Worrying Over Economic Winners

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Out of all the people to worry over after the Trump-bomb hit last Tuesday, some folks are wringing their hands over the plight of the 'white working-class,' and what the Democratic party might have done to woo them away from voting for a man who makes David Duke blush.

Even one of our own party's candidates in this election couldn't resist sending out sweet-nothings of regret to the wwc into the miasmic air of the 2016 postmortem.

Without a tinge of self-consciousness that he's not actually a true member of the Democratic party, Bernie Sanders, nonetheless, anguished openly this week about what he claims is the inability of Democrats to "talk to white working-class."

Bernie Sanders @BernieSanders
I come from the white working class, and I am deeply humiliated that the Democratic Party cannot talk to the people where I came from. 10:55 AM - 14 Nov 2016

In an interview on 'CBS This Morning' Sanders insisted that Hillary "...should have won the election by 10 percentage points. The question is why is it that millions of white working class people who voted for Obama turned their backs on the Democratic Party?”

The first answer to that question is that, obviously, Trump was a different candidate than Romney and McCain. He had a lurid and prevaricating campaign appeal which would have been an anathema to his republican predecessors. I'm not talking about the types of campaign rhetoric that came from Sanders during the primary that Hillary's 'Wall Street connections' meant that she couldn't or wouldn't represent the working class. Whatever the truth is about Hillary and that nebulous campaign meme, 'Wall Street connections' couldn't be all that important to anyone who voted for this ruthless capitalist who's demonstrated nothing but antipathy to the people who've worked for him over the entirety of his privileged life.

Trump appealed to the insecurity of some white Americans who have been convinced their share of the nation's economic benefits are being unfairly threatened by blacks, immigrants, and anyone else who dare assert their rightful role in our country's economy. The often-bigoted, demagogue left no dog-whistle behind as he promised to restore these psychologically-displaced souls to their assumed place of prominence in society.

Of course, Hillary Clinton ran a different campaign than Sanders or Trump, but she also ran a markedly different one than Barack Obama. Hillary certainly did reach out to the working-class in her campaign. While white working-class voters may well have questioned her embrace of the Obama economic record, Hillary also enmeshed her own economic proposals with a pragmatic, yet populist appeal which echoed the progressive bent of the rival Sanders and O'Malley campaigns.

In an August address in Warren, Michigan Hillary outlined her economic plan and views:

"...there are common-sense things that your government could do that would give Americans more opportunities to succeed," she said. "Why don’t we do it? Because powerful special interests and the tendency to put ideology ahead of political progress have led to gridlock in Congress."

"How can you not be frustrated, and even angry, when you see nothing getting done? And a lot of people feel no one is on their side and no one has their back and that is not how it’s supposed to be in America. If I am fortunate enough to be your President, I will have your back every single day that I serve. My mission in the White House will be to make our economy work for everyone, not just those at the top."

"This is personal for me. I am the product of the American middle class, I was born in Chicago, I was raised in a suburb. But my grandfather worked at the Scranton lace mill in Scranton, Pennsylvania, for 50 years. And because he worked hard, my Dad was able to go to college, and eventually start his own small business – and then send me out into the world to follow my dreams."

"No matter how far those dreams have taken me, I have always remembered, I’m the daughter of a small-business owner and the granddaughter of a factory worker — and proud of both."

"So here’s what I want. I want every American family to be able to tell the same story. If you work hard, you do your part, you should be able to give your children all the opportunities they deserve. That is the basic bargain of America."

As solid and compelling as that appeal may have been, candidate Clinton went even further. Hillary took a leap ahead of her opponents (and history) and offered a full and unapologetic voice to the needs and concerns of the black community. Most notably, in a historic speech in Harlem, the first for any presidential candidate, Hillary directly challenged the white community to accept that a majority of black lives and livelihoods have consistently lagged far behind white American's opportunities, successes, and well-being, and that white economic gains had often come at the expense of their black counterparts.

"We face a complex set of economic, social, and political challenges," Hillary spoke. "They are intersectional, they are reinforcing, and we have got to take them all on. So it’s not enough for your economic plan to be break up the banks. You also need a serious plan to create jobs, especially in places where unemployment remains stubbornly high. You need a plan to address the generations of underinvestment and neglect."

"Now even if we succeed on raising taxes on every millionaire and billionaire in America, and believe me, I do intend to succeed at that, we still need to face the painful reality that African Americans are nearly three times as likely as whites to be denied a mortgage. Something’s wrong when the median wealth for black families is just a tiny fraction of the median wealth of white families. And when gun violence is by far the leading cause of death for young African American men, outstripping the next nine causes of death combined, there is something deeply wrong..."

"We have to begin by facing up to the reality of systemic racism. Because these are not only problems of economic inequality. These are problems of racial inequality. And we have got to say that loudly and clearly..."

If there was one message the white working-class got from Hillary in this campaign, it almost certainly was that black lives were going to matter in her presidency. Hillary challenged white Americans to acknowledge their economic successes and take heed of those who have been left behind in the recovering economy. More importantly, Hillary insisted that white Americans should recognize and appreciate the role race plays in the failure of the black community to fully benefit from the economic recovery.

"For many white Americans," Hillary said, "it’s tempting to believe that bigotry is largely behind us. That would leave us with a lot less work, wouldn’t it? But more than half a century after Rosa Parks sat and Dr. King marched and John Lewis bled, race still plays a significant role in determining who gets ahead in America and who gets left behind."

That seemingly obvious reasoning should be commonplace in our political debate, but these truths have been overlooked throughout our nation's history. Black economic gains have always lagged behind those of white Americans, certainly not just during the Obama administration. In the present economy, blacks have experienced the slowest economic recovery of any group of Americans.

from 2015, Phillip Bump at WaPo:

"Since the government started tracking unemployment data by race, the unemployment rate for black Americans has never been lower than that of white Americans. In fact, it has never been less than 66 percent higher -- i.e. it's never been close. In the newest jobs report, blacks are the only demographic group besides teenagers with an unemployment rate over 10 percent."

...the high point in unemployment for black Americans didn't hit until March of 2010, at 16.8 percent. This means this demographic group has had less time to recover from that high. If we shift all of the groups to the same starting point (peak unemployment), you can see that black unemployment is still dropping more slowly relative to the peak, but less dramatically different. In other words, the trajectory is similar; it's just happening a bit later.

In 2014, a Pew Research Center report found that only whites had seen their wealth rise during the Obama economic recovery:

"White households' median wealth ticked up to $141,900 in 2013, up 2.4% from three years earlier... Net worth for black households dropped by a third during that time to $11,000. Hispanic families experienced a 14% decline in wealth to $13,700.

Whites have 13 times the net worth of blacks, the largest wealth gap that's existed since George H.W. Bush was president in 1989. The ratio of net worth between whites and Hispanics now stands at more than 10, the widest it has been since 2001."

There's no question that the Obama recovery has not been as robust as those of his predecessors. Both Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, respectively, saw far more dramatic economic gains than Obama has managed, his peers' admittedly experiencing much less severe recessions than he had to overcome.

Arguably, black Americans are deserving of the most attention when considering the effects of 'economic anxiety' over the pace of recovery, but some politicians and others have reverted at the end of this election to handwringing over the economic condition of folks who have, overall, reaped the lion-share of any vestiges of recovery from the record lows that marked the Bush recession. It's not hard to imagine whose needs, interests, and concerns will struggle to take precedence in the next economic debate.

I understand the need of politicians to pander to the people they wish would vote for them. That's mostly what's happening with the focus of politician's concerns, perversely, falling on those folks whose financial gains make up almost all of whatever can be regarded as Pres. Obama's economic success story.

But it should be remembered, with admiration and regard, that our Democratic nominee for president in 2016 put those whose lives have actually been hardest hit by our economy at the very forefront of her campaign.

[BREMPRO]

1. so she basically told working class whites from rust belt states that they were doing better..

and should stop complaining? And that they should be MORE concerned about the lagging black gains in the economy? Does anyone else see the problems with this position? Macro nationwide AVERAGE gains in income/wealth do not convince those who are still suffering locally from loss of good paying factory jobs to vote for you.

i Know hindsight is 20/20 BUT Michael Moore predicted months, weeks BEFORE the election that Trump would win, against his deepest wishes. and one of the primary reasons was because of the neglect of a message that appealed to working class whites and a campain that made them feel excluded from the diversity rainbow coalition; And where? specifically: Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. Does anyone know which blue states fell and handed the election to Trump? Yes, These. He KNEW this before the election and warned Dems and Clinton's team that they should not neglect these traditionally blue states and working class whites. Even Bill Clinton worried they were not doing enough to attract them.

Putting aside the 30 year campaign to discredit and harass Hillary with mostly made up scandals, and the drip of Wikileaks, and Comey's October bonfires, if the campaign has simply done this, and spent more time on the ground with people instead of in the clouds with elites and celebrities, they most certainly would have carried these states and WON. This is campaign malpractice in my opinion and hard lesson for future campaigns to take to heart and learn from.


http://michaelmoore.com/trumpwillwin/

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2. she never told whites from the rust belt to 'stop complaining'

...not in any shape or form.

We SHOULD be more concerned about the people who have been historically and persistently left behind in our nation's economy. When do we begin to address THEIR economic anxiety?

Btw, Hillary actually WON the working-class vote, if you exclude race from the calculation.

In an August address in Warren, Michigan Hillary outlined her economic plan and views: http://www.newsweek.com/hillary-clinton-full-transcript-economic-speech-489602

[BREMPRO]

3. This statement from your post suggests she did..

"If there was one message the white working-class got from Hillary in this campaign, it almost certainly was that black lives were going to matter in her presidency. Hillary challenged white Americans to acknowledge their economic successes and take heed of those who have been left behind in the recovering economy. More importantly, Hillary insisted that white Americans should recognize and appreciate the role race plays in the failure of the black community to fully benefit from the economic recovery "

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4. that's a piss poor way to define what she actually said

...I provided the links to the speeches, in the op and my reply.

For white Americans to acknowledge their successes and taking heed of those who have been left behind in our economy is just good citizenship. Behaving like blacks, Latinos, and other non-whites aren't entitled to their fair share of the economic pie, these white-working-class Americans who voted for Trump are banking on him to take us back to a time where non-whites were legislated and maneuvered out of economic opportunity.

Hillary has said, repeatedly, that EVERY American should share in the economic benefits, as well as assume a fair share of any economic burden. It's just sophistry to claim she delivered ANY message to white working-class voters that they should just 'stop complaining.'

Hillary gave voice to their economic challenges, but it is my belief that it's just good common sense that we should take heed of the folks who have not benefited from this economy at the same rate as others in our society. People are free to prioritize their concerns any way they want, but persistently worrying over those who have benefited, to the exclusion or neglect of those who have yet to experience any economic recovery just sets black Americans up for even more neglect as lawmakers scramble to, again, pander to the white working-class.

[BREMPRO]

7. if we all lived by our greater angels...

Last edited Thu Nov 17, 2016, 07:33 PM - Edit history (1)

hey i agree with you 100%, i'm just pointing out that the perception given by her statements may have left some working class whites to feel she wasn't their advocate as much as advocate for blacks, latino's, muslims, etc etc.. The Dem Convention was full of multiculturalism that isn't embraced by all in our country, and particularly working class rural whites who have not benefited from the gains in the economy.

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9. I'm not as charitable to someone who voted for Trump

...out of concern with sharing the economic pie with blacks, Latinos, and immigrants.

I don't think it was as much that they didn't feel she was their advocate, as much as they believed Trump would restore their former economic and SOCIAL position of superiority which is a delusion in our increasingly multicultural population.

Thing is, there's nothing short of a bigoted appeal that Hillary could have employed to compete with Trump's demagogic lure to these rural individuals who made up the difference in the vote in states like Wisconsin. Even given the outcome, Hillary is to be given great credit, imo, for not resorting to some sort of nationalist appeal and remaining bullish on the lives of those who may not live in those regions of the nation, but experienced far deeper and longer economic distress.

Besides, I think folks are barking up the wrong tree about the cause of the loss in several key states which I believe was more a result of voter suppression (voter id and registration purges) than anything else.

It would be a travesty to double down our concern and focus on one working-class group at the expense of others who are hurting just as much, if not more, given their lack of generational wealth and political influence. White working-class voters weren't ignored by Hillary, they abandoned her in favor of a bigoted pipe dream.

[Bettie]

5. It is way simpler than we ever imagined

working class white people are far more racist as a group than we ever believed.

They are also strongly anti-woman, yes, even the women.

They voted for that creature because he gave them explicit permission to remove the masks and be the hate-filled people they are.

That's why we lost. It has nothing whatsoever to do with policy and everything to do with hatred of "the other", whoever it may be.

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6. I mostly agree, Bettie

...I do think they heard Trump promise to return them to a bygone era of dominance where they didn't need to compete against blacks, immigrants, and others for a share of the economic pie. Trump (and frankly, some folks outside of the republican party) validated their false view that something they were entitled to is being provided to someone else less worthy.

[NCTraveler]

8. "There's no question that the Obama recovery has not been as robust as those of his predecessors."

Many, such as myself, like the slower aspects of this recovery.

Obama did not do what past Presidents were all too willing to do. Create an economic bubble by way of legislation. It has been a blessing and truly shows how smart Obama is. The economy has been improving. We still have work to do. There is truly no need for the economy to expand at a greater rate than it has been. Slow and consistent growth that will just keep up with demographic changes. This would have been the perfect win for us. After the success of Obama and the American people during his term, there would be no better time to push through progressive taxation legislation. We really did have a great opportunity.

We should be thankful that Obama didn't take the easy way and fight for some form of economic bubble like his predecessors.

Thanks for the op. Enjoyed reading it.

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10. very interesting perspective on growth, NCTraveler

..I'll need to absorb that a bit.

Thanks for reading!