Commentary
“We need to know who’s gonna sit in the most powerful seat in the world and help us win the united working class,”
Those were the words of United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain officially endorsing President Biden’s reelection on Wednesday, recalling that Biden was the first president to join a union picket line last summer.
Fain used the occasion to criticize former President Trump, “standing against everything we stand for as a society,” citing the UAW core issues – wages, retirement, and health care – while voicing no concern for immigration and inflation, the top two issues on the minds of most Americans.
Despite Fain’s insistence that the election is about “taking back power for the working class,” it’s obvious he’s aware of the findings of the left-leaning Brookings Institute, that “working class voters align more with Republicans than with Democrats on most matters that concern them.”
Brookings also noted that “Progressive Democrats may be surprised to learn that working-class voters do not share their understanding of the proper role of government in the economy.”
When asked which president in recent decades had done the most for average working families, 44 percent named Trump, compared to just12 percent for Biden, according to the Brookings’ analysis of studies by the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI).
In reviewing those percentages, the PPI found that the 44 percent who named Trump “believe that the Democrat Party has moved too far left,” and that 40 percent see it was heavily influenced by “special interests, environmental activists and academics.”
They trust Republicans over Democrats to manage a growing economy, promote entrepreneurship and keep America ahead in new technologies, control public debt and deficits, handle immigration, reduce crime and protect public safety, and make public schools more responsive to parents.
Democrats lead in just three areas: combatting climate change, managing America’s clean air transition, and respecting our democratic institutions and elections.
AXIOS Confirms
The Brookings/PPI findings seem to coincide with a politics and policy piece written by Stef W. Knight for AXIOS last year, “Dramatic realignment swings working-class districts toward GOP.”
While Fain continually speaks of Trump’s association with America’s wealthy individuals, Knight points out that “nine of the top 10 wealthiest congressional districts are represented by Democrats, while Republicans now represent most of the poorer half of the country.”
“Republicans were once the party of the country club, and they’re increasingly the party of country,” lobbyist and political analyst Bruce Mehlman told AXIOS. Sixty-four percent of districts with median incomes below the national median are now represented by Republicans.
Teamster Meeting
While Fain and the UAW refused to meet with Trump, Sean O’Brien, who heads the 1.4 million-member International Brotherhood of Teamsters, met privately with Trump two weeks before the Iowa caucuses.
Appearing with host Neil Cavuto on the Fox Business Channel, O’Brien said, “We put our cards on the table,” noting that there are “a lot of boxes that need to be checked while acknowledging that he owes it to members to do his due diligence.”
Approximately 10 percent of Americans are members of a union. While much is made of the endorsement by union leadership, members do not necessarily fall in line when they practice their freedom of their private vote. Especially when Biden is responsible for the transition to electric vehicles, requiring fewer workers to produce.
In 2016, Trump received the highest level of support from union members for a Republican presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan, according to exit polls, and those votes helped him narrowly prevail in states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
U.S. SENATE: Americans have spoken. Secure the border …. and only then should you consider more funds for Ukraine and Israel.
May God continue to bless the United States of America.
