memoranda display of jfk kennedy half dollar key ring

2 In all, six states flipped from Obama to Trump. 1 Trump won the white non-college-educated vote by a stunning 41 percentage points, which tipped the presidential election. Polling analysis finds that 22 percent of non-college-educated whites who supported Barack Obama in the past switched to Donald Trump, a candidate hostile to the civil rights of Mexican Americans, Muslims, and African Americans. In the 2016 election, by contrast, progressives were stunned when working-class white voters moved in the opposite direction. Running as a candidate deeply committed to advancing civil rights, Kennedy nevertheless was able to attract many working-class white voters, some of whom had voted for segregationist George Wallace in a previous election. At a time when working-class whites and black voters were at each other’s throats, Kennedy (RFK) managed to forge a remarkable coalition by communicating to both groups that he cared about their futures. Kennedy’s 1968 campaign for president, launched fifty years ago this spring, holds a special place in the hearts of many progressives. Progressive policies can have broader appeal among working-class constituencies if they consistently emphasize class interests, signal inclusion by extending civil rights remedies to class inequality, and adopt policies that respect the legitimate values of working-class people. Although Kennedy’s 1968 campaign involved a unique candidate who was running at a very different time, it nevertheless offers important lessons for today’s political environment.His appeal was a liberalism without elitism, and a populism without racism. Kennedy wooed working-class voters across racial lines with a patriotic populism that blended compassion for the underdog with tough-mindedness about the way the world works.

A careful analysis of polls and precinct returns suggests that Kennedy had considerable crosscutting appeal among black, Latino, and working-class white constituencies at a time of great tension between these groups.But almost fifty years earlier, in the spring of 1968, numerous white working-class voters moved in the opposite direction, changing allegiances from segregationist George Wallace to civil rights champion Robert F. In 2016, many white working-class Barack Obama voters shifted loyalties to support Donald Trump.

Memoranda display of jfk kennedy half dollar key ring