What are the issues d'jour here?

1) porn
2) pot
3) privilege (the accusation that they have it, ironically)
4) student loan forgiveness (I'm sure that many of them wish they student loans to forgive)
...
99) economic populism

"Yeah, I now you attract more bees with honey, but dispensing vinegar makes me feel superior."

“99) economic populism”

That’s a BINGO! Show the working class person that his/her well being is our top concern and I think we will see a huge shift in the way they vote. Just like in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, if your kids are hungry, the bank is foreclosing on your home, and you job is being outsourced, you really don’t give a flying flip about social issues.

Why do you think FDR’s New Deal and “a chicken in every pot” went over so well? People will be much more willing to care about other issues, if we first help to make sure they and their family are well fed, have a home, and are healthy.


Macoy

The activist faction within the party became dominated by "bourgeois" upper middle class types obsessed with cultural issues who derided the values of working class Americans. This lead to the emergence of the "Reagan Democrats" and the alignment of working class white men with the Republicans. We Democrats are seen an "elitist" party of upper-middle class yuppies by a lot of working class people.

That doesn't mean gay rights, women's rights, etc. are not important, but they should not displace economic progressiveness as the central "hub".

Every time an Upper-Middle Class Dem talks about how virtuous they are because they bought organic food at Whole Paycheck they drive more working class people into the hands of the GOP.

The only people that mattered were those in the large urban centers, help drive away those in small town and rural areas.

A lot of hatred for the anti-war people by "establishment" Dems in 1968 ans 1972 came from that.

Ever since Richard Nixon kicked off his southern strategy, the republican party has consistently pushed so called social issues that have often barely disguised their attacks on blacks. Reagan's war on drugs is an excellent example and Bloomberg's stop and frisk is a glaring example. The whole republican strategy is, in my opinion, designed to increase friction between working class whites and minorities in general. By creating fear of minorities in their ranks they drive them into the republican camp.

We been to work hard at educating those voters and showing them that not only blacks and Latinos are suffering from those republican policies, but so are they in terms of lower wages, loss of food stamps, etc.

from Phil Ochs

And then in 1954, decisions finally made,
The black man was a-risin’ fast and racin’ from the shade,
And your union took no stand and your union was betrayed,
As you lost yourself a link on the chain, on the chain,
As you lost yourslef a link on the chain.

And then there came the boycotts and then the freedom rides,
And forgetting what you stood for, you tried to block the tide,
Oh, the automation bosses werre laughin’ on the side,
As they watched you lose your link on the chain, on the chain,
As they watched you lose your link on the chain.