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Of course, blue collar white voters are "bitter as hell"!!
The Republicans get them to vote against their own interests in election after election by pushing socially conservative wedge issues that distract them from the more important life-and-death matters of economic survival, job security, health care and wage growth.
The right-wingers figured out way back in 1968, with Nixon, that they could steal millions of white voters who belonged in the Democratic Party by filling them up with fear and loathing about guns, gays, blacks, abortion and religion.
That's how the Republicans have come to own the South, and build a 40-year old winning coalition, despite being an elitist, radical, blue-blood, pro-Wall Street country club political party.
The correct response by Democrats to this attack by the conservatives, would be a platform of strong economic populism, which blue-collar white voters respond to in droves.
How do you think Franklin Roosevelt won four elections in a row? It wasn't by talking about guns and gays. It was by focusing on providing a powerful wage and jobs program that boosted the living standards of working and middle class voters across America.
It was the strongest package of economically populist government programs this country had ever seen, and it made FDR a living legend among Americans, an icon and hero for the ages, and the most popular and successful president of the 20th Century.
Unfortunately, at exactly the time Democrats needed to come out with a strong liberal economic program to win back all these "Reagan Democrats" that the Republicans stole away from them, pro-corporate groups like the Democratic Leadership Council, and Blue Dog Corporate-Style Democrats seized control of the Democratic Party, and removed the single most important appeal to white, blue collar voters of that party.
When voters wanted job protections, wage help and tax relief, as well as protection from the right-wing's class warfare, Corporate Democrats gave them job-killing NAFTA, Wall Street welfare, and tax breaks for the wealthy.
Bottom line: If you want to win elections as a representative of The People's Party, you better appeal to The People--i.e. Main Street, not Wall Street. If you want to keep losing, continue to run, and rule, as Republican Lite.
