# "Is it that the Dems don't understand white, working-class America?" No, that's not it **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 28, 2016, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-that-the-dems-dont-understand-white-working-class-america-no-thats-not-it/773291 "2016-11-28T16:35:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-that-the-dems-dont-understand-white-working-class-america-no-thats-not-it/773291/1 "2016-11-28T16:35:41Z")
[“The dark rigidity of fundamentalist rural America: a view from the inside”](http://www.rawstory.com/2016/11/the-dark-rigidity-of-fundamentalist-rural-america-a-view-from-the-inside/) I’ve seen in different threads attempts to figure out what makes Trump supporters tick. There doesn’t seem to be any logic or self-interest at work. I saw a headline someplace yesterday where people in Florida are worried about the demise of the ACA-- well, they voted for DT and he swore to repeal it. Didn’t they see a connection? This article IMHO puts to rest the notion that if coastal liberals only understood rural America, we wouldn’t have this great divide. The article is REALLY long (4,000 words), so don’t just take my word for it and limit your reading to these snippets. I believe this guy nails it (and yes, the tone is somewhat snarky, but it doesn’t negate the solidity of his reasoning). See what you think. The opening: > [@](#): > > A theme keeps cropping up from all sides: “Democrats failed to understand white, working-class, fly-over America.” > > Trump supporters are saying this. Progressive pundits are saying this. Talking heads across all forms of the media are saying this. Even some Democratic leaders are saying this. It doesn’t matter how many people say it, it is complete bullshit. It is an intellectual/linguistic sleight of hand meant to throw attention away from the real problem. > > The real problem isn’t east coast elites who don’t understand or care about rural America. The real problem is rural America doesn’t understand the causes of their own situations and fears and they have shown no interest in finding out. They don’t want to know why they feel the way they do or why they are struggling because they don’t want to admit it is in large part because of choices they’ve made and horrible things they’ve allowed themselves to believe. The author’s credentials: > [@](#): > > I grew up in rural, Christian, white America. You’d be hard-pressed to find an area in the country that has a higher percentage of Christians or whites. I spent most of the first 24 years of my life deeply embedded in this culture. I religiously (pun intended) attended their Christian services. I worked off and on, on their rural farms. I dated their calico skirted daughters. I camped, hunted, and fished with their sons. I listened to their political rants at the local diner and truck stop. I winced at their racist/bigoted jokes and epithets that were said more out of ignorance than animosity. I have also watched the town I grew up in go from a robust economy with well-kept homes and infrastructure turn into a struggling economy with shuttered businesses, dilapidated homes, and a broken down infrastructure over the past 30 years. > > The problem isn’t that I don’t understand these people. The problem is they don’t understand themselves, the reasons for their anger/frustrations, and don’t seem to care to know why. > [@](#): > > In deep-red white America, the white Christian God is king, figuratively and literally. Religious fundamentalism is what has shaped most of their belief systems. Systems built on a fundamentalist framework are not conducive to introspection, questioning, learning, change. When you have a belief system that is built on fundamentalism, it isn’t open to outside criticism, especially by anyone not a member of your tribe and in a position of power. The problem isn’t “coastal elites don’t understand rural Americans.” The problem is rural America doesn’t understand itself and will NEVER listen to anyone outside their bubble. It doesn’t matter how “understanding” you are, how well you listen, what language you use…if you are viewed as an outsider, your views are automatically discounted. I’ve had hundreds of discussions with rural white Americans and whenever I present them any information that contradicts their entrenched beliefs, no matter how sound, how unquestionable, how obvious, they WILL NOT even entertain the possibility it might be true. Their refusal is a result of the nature of their fundamentalist belief system and the fact I’m the enemy because I’m an educated liberal. > > At some point during the discussion, “That’s your education talking,” will be said, derogatorily, as a general dismissal of everything I said. They truly believe this is a legitimate response because to them education is not to be trusted. Education is the enemy of fundamentalism because fundamentalism, by its very nature, is not built on facts… The meat of the article follows, carefully presented, and this is the concluding paragraph, which I have formatted into bullet points to avoid continuing the wall o’ text. The author addresses each one of these points in the article. > [@](#): > > What I understand is that > [ul] > [li]rural, Christian, white Americans are entrenched in fundamentalist belief systems; [/li][li]don’t trust people outside their tribe; [/li][li]have been force-fed a diet of misinformation and lies for decades; [/li][li]are unwilling to understand their own situations; [/li][li]and truly believe whites are superior to all races.[/li][/ul] > > [ul] > [li]No amount of understanding is going to change these things or what they believe.[/li][li]No amount of niceties will get them to be introspective. [/li][li]No economic policy put forth by someone outside their tribe is going to be listened to no matter how beneficial it would be for them.[/li][/ul] > I understand rural, Christian, white America all too well. I understand their fears are based on myths and lies. I understand they feel left behind by a world they don’t understand and don’t really care to. They are willing to vote against their own interest if they can be convinced it will make sure minorities are harmed more. Their Christian beliefs and morals are truly only extended to fellow white Christians. They are the problem with progress and always will be, because their belief systems are constructed against it. > > The problem isn’t a lack of understanding by coastal elites. The problem is a lack of understanding of why rural, Christian, white America believes, votes, behaves the ways it does by rural, Christian, white America. It’s not an optimistic picture. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-that-the-dems-dont-understand-white-working-class-america-no-thats-not-it/773291/2 "2016-11-28T16:48:12Z")
So really they need to be got rid of completely, or compulsorily re-educated. It’s not the FDR vision of the Great Depression Years, nor yet LBJ’s War on Poverty, but obstinate kulaks cannot stand in the way of progress. _ **Forward with Goldman Sachs !** _ ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-that-the-dems-dont-understand-white-working-class-america-no-thats-not-it/773291/3 "2016-11-28T16:54:24Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > So really they need to be got rid of completely, or compulsorily re-educated. > It’s not the FDR vision of the Great Depression Years, nor yet LBJ’s War on Poverty, but obstinate kulaks cannot stand in the way of progress. > _ **Forward with Goldman Sachs !** _ I find your sentiments deplorable, yet have an odd urge to subscribe to your newsletter. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-that-the-dems-dont-understand-white-working-class-america-no-thats-not-it/773291/4 "2016-11-28T16:57:21Z")
Wow. I think the very first reply supports the author’s position. Good job. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-that-the-dems-dont-understand-white-working-class-america-no-thats-not-it/773291/5 "2016-11-28T17:16:05Z")
> [@joyfool](#): > > Wow. I think the very first reply supports the author’s position. Good job. Did you read the whole article? His position is that change has to come from inside the person. Not that change is not possible. After all, HE changed. He said change can happen when the issue becomes personal: > [@](#): > > Do you know what does change the beliefs of fundamentalists, sometimes? When something becomes personal. Many a fundamentalist has changed his mind about the LGBT community once his loved ones started coming out of the closet. Many have not. But those who did, did so because their personal experience came in direct conflict with what they believe. My own father is a good example of this. For years I had long, sometimes heated discussions with him about gay rights. Being the good religious fundamentalist he is, he could not even entertain the possibility he was wrong. The Church said it was wrong, so therefore it was wrong. No questions asked. No analysis needed. This changed when one of his adored stepchildren came out of the closet. He didn’t do a complete 180. He has a view that tries to accept gay rights while at the same time viewing being gay as a mortal sin because his need to have his belief system be right outweighs everything else. > > This isn’t uncommon. Deeply held beliefs are usually only altered, replaced under catastrophic circumstances that are personal. This belief system alteration works both ways. I know die-hard, open-minded progressives who became ardent fundamentalists due to a traumatic event in their lives. The Great Depression of the 1930s had this effect: > [@](#): > > The catastrophe of the Great Depression along with the progressive remedies by FDR helped create a generation of Democrats from previously die-hard Republicans. People who had, up until that point, deeply believed the government couldn’t help the economy only the free market could change their minds when the brutal reality of the Great Depression affected them directly, personally. But the recession of 2008 did not (my emphasis): > [@](#): > > I thought the financial crisis in 2008 would have a similar, though lesser, impact on many Republicans. It didn’t. The systems that were put in place after the Great Recession to deal with economic crises, the quick, smart response by Congress and the administration helped make what could have been a catastrophic event into merely a really bad one. People suffered, but they didn’t suffer enough to where they were open to questioning their deeply held beliefs. Because this questioning didn’t take place, the Great Recession didn’t lead to any meaningful political shift away from poorly regulated markets, supply side economics, or how to respond to a financial crisis. > > This is why, even though rural Christian white Americans were hit hard by the Great Recession, they not only didn’t blame the political party they’ve aligned themselves with for years, they rewarded them two years later by voting them into a record number of state legislatures and taking over the U.S. House… :smack: (My emphasis) > [@](#): > > Of course, it didn’t help matters there were scapegoats available they could direct their fears, anger, and white supremacy towards. A significant number of rural Americans believe President Obama was in charge when the financial crisis started. An even higher number believe the mortgage crisis was the result of the government forcing banks to give loans to unqualified minorities. It doesn’t matter how untrue both of these are, they are gospel in rural America. Why reevaluate your beliefs and voting patterns when scapegoats are available? These people voted Republicans into office who are going to do away with the very programs they rely upon. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-that-the-dems-dont-understand-white-working-class-america-no-thats-not-it/773291/6 "2016-11-28T17:19:06Z")
I both agree and disagree. I also grew up in this environment. The author is right, facts are literally meaningless to these people. They live in a safe space bubble of misinformation because the real world is too complex and overwhelming for them to handle. So their beliefs about the world are usually a collection of lies and heuristics to support their identity and ideology which needs to be simple, black and white and allows them to feel self righteous indignation as well as morally and mentally superior to the rest of humanity. Any facts, no matter how valid, that puncture the bubble are ignored. Any facts no matter how irrational and false are supported if they uphold it. One tactic I’ve had fun with when talking to these people is to make up pro liberal facts, and then when they ask where I read it I say fox news. They don’t know how to respond. I gave up trying to have intelligent debates with these people a long time ago. But apparently even bill O’Reilly admits the stimulus package created twelve million jobs. I once tried explaining to one of them that their welfare would be targeted by the gop who they kept voting for. Their response was no, the gop would only target people who abused welfare, not her. What She really meant was she believed the gop was only going to take away welfare from people she thinks she is morally superior to. Blacks and Latinos. Trying to explain that she was on the chopping block too was a waste of time. Even if she lost her welfare she’d never take responsibility for it. It sucks. Having said that, there are high school educated whites and white evangelicals. White evangelicals have supported the gop candidate for president by about 75-85% since the 1980s. They supported Trump, Romney, McCain, Bush, etc. They are consistently Republican. But if you look at whites with a high school education as a group (35% of the electorate) they are more varied. In 2008 the gop won them by about 14%. It was 25% in 2012 and 39% in 2016. There are lots of white religious evangelicals in that group who would have voted for any Republican 80% of the time like they always do. But there are also a lot who supported Obama who then turned to Trump. I think those people need an outreach by Democrats. Once you factor out the white evangelicals from that group of high school educated whites, the Dems have been losing this group for the last few cycles. However the religious right, etc are a lost cause and not worth the effort. Also it is really more authoritarianism that is the problem. Religious fundamentalism is just the spiritual ideology of right wing fundamentalists whether they be in the US or the Middle East. If you want to understand these people better, read up on right wing authoritarianism. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-that-the-dems-dont-understand-white-working-class-america-no-thats-not-it/773291/7 "2016-11-28T17:51:55Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Did you read the whole article? > > His position is that change has to come from inside the person. Not that change is not possible. After all, HE changed. > > He said change can happen when the issue becomes personal: > > The Great Depression of the 1930s had this effect: > > But the recession of 2008 did not (my emphasis): > > :smack: > > (My emphasis) > > These people voted Republicans into office who are going to do away with the very programs they rely upon. I know. I was supporting his hypothesis and pointing out how the first reply was as reactionary and held in opposition to any facts presented in the article. He actually illustrated exactly what the author was describing. I thought you’d appreciate that. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-that-the-dems-dont-understand-white-working-class-america-no-thats-not-it/773291/8 "2016-11-28T17:59:58Z")
First the progressives were being accused of being elitist snobs when calling out Trump supporters for their stupidity. When it’s made painfully clear that Trump supporters voted against their own interests, progressives we’ll be accused of victim blaming. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-that-the-dems-dont-understand-white-working-class-america-no-thats-not-it/773291/9 "2016-11-28T18:18:13Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I both agree and disagree. > > I also grew up in this environment. \… > Also it is really more authoritarianism that is the problem. Religious fundamentalism is just the spiritual ideology of right wing fundamentalists whether they be in the US or the Middle East. If you want to understand these people better, read up on right wing authoritarianism. Thanks for that well thought out reply. > [@joyfool](#): > > I know. I was supporting his hypothesis and pointing out how the first reply was as reactionary and held in opposition to any facts presented in the article. He actually illustrated exactly what the author was describing. I thought you’d appreciate that. :smack: Obviously too sub-tile for me. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-that-the-dems-dont-understand-white-working-class-america-no-thats-not-it/773291/10 "2016-11-28T18:34:32Z")
the problem is that he’s talking about people who will never vote Democratic, ever. they’re “lost” to the Democrats, so saying Trump won because of them is foolish. The people that the pundits are claiming the Democrats “don’t understand” aren’t rural bible-thumpers, but the people in e.g. Downriver (Detroit,) Milwaukee, northern Ohio. The blue collar industrial areas in and near cities. the ones who have seen their industries fade and jobs steadily leave under both Republican and Democratic governments. These are the areas the Clinton campaign took for granted and ignored until it was too late. see, the problem is with you people who think that anything which isn’t NYC, SoCal, Chicago, or D.C. is just cows and cornfields and churches and guns. The people who the Democratic Party couldn’t get this year are people who have voted solidy Democratic in the past (e.g. union workers) and decided this time to go a different way. Michigan as a whole turned red this year (after 20 years blue) based on just a couple of counties flipping red. But keep telling yourself that Trump won because this country is racist and bigoted even though it put Barack Obama in office for two consecutive terms. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-that-the-dems-dont-understand-white-working-class-america-no-thats-not-it/773291/11 "2016-11-28T18:42:36Z")
> [@joyfool](#): > > Wow. I think the very first reply supports the author’s position. Good job. Not really, I believe in none of the things such American goobers believe. But I believe strongly that every person has a right to believe whatever the fuck is they believe. It is an ever-present temptation to impose morality or belief; but such are as unsuccessful as forcing people to be attracted to lovers they feel nothing for, or making them appreciate art they find unbearable. As for Welfare, if these idiots have swallowed the Koch and want government to swing the axe on Welfare like a Clinton, does it not speak to their rude integrity that they are willing to suffer from it’s removal for the sake of self-reliance and sturdy independence in the gutter ? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-that-the-dems-dont-understand-white-working-class-america-no-thats-not-it/773291/12 "2016-11-28T18:43:49Z")
The people who elected Donald Trump as President are tired of people thinking that they’re stupid? Is that the long and short of it? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-that-the-dems-dont-understand-white-working-class-america-no-thats-not-it/773291/13 "2016-11-28T18:49:23Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > His position is that change has to come from inside the person. Not that change is not possible. After all, HE changed. He appears to be a lapsed Mormon, and I’ve read many such things by people who escaped a dense, community religious life like Mormons and some Baptists. The flaw is that they are still carrying with them the notion that “everyone there was just like me” - the attitude that comes from the individual and group selection of friends, associates, business connections etc. until only those of identical mindset remain. I long ago figured out that a lot of people with strong beliefs tend to filter and select until they deal with no one but other believers… and therefore fall into the mindset that “everyone is really like us, except for a few malcontents and outliers.” He’s just inverted the arguments. No, I don’t believe everyone in the red states is a guns’n’god zombie moron. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-that-the-dems-dont-understand-white-working-class-america-no-thats-not-it/773291/14 "2016-11-28T18:53:14Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > Not really, I believe in none of the things such American goobers believe. But I believe strongly that every person has a right to believe whatever the fuck is they believe. > > It is an ever-present temptation to impose morality or belief; but such are as unsuccessful as forcing people to be attracted to lovers they feel nothing for, or making them appreciate art they find unbearable. > > As for Welfare, if these idiots have swallowed the Koch and want government to swing the axe on Welfare like a Clinton, does it not speak to their rude integrity that they are willing to suffer from it’s removal for the sake of self-reliance and sturdy independence in the gutter ? They want the govt to swing the axe on them because of their integrity?? Nobody wants that. Look at the situation again. Follow the money. In reality, not in your fantasy. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-that-the-dems-dont-understand-white-working-class-america-no-thats-not-it/773291/15 "2016-11-28T19:12:19Z")
I give up. Apparently my first post needed a lot of work, as Evan also didn’t see it as I intended. My apologies everyone. I’ll back out now. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-that-the-dems-dont-understand-white-working-class-america-no-thats-not-it/773291/16 "2016-11-28T19:21:10Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > The people who elected Donald Trump as President are tired of people thinking that they’re stupid? Is that the long and short of it? Well, and the article says that they’re stupid. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-that-the-dems-dont-understand-white-working-class-america-no-thats-not-it/773291/17 "2016-11-28T19:34:58Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Well, and the article says that they’re stupid. here’s the problem- those people think the Dems are stupid too. and that’s why political discourse in this country is non-existent. we wall off into two sides, scream at each other for being stupid, then go running back into our like-minded safe havens and pat each other on the back for having screamed at the other side for being stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-that-the-dems-dont-understand-white-working-class-america-no-thats-not-it/773291/18 "2016-11-28T20:06:17Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > here’s the problem- those people think the Dems are stupid too. > > and that’s why political discourse in this country is non-existent. we wall off into two sides, scream at each other for being stupid, then go running back into our like-minded safe havens and pat each other on the back for having screamed at the other side for being stupid. O.K., “Y’all are exactly the same!” isn’t really a solution-it’s just fence sitting at it’s finest. If you think the person linked to in the OP is wrong about what will or will not work when trying to reach the target audience, why don’t you tell us what _will_ work? ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-that-the-dems-dont-understand-white-working-class-america-no-thats-not-it/773291/19 "2016-11-28T20:07:33Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > O.K., “Y’all are exactly the same!” isn’t really a solution-it’s just fence sitting at it’s finest. If you think the person linked to in the OP is wrong about what will or will not work when trying to reach the target audience, why don’t you tell us what _will_ work? because you won’t stop screaming at each other long enough to listen. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-that-the-dems-dont-understand-white-working-class-america-no-thats-not-it/773291/20 "2016-11-28T20:10:29Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > because you won’t stop screaming at each other long enough to listen. So you don’t know then. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-that-the-dems-dont-understand-white-working-class-america-no-thats-not-it/773291.md?page=2)