since post-2012. The Democrats are the regional party comprised of urban and coastal bastions where predominantly wealthy, white liberals live. They don’t care about working people, mainly mocking them for their lack of money and education. They lecture and condescend to those who aren’t like them, which is partially why nonwhite working-class voters, particularly men, are drifting into the GOP.
Democrats in the piece think their issues are communications-based. No, your policies are atrocious, and no one cares about what wine-guzzling, whiny, snobby, wealthy white leftists believe, especially when they feel we should kowtow to what they consider to be the top issues facing the country.
It’s the Marie Antionettes versus the regular folk. Don’t forget how that turned out.
A sentence or two summarizing would be nice. :)
I kind of agree that a small segment of Dems are going to vote all blue except in the Presidential column.
What’s sad is we need to have our backs against he wall to fight rather than vote on what we stand for. It leads to Mittens, Liz, and the Bush klan.
“Philadelphia precincts with the highest proportion of residents in poverty shifted furthest to the right. Precincts with the lowest poverty rates shifted furthest left.” The rich are in a bubble, and they vote Democratic.
If ever there was a place on planet earth that should be an atomic testing area, it would be the Kensington neighborhood of deep-blue Philadelphia.
Blow that place up. Burn it ALL to the ground and then pour salt on the remains. /spit
Pennsylvania Ping!
Please ping me with articles of interest.
FReepmail me to be added to the list.
RE: A sentence or two summarizing would be nice. :)
It’s in the article:
The Republican Party has become the real party of the working and middle classes—that’s been trending since post-2012. The Democrats are the regional party comprised of urban and coastal bastions where predominantly wealthy, white liberals live.
The Republican party, particulary the PA Republican party, has not become the party of the working and middle classes. Trump is the first candidate to really address those voters and appeal to those people. The GOP is begrudgingly along for the ride... for the time being.
Kamala doesn’t have just a white dude problem. She has an all dudes problem Nationally, Latino men and young black males are pumping up the numbers for Trump within traditionally Democrat identity voting blocks. Hopefully. they will give him the edge in winning swing states.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.