The democratic strategist presents a roundtable on progressives and the white working class.

• Author: Kilgore, Ed
• Position: Excerpt - Discussion

The Democratic Strategist is pleased to preent this important roundtable discussion about progressives and the white working class.

It has become increasingly clear that progressives and Democrats must challenge the hold that conservatives and the GOP have established over white working class Americans. In this issue of the Washington Monthly, Stan Greenberg and Ruy Teixeira--two of the most perceptive political analysts operating today--examine the prospects for achieving this goal. A companion online roundtable, hosted by the Democratic Strategist, extends this discussion by asking a wide group of respected thinkers a simple, no-holds barred question: "What is the most important single step progressives and Democrats can take to regain support among white working class Americans?"

The response has been remarkable. An extraordinary number of knowledgeable observers have submitted contributions to this online roundtable. The following pages display just a few brief excerpts.

RUY TEIXEIRA

Some argue that progressives should simply rely on their rising "Obama coalition" of minorities, unmarried and working women, seculars, young voters, and urban educated whites. These trends, it is assumed, will neutralize the deficits Democrats suffer among working class whites. Such an assumption would be a mistake. To be truly successful, mobilization of the Obama coalition needs to be supplemented by efforts to expand it. This means, above all, efforts to reach a larger proportion of the white working class.

STAN GREENBERG

The hypothesis that white working class voters were a disaster for Obama and the Democrats and are no longer central to a Democratic electoral strategy is wrong on three counts. First, it is wrong about how much trouble Democrats are in among white working class voters. Second, it misses the emerging character of the Republican Party and underestimates the scale of its problems. And third, it is wrong above all about the character and future of the American working class.

What do you think is the most important single step progressives and Democrats can take to regain support among white working class Americans.

Karen Nussbaum

Working America reaches working-class moderates with a conversation about the economy and a focus on greater equity: hundreds of conversations every night, hundreds of thousands a year. Instead of asking them to vote for a particular candidate, we talk with them. Instead of giving them standard campaign rhetoric...