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Democrats hemorrhaging votes in 'factory towns,' report finds
https://justthenews.com ^ | October 12, 2021 - 12:12am | By Christen Smith

Posted on 10/12/2021 6:43:13 AM PDT by Red Badger

In total, about 40% of voters live in these "factory towns," where, the report concludes, Democrats lost "major ground" that couldn't be recouped by the party's 2 to 1 gains in cities and surrounding suburbs.

Anew report concludes that Democrats lost more than 2 million votes this past decade in America's "factory towns."

The analysis, published by 21st Century Democrats, looked at 853 counties in 10 states — Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Missouri — with small towns, removed from urban centers, built around manufacturing.

In total, about 40% of voters live in these "factory towns," where, the report concludes, Democrats lost "major ground" that couldn't be recouped by the party's 2 to 1 gains in cities and surrounding suburbs.

"This report shines a light on a huge political problem for Democrats, who have misjudged and failed to understand the needs of millions of voters," said John Pouland, spokesperson for 21st Century Democrats. "To win we must reflect on why we are failing to connect with huge parts of the country and how progressive policies can meet these families where they are to significantly improve their livelihoods."

The Center Square first reported on the political shift happening among Pennsylvania's once deep blue voting blocs — construction trade unions chief among them — in June 2020.

At the time, union officials said the Democratic Party's progressive energy policies risked alienating their members, whose livelihoods remain tied to fossil fuel production.

Donald Trump flipped the once reliably blue Keystone state in 2016 by 44,292 votes. In the three counties that pivoted Republican — Erie, Luzerne and Northampton — state data show residents work primarily in blue collar industries supported by coal and natural gas development.

Trump narrowly lost Erie and Northampton counties in 2020, and his 20 point lead in Luzerne shrank to just a 14 point spread. But, between 2012 and 2020, Republicans' 428,000 vote gain among rural communities and small and mid-size factory towns outpaced Democrats' 199,000 vote advantage in cities and suburbs, the report found.

The analysis also finds correlation between manufacturing job losses and support for Republican candidates — the more attrition a town experiences, the more voters turn away from the Democratic Party.

In Lackawanna County, where President Joe Biden's native Scranton is located, manufacturing jobs declined 38% over the past 20 years, costing the Democratic Party more than 17,000 votes between 2012 and 2020.

In nearby Luzerne County, factory jobs shrank 28%, and the party lost about 28,000 votes in the same time period.

Even in major cities with some manufacturing loss, the Republican Party made "moderate" gains. In Philadelphia, for example, the city has shed nearly half of its factory jobs since 2001. The Democratic Party picked up just under 15,000 votes compared to Republicans' 36,000 gain.

Mike Lux, founder of American Family Voices, said the party must deliver better jobs, higher wages, lower health care costs, stronger unions and more worker protections if they want to reverse this trend.

"Factory towns through the industrial heartland have been moving the wrong way for more than a decade, and this is a huge problem for the Democratic Party," he said. "It's not going to be easy to win them back — it is going to take a long-term investment in organizing."


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Government; Politics/Elections
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To: brownsfan

The actual votes are the distraction, it’s the algorithms that are doing the cheating. RATS just need to overwhelm the system with paper to shift focus.


21 posted on 10/12/2021 7:11:46 AM PDT by IllumiNaughtyByNature (The kernel of our firm's job is to go with lots. - tnlibertarian job offer letter)
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To: wbarmy

Republican MBAs closing a factory and ruining entire American communities is kind of running ( or ruining ) people’s lives too...The GOP wasn’t always anti worker.


22 posted on 10/12/2021 7:12:47 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn...)
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To: Red Badger

Well, as long as the dead, the fraudsters, and Dominion will vote Democrat, they’re golden.
Who needs the votes of real people?


23 posted on 10/12/2021 7:13:04 AM PDT by Little Ray (Civilization runs on a narrow margin. What sustains it is not magic, but hard work. )
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To: central_va

500 years from now products may be made on some solar planet
by robots and shipped back to Earth. Who knows what will be
the systems/mechanizing being used in the next 500 years.


24 posted on 10/12/2021 7:19:26 AM PDT by deport ( )
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To: dfwgator
Democrats don’t need the blue collars anymore.

As long as they have Dominion voting machines and unrestricted mail-in ballots they can remain cock sure of victory by any percentage they select. Ref: Newsom recall.

25 posted on 10/12/2021 7:20:42 AM PDT by Don Corleone (leave the gun, take the canolis)
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To: deport

True, but even big sophisticated companies significantly underestimated the true total cost of offshore manufacturing, and the current supply chain issues are making this clear to all. Reshoring has been occurring for quite a few years now, favoring business-friendly states with low labor costs and right-to-work. This will continue.


26 posted on 10/12/2021 7:21:54 AM PDT by bigbob
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To: deport
500 years from now products may be made on some solar planet by robots and shipped back to Earth. Who knows what will be the systems/mechanizing being used in the next 500 years.

Can we stick to present reality? Communists are taking over the country and the other party, the GOP, is still stuck in the 20th century anti labor pro management BS.

27 posted on 10/12/2021 7:22:15 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn...)
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To: Red Badger

Then how did Trump “lose”? Hmm?


28 posted on 10/12/2021 7:22:33 AM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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To: Red Badger

The Dems had no trouble finding 150,000 votes to beat Trump by 10,000


29 posted on 10/12/2021 7:27:09 AM PDT by butlerweave
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To: deport
The closed factory is being relocated because the USA isn’t the cheapest to make the product and still get it to market.

Cheapest for who?

30 posted on 10/12/2021 7:28:08 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Red Badger

Doesn’t matter. They can now make as many fake votes as they can with no repercussions.


31 posted on 10/12/2021 7:29:34 AM PDT by DouglasKC
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To: Red Badger

Culture is playing an increasing role in the shift of voting patterns.


32 posted on 10/12/2021 7:31:10 AM PDT by monocle
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To: dfwgator

Democrats just need to count votes.


33 posted on 10/12/2021 7:33:01 AM PDT by Old Yeller (You can’t obey your way out of tyranny.)
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To: central_va

Can we stick to present reality?

**********

Reality is that things change day by day, month by month, etc.... Good
or Bad.

You don’t use a sail boat, mule/plow, hand wash clothes, wood cook stoves, etc.

Just look at the changes since Columbus sailed the ocean in 1492.
What will the next 500 years bring? I don’t know but would like
to be able to get a peak 500 years from now. Let your mind roam
and think.

It definetly won’t be what we are accustomed to today.


34 posted on 10/12/2021 7:36:29 AM PDT by deport ( )
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To: deport

Thank God I’ll be dead. The next century is going to be awful.


35 posted on 10/12/2021 7:38:01 AM PDT by napscoordinator (Trump/Hunter, jr for President/Vice President 2016 )
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What’s wrong…are they out of printers and ink?


36 posted on 10/12/2021 7:39:14 AM PDT by TnTnTn
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To: dfwgator

Cheapest for who?

***********

The ultimate purchaser. If some one doesn’t purchase the product
it doesn’t make any difference where it is made. But history
indicates that the lowest price product with quality is what the
customer will purchase.


37 posted on 10/12/2021 7:39:55 AM PDT by deport
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To: deport

So what good is it, if you pay less for goods, but wind up paying even more in taxes to support all the people now on welfare because of the lost jobs?


38 posted on 10/12/2021 7:44:16 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: napscoordinator

Thank God I’ll be dead. The next century is going to be awful.

**********

Yep we all will face that at some point in time. At my age
I’ll be dead long before the next century is here. But it
would interesting to see it or it may be too scary for us of
this day in time.


39 posted on 10/12/2021 7:49:11 AM PDT by deport
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To: deport

Maybe it won’t be so scary for our future generations. I’m probably out of here in the late 2030’s or early 2040’s. Just looking back to 1987 to now has resulted in huge changes from social to financial changes. Frightening to say the least.


40 posted on 10/12/2021 7:53:19 AM PDT by napscoordinator (Trump/Hunter, jr for President/Vice President 2016 )
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