Hillary holds her own with the 99%: Column

Hillary Clinton is a tool of Wall Street, the lickspittle of the 1%. 

That, or something like it, is what’s coming from the most ardent supporters of her opponent for the Democratic presidential nomination. Bernie Sanders, they say, is a man of the people, an economic populist who can save us all from the prevailing neoliberal order that has propped up the rich and failed the rest. 

But that could be the opposite of the truth. According to exit polling, a majority of working-class voters in battleground states prefer Clinton. Sanders' call for revolution, moreover, appears most appealing to those with the power and resources to withstand radical change — those with college degrees and good jobs.

These are people who don't need revolution to get on in life. To working-class Americans, however, a revolution might be a luxury they can't afford.

Consider Michigan. 

Sanders' victory there was supposed to be a turning point in the nomination contest. It was supposed to signal a working-class awakening to reclaim power lost after 30 years of centrist "New Democrat" compromises.

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But 61% of voters with no college and 51% earning less than $30,000 a year favored Clinton over Sanders, according to exit polling data. A similar pattern occurred in Ohio (62% and 59%, respectively), Florida (68% and 66%) and North Carolina (65% and 55%).

Race accounts for some of this. Sanders has famously struggled to win over minority voters. But Clinton has support from white voters as well as minority voters. Forty-two percent of white Michigan voters chose the former first lady. Similarly sized blocs of white voters backed Clinton in Ohio (53%), Florida (53%) and North Carolina (43%). Clinton also gets plenty of support from affluent voters, but so does Sanders. In Michigan and Ohio, they split the support of those earning over $100,000.

One shouldn't overstate that Clinton has appeal among working-class whites. But one shouldn't understate that Sanders' working-class appeal is almost entirely white. Clinton, befitting an establishment candidate, maintains a broad coalition encompassing voters of various racial and economic backgrounds. Sanders, as the insurgent, has a narrow coalition more typical of a third-party candidate.

Much has been said about the class conflict reshaping the Republican Party, with the white working class making Donald Trump the front-runner in the nomination race. After 40 years of trickle-down economics, such voters, mostly men, appear ready to defenestrate conservatives leading the GOP. It's an anti-establishment revolt, to be sure, but a revolt fueled by raw class resentment. 

Little has been said, however, about the class conflict reshaping the Democratic Party. Unlike Sanders, Donald Trump gives little thought to the hidden injuries of class. Class is a force that animates Sanders' campaign. That's why he turns every debate, whether on gun control or foreign policy, back to an indictment of the Democratic Party and the rise of a superrich that preys on the working class.

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But the Democrats aren't the problem. Not these Democrats. Thanks to Democrats, progressives and their allies, California, the world's eighth largest economy, is about to see the minimum wage rise to $15 an hour. Other states may soon follow. Given that 42% of Americans earn less than $15 a hour, according to the National Employment Law Project, that looks like a good deal. And it didn't require a revolution that might or might not work out in the end.

Clinton's policies, pragmatism and sheer endurance could explain her appeal. But more likely, it’s that she's a good bet. When you don't have much in life, your margin of error is thin. Why take a chance with a man whose intentions are fair, noble and decent, when you can vote for someone you know is a fighter? Especially for the non-white working class, the establishment isn't the problem, and revolution isn't the solution. The problem is the Republicans. The solution is beating them.

The working class knows who its champion is.

It's not the man claiming to champion the working class.

John Stoehr is a lecturer in political science at Yale and a contributing writer atWashington Monthly. Follow him on Twitter @johnastoehr.

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