I saw a guy on TV the other day (I do not recall his name, sorry) who was a big GOP operative and he stated that for the GOP to grow the party that they have to NOT try to reach out to women and minorities, but, rather, they need to be less about the rich and more about the working man.
The theory went as follows -- when there is something that will help the American working man, be for it, whether it is increased minimum wage or unionization or supporting Obama Care. If you truly want the middle class to be Republicans, then your platform should be that you will help the middle class.
As I have said before, it USED to be that a thinking man who was making $35,000 a year in a union job could look 5-10-20 years down the road and say, "Well, some day I will be making $100,000 a year. I ought to vote Republican because they won't tax me as much." And when we had labor unions and basically lifetime employment, we had a lot of happy people who just wanted to live in a law and order society where they could safely raise their kids (key American values which have always been a big pitch of the GOP -- anticrime, protect the kids from strange liberal thinkers).
"Reagan Democrats" were a lot of union folks; blue collar workers who felt that Reagan would be a strong leader who would let them live their lives while Carter was a weak-need leader who insisted that everyone turn down the heat to 65 degrees and drive 55.
The problem with being a Republican nowadays is that they stand for 3 things: 1) tax cuts for the wealthy; 2) going to war with everyone; and 3) hating minorities. If you are some guy getting out of high school and you have a couple gay friends, know a bunch of Hispanic guys and really don't want to go to war with everyone, the Republican Party offers you nothing. It used to be that a guy in Dundee, New York who graduated in 1955 could leave high school, get a union job, work for 40 years, retire at 58 and live on a pension. He never had to worry about money and he never will. How do I know this? Because my father attended his 40 year HS reunion and learned this, "These guys were not even good high school students - they all have very good lives.". That same graduating student in 2015 won't make $75,000 a year some day. He won't have a pension. He won't ever make enough that he ever pays federal income tax. When he retires, he needs Social Security and Medicare. He will probably be a Democrat.
Interestingly, this same guy will probably be very happy if illegal immigration slows. He will have fewer competitors for his job. His employer might actually have to pay him more to work.
Just a thought.
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