Why Democrats Have Taken The Middle Class

It really is the economy, stupid–that, and the Iraq War.Why Democrats Have Taken The Middle ClassBy Cliff MontgomeryLess than two weeks before the Nov. 7 election, the latest Associated Press-AOL News poll found that likely voters overwhelmingly prefer Democrats over Republicans. They are angry at President Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress, and say Iraq and the economy are their top issues.Perhaps most significantly, middle-class voters who deserted the Democratic Party a dozen years ago are now giving the party its best chance to reclaim the House since the GOP swept Democrats from power in 1994.The AP-AOL News telephone poll of 2,000 adults, 970 of whom are likely voters, was conducted by Ipsos from Oct. 20-25.Motivated by anger at President Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress, 56 percent of likely voters said they would vote to send a Democrat to the House and 37 percent said they would vote Republican–a 19-point difference. Democrats had a 10-point edge in early October.”I don’t care if I vote for Happy the Clown, just so it’s not who’s there now,” said Mary Nyilas, 51, an independent voter from Cologne, N.J., who said she would do everything she could to “vote against the powers that put us in this situation” in Iraq.Less than two weeks before voters elect a new Congress, the poll showed Republicans are in jeopardy of losing their grip on the House after a dozen years in power, and may lose the Senate as well. The survey found voters leaning considerably more toward Democrats in the final weeks of the campaign.Democrats need to gain 15 seats in the House and six in the Senate to win control of Congress. Arguing for a change in leadership, they are perhaps perfectly placed to tap into intense public anger over the Iraq War, as well as general discontent with Bush and the Republicans in charge of the House and Senate.The current AP-AOL News poll shows that Democrats have an advantage–in some cases in the double digits–among middle-class voters.A majority of middle-class voters now favor Democrats to control the House and say that Democrats best represent their most closely held beliefs. They trust Democrats more than Republicans to handle the situation in Iraq, which most of them view as a mistake. The war is this voting group’s most important issue. The economy and health care are close behind.Like voters of all stripes, the middle class is angry with Bush and GOP leaders on Capitol Hill.Democrats say the shift isn’t a surprise.”We’re the ones who understand the middle-class squeeze,” said Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the head of the House Democrats’ campaign effort. “Democrats are talking about middle-class tax cuts and Republicans are talking about staying the course.”But Rep. Phil English, (R-PA), challenged that statement, saying: “Middle-class voters are no more likely to gravitate to the Democrats in any sustained way than chickens would embrace Colonel Sanders. The Republicans, however imperfectly, have done the better job of embracing middle-class needs.”The G.O.P. is slipping; I remember hearing that joke years ago, Rep. English–and it’s an old joke Democrats have long used against Republican “voodoo” economics.Rep. English, I’ll let “your” middle class speak for itself.”I feel like the Republicans have forgotten the middle class,” says Joseph Altland, 73, a retired teacher in York, Pa., who is a registered Republican but says he’s considering becoming an independent. He’s fed up with the rising insurance costs and utility bills which have occurred under the G.O.P.’s watch.”The guys I golf with, we’re in the middle class. We’re getting hurt.””I just don’t think things are going correctly in this country,” said Shawn Miller, 47, a business owner in Burgettstown, Pa., who voted for Bush in 2004.The truth is not in a career politician’s empty claim, but in actual middle-class problems. And the middle class doesn’t need to be told times are tough for them, and only getting tougher.Property taxes are raging, the national deficit is again going through the roof, and the middle-class person finds that the only thing not rising is his or her wage–that’s stagnant, if they’re lucky, and actually being reduced if they’re not. Working families stay out of the poor house only by living on a growing mountain of debt and desperation…and God help you if a family member gets sick, and that loved one needs enough money for even a short hospital stay.The only people in America who don’t know that the middle class are being pummeled out of existence are the ones who’ve been running the House and Senate for the last twelve years, and the White House for the last six.”The country’s in a big, big mess,” added Cynthia Leininger, 44, a homemaker in Wilson, N.Y., who says she currently leans toward Democrats. “I’m looking for change.”