Reagan Democrat: Difference between revisions

Reagan Democrat is an American political term used by analysts to denote traditionally Democratic voters, especially white working-class Northerners, who defected from their party to support Republican President Ronald Reagan in both the 1980 and 1984 elections. It is also used to refer to the smaller but still substantial number of Democrats who voted for George H. W. Bush in the 1988 election.

George Will, noting the long-term movements of partisanship, said in 2012 that: "White voters without college education — economically anxious and culturally conservative — were called "Reagan Democrats" when they were considered only seasonal Republicans because of Ronald Reagan. Today they are called the Republican base."^[1]

The term can also be used to describe moderate Democrats who are more conservative than liberal on certain issues like national security and immigration. The term Reagan Democrat also refers to the vast sway that Reagan held over the House of Representatives during his presidency, even though the house had a Democratic majority during both of his terms.^[2] The term also hearkens back to Richard Nixon's Silent Majority; a concept that Ronald Reagan himself used during his political campaigns in the 1970s. Prior to that era, the idea of a large segment of the working class US population is looking for a new leader that isn't bound to the strictures of party orthodoxy can also be found in President Franklin D. Roosevelt's 'Forgotten Man.'

The work of Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg is a classic study of Reagan Democrats. Greenberg analyzed white ethnic voters (largely unionized auto workers) in Macomb County, Michigan, just north of Detroit. The county voted 63 percent for John F. Kennedy in 1960, but 66 percent for Reagan in 1980. He concluded that "Reagan Democrats" no longer saw Democrats as champions of their working class aspirations, but instead saw them as working primarily for the benefit of others: the very poor, feminists, the unemployed, African Americans, Latinos, and other groups. In addition, Reagan Democrats enjoyed gains during the period of economic prosperity that coincided with the Reagan administration following the "malaise" of the Carter administration. They also supported Reagan's strong stance on national security and opposed the 1980s Democratic Party on such issues as pornography, crime, and high taxes.^[2]

Greenberg periodically revisited the voters of Macomb County as a barometer of public opinion until he conducted a 2008 exit poll that found "nearly 60 percent" of Macomb County voters were "'comfortable' with Mr. Obama," drawing the conclusion that Macomb County had "become normal and uninteresting" and "illustrates America's evolving relationship with race." As such, Greenberg stated in an op-ed for the New York Times "I’m finished with the Reagan Democrats of Macomb County in suburban Detroit after making a career of spotlighting their middle-class anger and frustrations about race and Democratic politicians.".^[3]

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The demographic shift that Ronald Reagan tapped into continued into the 1990s after he left office. This is evidenced by the rise of Bill Clinton to the presidency during 1992 presidential election. In that campaign, candidate Clinton forswore many older Democratic policies in favor of centrist Third Way policies that were championed by the Democratic Leadership Council in hopes of reconnecting with many working class voters who had begun to vote Republican in presidential campaign since 1968—the Silent Majority of Nixon and the Reagan Democrats.

Many self-styled Reagan Democrats claim to be fiscal conservatives but still support many aspects of the core programs of the New Deal and the Great Society, while also supporting Ronald Reagan’s strong defense policies as well as his optimism in American culture. Some elements of the Tea Party fit this sketch^{[citation needed]}, but many other independents and Democrats could fall into the same category as well. It’s become a broad term, but that does not diminish the explanatory power behind it. One of the most prominent self-styled Reagan Democrats includes Virginia Senator Jim Webb, whom columnist David Paul Kuhn asserts is the quintessential Reagan Democrat and one of the last of an 'endangered species' within the Democratic Party.

The term Reagan Democrat, part of the lexicon in American political jargon, is appropriate because of Reagan's continued widespread popularity among a large segment of the electorate. The use of the term could be considered non-partisan in many respects and was frequently cited during certain phases of the 2008 presidential election, such as the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania. Moreover, its definition is fairly well understood by many, and can be easily used in day-to-day conversations or throwaway commentary, as well as academic journals and publications. Contrast the term with other phrases that pigeon-holed a segment of American swing voters such as the generally derisive Angry White Male.

In the United Kingdom, the term Essex man can be used to describe a similar group of usually Labour-voting working-class voters who switched to voting for Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives in the 1980s, thanks to her right to buy scheme in particular. In Australia, the term "Howard battler" was used to refer to suburban, working class and traditionally Labor voters who shifted to the John Howard led Liberal Party in the mid 90s and carried the conservatives into victory for the first time since Malcolm Fraser. In New Zealand, political columnist Chris Trotter has theorised about the emergence of "Waitakere Man", a traditionally blue-collar constituency who he believes switched their votes to National Party leader John Key in the 2008 elections on the premises of 'ambition' and 'aspiration'.

• Angry White Male
• Bush Democrat
• Crossing the Floor
• Cold War liberal
• McCain Democrat
• Forgotten Man
• Party switching
• Obama Republican
• Silent Majority
• Swing Voter
• Third Way (centrism)

• Fairfax, Anthony Edward (2005). The Democratic Trend Phenomena: The Predictability of the Democratic Vote for President. Hampton, VA: MediaChannel. ISBN 0975254618.
• Gainsborough, Juliet F. (2001). Fenced Off: The Suburbanization of American Politics. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. ISBN 0878408304.
• Greenberg, Stanley B. (1996). Middle Class Dreams: Politics and Power of the New American Majority. New York: Times Books. ISBN 0812923456.
• Greenberg, Stanley B. (2004). The Two Americas: Our Current Political Deadlock and how to Break it. New York: Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 0312318383.
• Judis, John B. (2004). The Emerging Democratic Majority. New York: Scribner. ISBN 0743226917.
• Teixeira, Ruy A. (2001). America's Forgotten Majority: Why the White Working Class Still Matters. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 0465083986. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Return to Macomb County - Democratic Defection Revisited, by Stan Greenberg, April 01, 1987
• From Crisis to Working Majority, by Stan Greenberg, September 21, 1991
• Back To Macomb: Reagan Democrats and Barack Obama, by Stan Greenberg, James Carville, Andrew Baumann, Karl Agne, and Jesse Contario, August 25, 2008
• Burden and Kimball (2002). Why Americans Split Their Tickets: Campaign, Competition, and Divided Government. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press.
• Douthat and Salam (2008). Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream. New York City, NY: Doubleday.
• Greenberg, Stanley B. (November 11, 2008). "Goodbye, Reagan Democrats". The New York Times.
• Moore, Jonathan (1986). Campaign For President: The Managers Look at ’84. Dover, MA: Auburn House Publishing.
• Schoen, Douglas (2008). Declaring Independence. New York City, NY: Random House.
• Steed, Moreland, and Baker (1986). The 1984 Presidential Election in the South: Patterns of the Southern Party Politics. New York City, NY: Praeger Publishers.
• Texieria, Ruy (2008). Red, Blue, & Purple America: The Future of Election Demographics. Washington, DC: Brooking Institution Press.