Democrats Drop the Lunch Pail -- E.J. Dionne Jr.

[Khephra]

Democrats Drop the Lunch Pail

By E.J. Dionne Jr.
Tuesday, October 14, 2003; Page A23


There was a time when the Democratic Party followed the lead of that great political philosopher John Lennon in believing that a working-class hero is something to be. That time may be passing, and that could be a problem for Democrats.

One of the most striking moments in last week's debate among Democratic presidential candidates in Phoenix was Sen. John Edwards's reply to a question from Jeff Greenfield of CNN. Greenfield made the point that two of the party's greatest heroes, Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, were patricians. Why, Greenfield wanted to know, did Edwards make such a big deal about his background as the son of a millworker?

snip......

Greenfield was right that FDR and JFK were patricians, but both won the presidency supported by a Democratic Party with deep roots in what we used to call, without embarrassment, the working class. As recently as a decade ago, Edwards's themes about the links between his roots and his political convictions would have gone over very well indeed. Look how far the man "born in a place called Hope" got. Rep. Dick Gephardt would also be making strides with his similar talk about his background as the son of a milkman.

But here's the secret of the Democratic primaries: They are no longer dominated by millworkers and milkmen. Steadily, the Democratic Party is becoming the party of the educated upper middle class.

more........

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21849-2003Oct13.html

[Christian73]

1. Very interesting

Thanks for posting it.

[Khephra]

2. You're welcome!

I don't agree with all of his points, but I do think that he's right about the growth of the educated upper middle-class Democrat. I've seen that happening a lot with the new people coming in with the Dean, Clark and Kucinich campaigns.

[really-looney]

3. Wake Up Call..... Hello Center

Forget about loosing people to the left look to the middle where we bleed the most. I do not always agree with EJ but on this he is correct. The Democratic Party is loosing high school educated two job working people like me in droves. I know that this is not a popular view on this board but HELLO CENTER. We are loosing voters at an incredible pace. I talk to people every day who should be Democrats and they are unenrolled, independent or just plain not registered. The educated intellectual left must decide if they think that 4 more years of Smirk* in the White House is good for the country. I know that there is not any democrat in the field including Holy Joe that I would not vote for but I think I am a quickly dieing breed in the party.

By the way, I think of myself as to the left of 95%of the country but there are times where here on DU I feel like a Regan Democrat. I am pretty sure that there in not one single little bit of right wing blood in my body