The Blue-Collar Elephant in the Room

[Right_in_Virginia]

The Blue-Collar Elephant in the Room
American Greatness, Aug 3, 2018, Henry Olsen

<snip>

Republicans Ignore Trump’s Message at Their Peril
Trump demonstrated that connection with these voters in spades. He clearly is not a culture warrior, except to the extent that he provokes progressives to engage in culture wars of their own against these voters. He ran as a candidate of jobs over growth, and explicitly took entitlement reform off the table. Moreover his break with the Bush-McCain approach to foreign policy was music to these voters’ ears.

These approaches, not the GOP’s priorities, are what gave Trump victory and the GOP its unexpected chance to govern. Failing to understand that means these voters have less reason to turn out and less reason to vote Republican. This lack of comprehension puts both House and Senate control in jeopardy.

One can see this most clearly in the GOP’s approach to trade. Trump made renegotiating foreign trade deals a major part of his campaign. While the media focused on his immigrations stances, Trump’s speeches made trade an equal focus. The evidence shows this helped him. Clear majorities of Republicans in the 2016 primary exit polls and in many other surveys since believe that free trade either has cost more jobs in America than it has brought or that expanded trade deals have been bad for America.

This is particularly true among these non-Republican blue-collar voters who have shown a yearning for trade restrictions since they turned to H. Ross Perot, who campaigned against the then-proposed NAFTA deal with Mexico, in 1992. Evidence from the special election in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District, where a Republican lost a seat in steel country that Trump had carried by 20 points, suggests that the GOP candidate could have won if he had just campaigned in support of the president’s trade policies. Yet there is no GOP voice today echoing Trump’s views.

Republican cluelessness is on display right now in the special election in Ohio’s 12th Congressional District. Trump is campaigning there on Saturday for Republican nominee Troy Balderson. Polls show that this district, which Trump won by 12 points, is now up for grabs. When you look at the seat, it’s not hard to see why.


More: https://amgreatness.com/2018/08/03/the-blue-collar-elephant-in-the-room/

[Cyber Liberty]

The link goes to the wrong story.  Here's the corrected link:

https://amgreatness.com/2018/08/03/the-blue-collar-elephant-in-the-room/

[Right_in_Virginia]

The link goes to the wrong story.  Here's the corrected link:

https://amgreatness.com/2018/08/03/the-blue-collar-elephant-in-the-room/

Thanks @Cyber Liberty

[Right_in_Virginia]

The remaining part of the district, however, contain loads of non-Republican Trump supporters. Romney won four of the five counties in this area, but Trump won all five. Moreover, he improved upon Romney’s margins in each by between 15 and 29 percent. If Republicans energized these voters, they would more than offset the Democratic and moderate Republican anger from the suburbs and Balderson would be cruising to victory.

Instead, the National Republican Campaign Committee and the Congressional Leadership Fund have overlooked this key group. The ads they have run for Balderson don’t emphasize the issues or themes that Trump used to attract them in 2016. Instead, they have concentrated on vanilla topics like education spending or combating opioid abuse. As a result, polls show that Balderson’s support is nowhere near Trump’s level in the areas of the district that could deliver his majority.

Why?  What is wrong with the GOP?

The President's holding a rally there tonight.  Godspeed, Sir.

[Cyber Liberty]

Thanks @Cyber Liberty