With just months until the 2024 presidential election, data trends provide us with further proof that a huge shift is occurring across America’s political constituencies. It’s clear this realignment will be firmly cemented in our national politics and that both parties have been slow to match their policymaking with the political preferences of their respective bases.
It’s no secret that working-class voters now gravitate toward the Republican Party, whereas the educated and more well-off are now the bedrock of today’s Democratic Party – but this shift was accelerated with Trump’s entrance into politics. Now, with the potential for Trump to serve one more term in office, it is up to congressional Republicans to get the legislative engines running if they are to win over America’s working-class folks – a key voter group who still hold the keys to the Oval Office and congressional majorities.
2023 was revealed to be Congress’ least productive year in over five decades with the fewest number of bills passed. Add to that an overly dramatized exiling of the House Speaker and threats to oust the current one, it’s hard not to see why Congress has an approval rating of 15%.
Despite this, Republicans have the advantage and the opportunity to deliver for the non-college-educated voters living paycheck-to-paycheck. These are people uninterested in tax cuts for big businesses, the elusive stock market indicators, or wonky policy schemes that don’t translate to a tangible impact on their tight pocketbooks. And it won’t be enough for Trump and his Republican allies to lean on the pre-Covid tax cuts. Things have changed, that ship has sailed, and it’s time for a broader vision.
Read the full op-ed by Cygnal President & Founder Brent Buchanan in The Ripon Society: https://riponsociety.org/article/working-class-folks-are-the-new-political-base-and-republicans-have-the-advantage/