What's Wrong With the Democrats?

I found this article interesting in the way that it in sense complements another Atlantic article entitled “The First White President,” which describes Donald Trump’s rise to presidency due to his appeal to white working class prejudice. However, I was more compelled by this article due to its detailing of the failures on the democratic party, namely its inability in the last presidential election to garner support from a group which composed 44% of the voting population, that being the working class whites which Trump supported steadfastly throughout his campaign. I agree entirely with the article that Clinton’s fatal campaign flaw lied in her inability to reconcile backlash against the focus of ethnic minority groups with the democratic party’s focus on multiculturalism, in which Clinton focused her campaign solely on white professional and minorities while ignoring the interests of white working class citizens. Ultimately, Trump’s focus on appealing to the white working class and Clinton’ inability to respond is what led Trump to the presidency as can be seen with his victories in places such as Iowa and Ohio and within counties such as Macomb. I also agree with the article when it attributes this loss in part due to Clinton’s neglecting of the traditional populist appeal of the democratic party, in which her campaign speeches centered primarily on social justice and issues of race rather than economic appeals to the working class. Such sentiments caused her to lose support from many of the traditional democratic voters who were compelled by these populist appeals, which are embodied by Democratic figures such as Elizabeth Warren(who may be attempting a presidential run in 2020). Another topic in the article which I found extremely fascinating was the work of Greenberg in surveying working class citizens in counties such as Macomb to find out why they were dissatisfied with the Democrats. Specifically, I was intrigued by how Greenberg’s results indicated a shift in the people of Macomb’s mindsets from racial-fueled anger towards blacks in the 1980’s to an attitude much more supportive of multiculturalism, with a few exceptions, in recent years. In many ways, their attitudes express beliefs which are consistent with the policies Trump frequently advocates, and have little to do with racial prejudice. For example, many of the sentiments they express address the issues of competition for jobs from illegal immigrants, causing them to support Trump due to his plan to construct a wall to discourage illegal immigration from Mexico. I am, however, curious to know how much of the citizens’ words have been influenced by the results of the election and whether or not the results of Greenberg’s study are valid in assessing the true reasons for their discontent with the Democratic party. Additionally, I question how much of Trump’s success in the campaign as being attributed to backlash from Obama’s presidency, and whether or not Clinton’s campaign(which was heavily influenced by Obama’s) was negatively affected by voter discontent with Obama(whether due to his policies, his race, etc.).