Why Is the Forgotten Majority the “Real” Swing Voting Bloc?
4.1 Before presenting their argument as to why the forgotten majority is the real swing voting bloc, Teixeira and Rogers first address this question: Did the white working class abandon the Democrats in the 1980s (when “Reagan Democrats” entered our political vocabulary) or did the Democrats abandon the white working class? One prominent theory suggests that the white working class abandoned the Democrats, with the help of successful campaign appeals by the Republicans. In short, the Republicans were able to peel off white working class votes from the Democrats (particularly in the South) by appealing to their social conservatism (e.g. anti-communism as well as opposition to busing, affirmative action, abortion rights, welfare, and gun control, just to name a few issues commonly associated with the term). Beginning with Richard Nixon’s 1968 “southern strategy”which appealed to southern whites on the basis of law and orderand continuing with Ronald Reagan’s specious anecdotes about “wel
