Democrats and progressives have reason to be cautiously optimistic about the 2020 election. Polls have consistently indicated<\/a> that former Vice President Joe Biden has a commanding lead. Yet, frankly, I’m scared about this particular election\u2014and future ones as well.<\/p>\n What frightens me is that while Democrats try to reach out to various voter groups, many of whom are combating systemic inequality that must be addressed, they are forgetting one with legitimate grievances of its own. I’m talking about the Trump base: white, blue-collar workers (or non-workers) who are struggling to make a living. These Americans are largely overlooked by the Democratic establishment or even viewed with disdain.<\/p>\n The odd thing is that blue-collar white people used to be the core of the Democratic constituency. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, after all, was designed to help them find new ways of securing livable wages and job security.<\/p>\n Now, they are forgotten Americans. Forgotten, at least, until Donald Trump saw them, their anger and how to exploit it. Yet although Trump won in 2016, he is not their true leader, nor are the Republican politicians and pundits who support him. They are pseudo-leaders, purveyors of hate, conspiracy, fear and policies that only hurt<\/a> the working people who vote for them and their ability to provide for their families.<\/p>\n In recent years, the Trump administration and Republicans have passed a massive tax plan that overwhelmingly benefited the wealthy<\/a>, opposed raising the federal minimum wage<\/a>, tried to give employers workers’ tips<\/a>, proposed cutting their food stamps<\/a>, rolled back regulations that protected their physical safety<\/a> and, of course, attempted to take away their affordable health care<\/a>. The Democrats, meanwhile, have tried to help blue-collar workers through federal anti-poverty initiatives, which studies show primarily benefit<\/a> working-age white people without a college degree.<\/p>\n What too many Democrats still do not understand is that many white, blue-collar Americans think they are better than “other people” who receive government aid. They would rather have higher status on some artificial scale than higher income. As Barack Obama said in 2008<\/a>:<\/p>\n “You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years, and nothing’s replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate, and they have not. So it’s not surprising, then, that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Those are tight grasps.<\/p>\n