Does GOP declaring war on the Poor appeal to Poor Whites?
Republicans have gotten a lot of mileage out of appealing to poor and working class white Americans by promising to wage war on all non-white people.
Can that work forever, during an economic downturn when the safety net programs being cut are widely used by poor and working class whites?
Maybe. Maybe not. I see no sign of the RW losing power in the state legislatures or congress, but they have trouble with the Presidency. Professor Krugman has some observations... (I am more pessimistic than Krugman here, but his critique of the paradoxical Ayn Rand for peasants movement is worth sharing)
...But if there really is a missing-white-voter issue — and I’d like to see some more analysis by serious political scientists before I completely buy in — what will it take to bring these people back out to play? Sean Trende, who has been making the missing-whites case, describes the missing as “downscale, rural, Northern whites”. What can the GOP offer them?
Well, the trendy answer now is “libertarian populism” — but the question is what that means. And for a lot of Republicans, as Mike Konczal notes, it seems to mean lower tax rates on the wealthy, tight money, and deregulation. And this is supposed to appeal to downscale whites because, um, because.
True believers will say that this kind of agenda is actually great for low-income workers because it would lead to wonderful economic growth. This happens to be a view contradicted by all the evidence, but more to the point, what on earth would make anyone think that it’s a workable political strategy? Yelling even more loudly about the wonders of sound money and supply-side economics isn’t going to persuade anyone who hasn’t been persuaded already.
But wait, it gets worse. As a practical matter, the current GOP agenda isn’t so much about hard money or even lower top marginal rates as it is about slashing safety-net programs. There has been a highly successful attack on unemployment benefits, and the party has worked itself into a lather about food stamps too. So, news flash: these programs don’t just benefit Those People; they’re also very important to downscale whites, the very people that will supposedly rescue the GOP. This is especially true of unemployment insurance...
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/09/whites-and-the-safety-net/
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Mike and Gloria, saying how he wouldn't want "high" taxes on his 500,000. Never mind that he doesn't have 500,000 and will never earn that much in a year or a few years combined. So Mike and Gloria state he doesn't have that much money and he isn't in that tax bracket - but Archie, quiet flustered and angry by this time, says - "But I might" (one day). Mike and Gloria continue to laugh at him.
Archie aspires and not in a good way. A lot of people are like Archie, convinced that the American Dream in a might-possibly-could be-sort of-you-never-know- these things-do-happen-kind-of-way will see him sitting on easy street in the future, so he better protect the money he doesn't have now (and probably never will), even if it means taking a hit in his present status, but might-possibly-could-have in the future.
And Archie was sold this bill of goods by politicians who feed people like Archie on bigotry and classism.
"Those" people are bad, lazy, thugs - whatever- and they take from hard working Americans like Archie. Implication being "those people" aren't real Americans like Archie. (white,male - entitled)
Archie can't help but be rich (if only - "those people" and "liberals"
because he has been told over and over again that hard work means he'll be rich one day.
So it isn't his fault he isn't rich now - he's not one of "those people", he works hard, and he votes for the day when he will be rich.
He aspires to an idea sold to him by those who want his vote and his acceptance of the status quo but who don't really give a flying fuck about him. Yet he believes they do and that they are protecting his future wealth by protecting the needs of the wealthy over his needs now. So he votes that way too. Because, you know, he'll be wealthy too - some day.
GOP grab and hold certain white people in just this way. Through racism (and assorted bigotries), classism, and the golden carrot of future wealth (if they just keep working hard, vote republican, and accepting the status quo)
Blaming others (racism, classism) works especially well in an economic downturn. In fact, such things work even better during hard times. No one wants to blame themselves and it feels ever so much better to blame your troubles on others instead of taking a hard look at what you believe and why you believe it. If you've been raised on the idea that hard work leads to success then how can it be your fault if you're not rich? Has to be someone else's fault. It can't possibly be that you've been raised on a lie because then your whole worldview is now in question.
People fear change - mostly they fear those things that could force them to change the way they think, the way they see the world - because that could mean they've been played. That they are a fool. No one wants to be a fool.
