As Democrats try to figure out how they lost large numbers of working-class voters in historically blue areas across the country, evidence shows the party simply left them behind. .
USA Today interviewed Several former Democrats in the liberal enclave of Massachusetts voted for President-elect Donald Trump in the recent election, but the economy was the main reason they voted.
Mark Callahan, 67, from the Boston suburb of Lynn, voted Democratic in almost every presidential election before this year. He said he now expects Trump to “make a difference.”
“Everything was too expensive. What we had didn't work,” Callahan told the outlet.
“Working class people, they forgot about us,” said Jim Gigliello, 48, a Libyan resident.
“None of the politicians seemed to have anything that would benefit us,” said Callan Bennett, 28.
Giriello said voters are feeling fatigued by the focus on social justice issues rather than “bigger issues like the economy.”
Deeply blue Massachusetts, which in 1972 was the only U.S. state to vote for Democratic candidate George McGovern over then-President Richard Nixon (Republican), this year has seen “the worst It is reported that he experienced a shift to the right. USA Today.
Despite Vice President Kamala Harris' victory in the state, diverse working-class communities turned out to be new Trump supporters in droves.
Garrett Dash Nelson, curator-in-chief of the Leventhal Center for Maps and Education at the Boston Public Library and a historical geographer who analyzes political ideology, used election results and census data to study changes in the state. .
“No matter which method he used to define the class, the results were similar.” USA Today Reported.
His analysis found that areas with large numbers of people working in service industries, lower average incomes, and fewer people with higher education “generally saw a larger increase in the vote for Trump than in wealthier, white-collar areas. ”.
“In Massachusetts, we saw a pattern that is happening across the country,” Dash Nelson said. “The reality remains a pattern in which Republican gains are concentrated primarily in working-class and often diverse working-class municipalities.”
Lawrence, a town with an 80% Latino population and a median household income of $53,977 (about half the statewide average of about $100,000), saw a staggering 46% jump in support for Trump. .
Springfield, where more than a quarter of residents have blue-collar jobs, saw a 16 percent increase in Trump votes.
In Lynn, where only 15% of Massachusetts residents have a college degree, compared to nearly half of all residents, Trump's approval rating rose 11%.
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), whose district includes Lynn, has recently faced criticism from his own party. calls for resignation rear tell of new york times Democrats made the mistake of defending transgender athletes in women's sports.
“It feels like Republicans are more focused on the urgent issues that people face,” Moulton said. USA Today.
He argued that his attempts to reverse his opinion that men should not compete with women vindicated him, saying, “Many Democrats have come across as incredibly condescending.'' “They have adopted a tone and treated everyone who disagrees with them as…not just wrong, but wrong.” As a villain. ”
“We have to preach less and listen more,” Moulton added.
“There is a smoldering distrust of the Democratic Party among many Americans. Even if they like our policies, they don't believe we are taking America's challenges seriously enough. It is.”
