Authored by Steve Cortes via RealClear Wire,
Remember when Democrats advocated for working-class Americans?
My maternal relatives were all Irish Catholic Democrats in decades past. They were deeply conservative in their personal lives and social views, and concurrently deeply committed to the party of John F. Kennedy and Tip O’Neill.
Those days now seem like an era of antiquity compared to the radical, even Marxist, Democratic Party of the 2020s. The Biden-Harris Democrats push secular humanist ideology while acting fully in concert with the economic ruling class of America, all at the cavalier expense of middle- and lower-income citizens.
This observation is not merely my opinion, but rather the widespread view of working-class Americans, as revealed by the latest battleground state polling conducted by my labor advocacy organization, the League of American Workers. These surveys of swing states, conducted by North Star Opinion Research, reveal a stark and consistent class divide in America. Those who are already financially successful are thriving under Biden and approve of his job performance, while the masses of wage earners fall behind, endure economic anxiety, and blame Joe Biden and the Democrats.
For example, the latest poll of 600 likely voters in battleground North Carolina shows Trump with a commanding 7-point lead over the president in a three-man matchup. If you add Robert F. Kennedy’s 16% in the poll, an impressive majority of North Carolina voters favor the populist candidate. The survey’s details and crosstabs make clear that the primary driver is economic anxiety, especially among those of modest means. For instance, overall sentiment for Biden on the economy remains brutal, with only 35% approval and 61% disapproval. But numbers for Biden on the economy are even worse among working class and aspirational constituencies.
In answering the question, “Does Joe Biden's economy provide the opportunity for working-class Americans to improve their standard of living?” only 31% of North Carolinians overall said yes. But the voters of Appalachian North Carolina, in the less-affluent western portion of the state, were even more pessimistic with only 23% affirming that Biden provides opportunities for working-class voters.
Among hard-working Hispanics in the Tar Heel state, only 13% believe Biden provides upward mobility. Hispanics are the most entrepreneurial demographic in America, and overwhelmingly, they reject the crony capitalism of the current Democrat Party which is fully co-opted by big business and unconcerned with Main Street prosperity.
This pessimism tragically sours citizens on the American Dream as a whole. In our survey, among non-college graduates in North Carolina only 25% believe that the “American Dream is still attainable.”
On the other side of the economic ledger, the credentialed elites of America grow downright ebullient with their circumstances, the direction of the country, and Biden’s job performance. The Wall Street Journal highlighted this massive chasm in sentiment in a recent Kimberley Strassel column, “The US vs. Them Election.”
To paraphrase F. Scott Fitzgerald, the rich in America in 2024 are very different from the masses, and not just in bank account size, but also in worldview. Strassel cites polling from the Committee to Unleash Prosperity of citizens with incomes above $150,000 per year and advanced graduate degrees who live in high-density metro areas. A stunning 84% approve of Biden’s job performance in the White House.
In addition, 74% of those highly credentialed voters said their finances are getting better, compared to only 20% of non-elites. A big part of that ruling class optimism flows from the stock market at all-time highs as Biden’s inflation helps lift asset prices. But regular Americans largely miss the benefits of asset appreciation since they do not enjoy substantial equity and real estate holdings. (The top 10% of households own 93% of all stock holdings in America, including retirement accounts.)
Aside from economic issues, the credentialed elites also embrace a totally divergent culture and worldview from the masses in America. For example, a whopping 84% of elites with an Ivy League degree have a high opinion of journalists. That approval, not coincidentally, exactly matches elites’ approval of Joe Biden. Simultaneously, overall trust in media plunges to match an all-time low, with only 32% of Americans reporting trust in media per Gallup, which has surveyed trust in the press since the 1970s.
Looking toward November, this macro divide provides opportunity for patriotic populists, from Trump to down-ballot candidates. The Democrats have lost their way and now surrender to the whims of the elites.
In contrast, the populist right can highlight the class divide in America and provide workable fixes that will restore broader prosperity. Ending the flow of illegal workers and trade protectionism for American laborers will form pillars of a true America First workers’ agenda. Such an agenda will win elections and, more importantly, win back prosperity and confidence for the forgotten American middle class.
Steve Cortes is former senior advisor to President Trump, former commentator for Fox News and CNN, and president of the League of American Workers, a populist right pro-laborer advocacy group.