The Left's best defense against Trump
Dustin Guastella
An effective fight against the president-elect requires a struggle that takes the frustrations of working-class voters seriously
Trump’s victory can credibly be read as a class revolt. Blue-collar voters – Black, white, Latino and Asian, in rural and urban areas alike – gave a big middle finger to the progressive professional class elite. Kamala Harris represented the epitome of a Democratic party that has become increasingly dominated by affluent and educated voters (and funded by even wealthier donors). Her ascension itself represented the transformation of the “party of the people” into an aristocratic private club, liberal elites were so terrified of the hoi polloi that they ensured not one ordinary person would vote on her nomination to lead the Democratic party into battle. Are we shocked that the same voters failed to show-up on the battlefield? Hardly.
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Almost all of the content of American politics – the candidates, the policies, the priorities – concerns the top 20% of the income and wealth hierarchy. Remember, less than 2% of members of Congress come from working-class backgrounds. Working-class candidates face immense political obstacles because they have neither the money, nor the credentials – won in the halls of elite schools, conferences and institutions – needed to break into the fortress of American government. Many voted for Trump in the hopes that he could take a wrecking ball to the whole thing.
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As the Democratic party transformed itself from the party of the New Deal to the party of Nafta it embraced a new constituency: progressive professionals. Since Bill Clinton, liberals presided over the offshoring of high-wage blue-collar jobs in manufacturing. They watched as abandoned factories, and the towns that once relied on them, slowly oxidized. As the Rust belt stretched across the heartland, Democrats helped to subsidize the growth of a new elite primarily concentrated on the coasts. They pushed for policies that pulled the economy away from blue-collar industries and toward more “dynamic” sectors primarily in information technologies. They fashioned a “new economy” through public policy, and attracted a new constituency as a result. They hoped that as high-wage jobs disappeared, they would be replaced by new high-tech careers; as the party lost blue-collar voters, they invested in white-collar professionals. They got what they wished for.
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And Jimmy Williams Jr, the head of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, called the Democrats’ message “tone-deaf” and advocated for a return to putting the working class at the center of political appeals. These currents represent the best defense against Trump’s billionaire agenda; their success depends on whether they are able to forge a new politics. A politics that represents working-class economic interests and social values. One that takes on both Republican oligarchs and liberal elites. Nothing less than a class struggle on two fronts.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/20/liberal-left-trump-working-class
Dustin Guastella is a research associate at the Center for Working Class Politics and the director of operations for Teamsters Local 623
Is it possible to forge a new politics that represents working-class economic interests and social values? We see a battle right here everyday between two different visions for the party, as represented by those arguing that the prime reason or recent catastrophic loss was racism and misogyny (social issues) as opposed to those arguing that it was the neglect of the blue collar workers economic issues and a focus on the interests of the upper middle class that caused the defeat.
Can this gap be bridged?
= new reply since forum marked as read
A little off your theme with non-voters, but worth consideration I think. A lot of workers struggling and living paycheck to paycheck out there. Lot of people struggling beyond that and they're not feeling the platitudes and slogans from any direction. Lot of Democrats are yelling... "look at all we've done for you to lighten your load." Struggling people are responding..."sorry but the cost of daily survival has doubled and I've not seen the results you claim in my daily struggles." Said Democrats then respond with charges of... "you must be racist, sexist, a right-winger, or stupid for not seeing how much we've done for you and not voting for us." Republicans are yelling..." look at all we've done for you, we're giving you freedom, less bureaucracy, less regulation, tax cuts, and so much more. Look at all we've done for you before." Struggling people are responding..."sorry but my situation didn't improve at all when you were in charge despite your claims of wide spread prosperity." Republicans then respond with..."well you must be an irresponsible woke libtard, and a lazy radical leftist Marxist with purple hair who doesn't want to work at improving your lot after all we did for you." And so it goes...
As for your question on bridges within the party and "the left", if such a thing still exists. Maybe. A couple of observations. I don't think most who focus on class are turned off by or resent discussions on racism, sexism, bigotry, and what have you. I think people are turned off and resent when the discussion of sexism turns into an all men suck hate fest. I think people resent when sexism is weaponized to shut down discussions on economic class. I don't think most are turned off by discussions on racism. I think people get turned off when that turns into an all white people and their culture sucks hate fest. I think people are turned off and resent when people weaponize racism to shut down discussions on economic class. Same with antisemitism, islamophobia, and the rest. When identity is used as a weapon to shut down discussions on economic class, warmongering, or some other issues it's not a way forward for bridge building. I realize I'm somewhat painting with broad strokes on this, but it's some of what I see as roadblocks. Some people are truly identity reductionist in their politics and that's fine if they're honest about it. Same goes for class reductionists I would say. None of that is to say that racism, sexism, and bigotry doesn't exist. None of that is to say that racism, sexism, and bigotry doesn't play a part in elections. A bit disjointed, but that's some of what I see from my perch at least. Cheers and kudos for the discussion you're bringing to the table. More of this, and less of X, Bluesky, and Facebook meme politics is a good thing I think. 
Working class voters didn't flock to Trump. His vote totals aren't the issue here.
Harris failed to draw out her own base of supporters. None of them would have voted for Trump
Instead of "The USA's massive electorate of garbage people voted for the garbage candidate."
I am baffled by this comment! 
