This does not surprise me at all. Democrats in trying to serve two masters, the plutocrats and the dispossessed has done a poor job in showing the middle class that they offer the preferred policies. They allow the corporate media to get away with the redefinition of capitalism as the economic institution beneficial to the middle class and only pay lip service to what America is really about which is free enterprise. Unfortunately Americans now conflate the two.
More so than ever we need a message for whites without college education. Unfortunately because the Right has been successful in presenting a case that every other demographic except theirs is benefiting from President Obama’s policies, President Obama is not the preferred messenger to them. This demographic is in carnal survivalist mode which makes rational thinking impossible. Progressive will need to send in folks and purchase appropriate ads that resonate with these folks carnally. Only then will they be open to a new message.
My Book: As I See It: Class Warfare The Only Resort To Right Wing Doom
Book’s Webpage: http://amzn.to/dt72c7 – Twitter: http://twitter.com/egbertowillies
Poll: Whites without college degrees especially pessimistic about economy
By Jon Cohen and Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, February 22, 2011; 12:32 AMThe deep recession has had a profound effect on virtually every segment of the country’s population. But if there is an epicenter of financial stress and frustration, it is among whites without college degrees.
By many measures, this politically sensitive group has emerged from the recession with a particularly dark view of the economy and the financial future. Whites without college degrees also are the most apt to blame Washington for the problems, and are exceedingly harsh in their judgment of the Obama administration and its economic policies.
These findings come from a new national survey conducted by The Washington Post, the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University. The numbers represent a fresh look at the effects of the long recession on all Americans, but particularly "non-college whites," a group of long-fought-over voters often considered a bellwether of the political ramifications of economic woes.
A mere 10 percent of whites without college degrees say they are satisfied with the nation’s current economic situation. Most – 56 percent – say the country’s best days are in the past, and more, 61 percent, say it will be a long time before the economy begins to recover.
Fully 43 percent of non-college whites say "hard work and determination are no guarantees of success," and nearly half doubt that they have enough education and skills to compete in the job market.
Not everything is bleak in this group’s outlook, according to the survey. Nearly seven in 10 say they are mostly optimistic about their future, although that is somewhat lower than for whites with college degrees, and for most other groups in the population. More than six in 10 report feeling at least somewhat secure financially.
The survey also found differences in the outlooks of younger and older whites without college degrees. Those younger than 50 were more optimistic about the future than were those older than 50 and were somewhat less pessimistic about how long it will take the economy to recover.
The contrast between assessments of their own financial positions and those of the country stems in part from the political orientation of non-college whites, and potential policy disagreements with a Democratic administration. Fully half of all whites without college degrees identify as Republicans or are GOP-leaning independents, and 42 percent call themselves conservatives, more than other groups.
Overall, non-college whites represent a declining share of the electorate, but in 2008 they still accounted for about one-third of all Democratic primary voters and nearly 40 percent of all voters in the general election.
Poll: Whites without college degrees especially pessimistic about economy