From: David Evans <d...@fas.harvard.edu>
Date: Sat, Jun 21, 2008 at 4:33 PM
Subject: Working Class Voters
To: perry.gregg@post.harvard.edu
Perry,
Vermont is essentially an all-white state; hence, it's not a stretch
to assume that the vast majority of working citizens who recently
wrote to their senator, Bernie Sanders (Ind., VT), about their
economic plight were white. If their experiences reflect state-wide
economic stress, then surely it affected some of the Vermonters who
voted for Senator Barack Obama when he defeated Senator Hillary
Clinton by 20.7 percentage points on March 4, 2008. I would wager,
too, that there were working-class citizens who cast their ballots for
him in Alaska, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota,
Oregon, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming where he also won and the
demographics are similar to Vermont.
Doesn't this merit a reexamination of the flawed-but-fashionable
analysis that Barack Obama cannot attract white working-class voters.
This unfortunate assessment was especially popular after the returns
from rural Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky where there might
have been other issues at play.
Best regards,
David