Control is slipping from the Democrats’ fingers. Former President Trump is the cause.
As Trump just stole a prized possession from the Democrats and now all of D.C. is in chaos.
Over the past several decades, there’s been some shifts in the electoral map. Voting blocs have swayed one way and back a million times, but generally there’s been a few battle lines that haven’t been easily redrawn. Think the black vote, the youth vote, the rural vote, and more. Generally speaking, these have been in the camps of reliable Democrat or reliable Republican voters.
The black vote has been overwhelmingly Democrat, as well as the youth vote, for more than four decades now. It’s been like clockwork that the Democrats win 90% or more of the black vote every single time a presidential election rolls around. That’s a tough cookie to crack for any Republican.
For the Republicans, the rural vote has been a major boon for the past few decades, as the Democrat Party has disenfranchised much of middle America which can’t be counted out when it comes time to winning an electoral map in a state or on a national level.
One voting bloc that the Left has secretly been fostering and never taking for granted for decades now is the blue collar union vote. The age old “Big Labor” Lobby has been so incredibly critical for Democrats to win elections. The amount of money that unions pour into elections for Democrats would be enough to make anyone sick to their stomach.
Losing that voting bloc would be devastating for the Democrats. Fortunately for Donald Trump, he’s making inroads with that bloc as well. So much so that the Democrat Party is sounding the alarm that they are possibly seeing a shift in the union vote that they never thought was possible.
Union Voters’ Shift Raises Alarm for Democrats Ahead of 2024 Election
As union voters increasingly lean toward Republican candidates, Democrats are growing anxious about a potential threat to President Joe Biden’s reelection bid. Despite Biden’s significant victory with union support in 2020, recent polls indicate a dramatic decline, suggesting the president may have overestimated their unwavering backing.
In 2020, Biden secured the union vote by a wide margin, presenting himself as the “most pro-union President.” However, his lead has now dwindled to single digits. Democratic lawmakers acknowledge that their efforts to maintain union support are falling short.
“We need to be concerned,” warned Democratic Representative Dan Kildee of Michigan in an interview with Axios. “We can’t just assume people are going to figure it out for themselves. We’ve got to tell the story.”
Representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota, who challenged Biden in the 2024 primary, echoed these concerns. “Democrats have to recognize that this affiliation with union leadership is not translating into electoral support. [Democrats] should be listening and finding ways to engage more with rank-and-file labor,” Phillips told Axios.
The latest polling highlights this shift. In 2020, Biden outperformed Trump among union voters by 16 points, according to NBC exit polling. In Michigan, Biden led by an even larger margin of 25 points, as reported by ABC News. Fast forward to 2024, and Biden’s lead has shrunk to just nine points, as per a February NBC poll and a March Quinnipiac poll focusing on Michigan.
Adding to Democratic concerns, one of America’s most influential labor unions, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, made a significant GOP contribution for the first time in two decades. In February, the Teamsters donated $45,000 to the Republican National Committee (RNC), marking their first major donation to the RNC since 2004. This move follows earlier donations to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) totaling $150,000 in December 2023 and March 2024.
The shift in union support may have been influenced by former President Donald Trump’s outreach efforts. Trump met with the Teamsters’ executive board at their Washington, D.C., headquarters in January and held discussions with Teamsters President Sean O’Brien. These engagements aim to sway union votes that have traditionally favored Democrats.
Steve Smith, deputy director of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), emphasized the necessity of active engagement with union members. “Nobody can take union members for granted,” Smith told Axios.
The evolving political landscape among union voters signifies a pressing challenge for Democrats as they approach the 2024 election. To regain their once solid base, they must intensify their efforts to connect with and address the concerns of union workers.
Donald Trump has been making gains with voting blocs that simply no one thought he was going to be making, or any Republican would ever make for that matter.
When he left office in 2020, everyone thought his political career was over. The idea he would not only come back but also seemingly outperform in the black vote, the hispanic vote, the female vote, and the union vote, was not on anyone’s radar just a few short years ago.
The fact of the matter is that Democrats are in serious trouble if Trump stays on this path. Donald Trump will wipe the floor with Joe Biden if the polls and surveys remain remotely the same as they are now.
The Conservative Column will keep you updated on any major election news.
