Reagan Democrat

From Free net encyclopedia

The term Reagan Democrat is used by political commentators to describe traditionally Democratic voters, especially white working-class ones, who defected their party to support President Ronald Reagan, either in the 1980 election, or, more commonly, the 1984 one.

The classic study of Reagan Democrats is probably the work of Stan Greenberg. Greenberg analyzed white ethnic voters (largely unionized auto workers) in suburban Macomb County, Michigan, just north of Detroit. The county voted 63 percent for Kennedy in 1960 and 66 percent for Reagan in 1984. He concluded that Reagan Democrats no longer saw Democrats as champions of their middle class aspirations, but instead saw it as being a party working primarily for the benefit of others, especially African Americans and the very poor. In addition, Reagan Democrats were very pleased with the Reagan economic boom following the "malaise" of the Carter Administration, and agreed with Reagan's strong stance on national security issues.

It is unknown what political path these voters took after the end of the Reagan administration.

Template:Poli-stubsv:Reagandemokrat