{"id":15138,"date":"2025-11-02T12:16:54","date_gmt":"2025-11-02T12:16:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/working-class-voters-think-dems-are-woke-and-weak-new-research-finds\/"},"modified":"2025-11-02T12:16:54","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T12:16:54","slug":"working-class-voters-think-dems-are-woke-and-weak-new-research-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/working-class-voters-think-dems-are-woke-and-weak-new-research-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"Working-class voters think Dems are \u201cwoke\u201d and \u201cweak,” new research finds"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Working-class voters see Democrats as \u201cwoke, weak and out-of-touch\u201d and six in 10 have a negative view of the party, concluded a frank internal assessment of the hole the party finds itself in.<\/p>\n

The nine-month, 21-state research project is the latest in a wave of post-mortems<\/u><\/a> and data dives<\/u><\/a> aimed at solving the Democratic Party\u2019s electoral challenges after their sweeping losses in 2024. It was funded by Democracy Matters, a nonprofit aligned with flagship Democratic super PAC American Bridge 21st Century, and backed by months of polling, dozens of focus groups and message testing.<\/p>\n

American Bridge\u2019s project focused exclusively on working-class voters, shedding light on a once-core constituency for Democrats that\u2019s drifted away from the party over the last decade. And the initial feedback is grim: Working-class voters don\u2019t see Democrats as strong or patriotic, while Republicans represent safety and strength for them. These voters \u201ccan’t name what Democrats stand for, other than being against [Donald] Trump,\u201d according to the report.<\/p>\n

The Democratic brand \u201cis suffering,\u201d as working-class voters see the party as \u201ctoo focused on social issues and not nearly focused enough on the economic issues that impact every one, every day,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lost people we used to get [in 2024], so why did we lose them? Why don\u2019t we go ask them,\u201d said Mitch Landrieu, co-chair of Democracy Matters and senior adviser to then-President Joe Biden. \u201cThey said what they thought about us and it was painful to hear \u2026 They feel forgotten, left out, and that their issues are not prioritized by the Democratic Party or the Republican Party.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cthey want somebody focused first, second and third, on their economic stress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Landrieu and other aides will brief congressional members on the findings in the coming weeks. They\u2019re also airing one of the ads they tested as a part of the project in Virginia, boosting Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic nominee for governor. The ad<\/u><\/a>, backed by a six-figure buy, features a 70-year-old woman who said she still works and lives paycheck to paycheck.<\/p>\n

Other center-left groups\u2019 post-mortems drew similar conclusions about the depths of the problem Democrats<\/u><\/a> face in repairing their brand<\/u><\/a>, as well as urging their party to side-step social issues and prioritize economic concerns<\/u><\/a>. But even as the report calls for a proactive policy agenda, it\u2019s not clear what that detailed policy agenda might be.<\/p>\n

The project was conducted by Impact Research, GBAO and HIT Strategies over a 9 month period, surveying 3,000 working-class voters from across the political spectrum. It also included 39 focus groups with 400 working-class voters and other research.<\/p>\n

The report argues Democrats still have a path to regain the support of blue-collar voters they have been losing to Republicans, from resetting their perceived priorities to leaning into issues that voters trust them on, including health care and housing. They point to Trump\u2019s failure to bring down costs<\/u><\/a> since resuming office this year as proof that \u201cthis group is very much up for grabs,\u201d said Margie Omero, a Democratic pollster who worked on the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are not convinced that what they are getting from Republicans is alleviating the stress they\u2019re experiencing and Democrats can win them over,\u201d said Molly Murphy, another Democratic pollster who also worked on the project.<\/p>\n

But warning signs remain for Democrats heading into next year\u2019s midterms.<\/p>\n

Working-class voters \u201cdon\u2019t fully recognize the extent of the harm Trump\u2019s budget bill is causing,\u201d the report said. Instead, they are \u201cincredulous as to why Republicans would seemingly make a bad system worse.\u201d The report acknowledged that \u201cRepublicans start off on stronger ground on these issues, but Democrats can reclaim them when they vividly illustrate how their plans differ from Republicans\u2019, particularly on health care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s job approval rating among the surveyed working-class voters, who backed him by 7 points in 2024, is even. Still, these same voters only gave Republicans a 2-point edge heading into 2026, per the data from Democracy Matters.<\/p>\n

Democrats\u2019 must focus on affordability, the report emphasized, though its messaging suggestions clash with the strategy of progressives, differing on who to blame for economic strain. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) drew enormous crowds when they barnstormed the country this spring on their \u201cFighting Oligarchy\u201d tour, attacking billionaires and \u201cthe 1 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n

But in the report, their surveys found \u201ca candidate focused on taking on big corporations and the wealthy\u201d received 43 percent, while a \u201ccandidate focused on fixing the economy so those who work hard can get ahead\u201d earned 52 percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot one person in all of our focus groups mentioned the word \u2018oligarchy,\u2019\u201d Landrieu said.<\/p>\n

These respondents aspire to wealth, Landrieu added, but \u201cabsolutely felt like wealthy people who were using the tax system to not pay their fair share was a very serious problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murphy said their data prompted them to \u201ccome out of this wanting to use a little bit of caution\u201d when talking about the economy. \u201cNot to be prescriptive in saying, \u2018don\u2019t say take on billionaires\u2019 or use populist messaging,\u201d she added, \u201cbut [working-class voters] need to know Democrats respect people who build wealth, and we\u2019re not looking to punish them.\u201d .<\/p>\n

The report identified two areas of particular weakness for Democrats: transgender rights and immigration. Both topics dominated Republican messaging in 2024, particularly Trump\u2019s ad that included the tagline<\/u><\/a>, \u201cKamala is for they\/them, President Trump is for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The research argued the \u201cstrongest Dem messages on trans issues focus on keeping the government out of medical professionals\u2019 decisions, followed by prioritizing the economy\u201d and it urged candidates: \u201cDon\u2019t say Republicans need to stop attacking LGBT people. Instead, say everyone \u2014 Republicans and Democrats \u2014 need to stop obsessing over this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it also found one-third of independents would be \u201cmuch more likely\u201d to support Democrats if they said \u201ctransgender women should not play in women\u2019s sports,\u201d the second highest testing message in swaying these voters.<\/p>\n

Democrats have split on how to talk about transgender issues. Some, like California Gov. Gavin Newsom, broke with his party to criticize allowing transgender athletes to participate in female college and youth sports, calling it \u201can issue of fairness\u201d on his podcast last March. In contrast, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker blasted \u201cdo-nothing\u201d Democrats in a speech last spring for \u201cblam[ing] our losses on our defense of Black people, of trans kids, of immigrants \u2014 instead of their own lack of guts and gumption.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report included a detailed media consumption study, finding that working-class voters are \u201cconsuming less news and using YouTube and playing video games more than the overall electorate.\u201d They rely on YouTube, TikTok and Facebook for news, and they\u2019re more likely to use TikTok specifically for news than the overall electorate.<\/p>\n

They also are constantly tuned into audio throughout the day, be it radio, streaming or podcasts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe heard time and again in the groups that these are not low-info voters and they\u2019re not traditional news readers, but they\u2019re getting inundated with information,\u201d said Ryan Berni, a Democratic consultant who advised on the project. \u201cIt\u2019s almost a slur to call them low-info voters. They\u2019re getting a lot, but not from Democrat-aligned sources.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Working-class voters see Democrats as \u201cwoke, weak and out-of-touch\u201d and six in 10 have a negative view of the party, concluded a frank internal assessment of the hole the party finds itself in. The nine-month, 21-state research project is the latest in a wave of post-mortems and data dives aimed at solving the Democratic Party\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15138\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}