GOP Emerges as Working-Class Party
Patrick Ruffini is a Republican pollster with a reputation for deciphering data and spotting trends. His new book, \u201cParty of the People: Inside the Multiracial Populist Coalition Remaking the GOP,\u201d takes a deep dive into one of the biggest political realignments of our lifetime.\nRuffini spoke with The Daily Signal about the demographic changes that are rapidly transforming America\u2019s two biggest political parties\u2014and what it means for the 2024 presidential election and beyond.\n\u201cWhen I first started in politics, Republicans had this reputation as being the country club party,\u201d Ruffini said. \u201cDemocrats had this reputation as being the party of the people, the party of the working class.\u201d\nHe added, \u201cFlash forward almost 20 years, and that trend has completely almost reversed.\u201d\nRecent election results show the GOP\u2019s gains with working-class voters were not an aberration or confined to one candidate. Republicans today are increasing their support among non-college voters\u2014the type of working-class American who once loyally supported Democrats.\n\u201cThe parties used to be defined by income and now they\u2019re defined by education,\u201d Ruffini said. \u201cI argue that that's good news for Republicans in the sense that you have many more working-class, non-college voters in the country than you have college-educated voters.\u201d\nThe breakdown for 2024, according to Ruffini, is about 60% non-college voters compared to 40% who have a college degree. This, he surmises, will provide the GOP with an advantage in upcoming elections. Factor in Republican gains with Hispanic and black voters, and you have a different GOP than the one of yesteryear.\nMost surprising to Ruffini, however, is how the political alignment happened.\n\u201cI did not expect Donald Trump to be the one who was able to pull this off, but my credit goes to him for getting us to this point,\u201d Ruffini said.\n\u201cThe fact that he was able to expand the Republican coalition first to include the Rust Belt states and dramatically expand Republican performance among working-class voters in 2016, and then in 2020, almost defying the odds and winning re-election with the help of more Hispanic voters and continued progress among black voters,\u201d he added. \u201cIt really has upended what we think the two parties are about.\u201d\nRuffini began writing \u201cParty of the People\u201d after observing the trends of the 2020 election, and he hopes it serves as a helpful guide for readers to understand the realignment.\n Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.