To the editor: Gender, ethnicity, race, age, political party, religious affiliation, education, resident of either an urban or rural area. These are just some of the broad categories that are used to define the American voter (“How Democrats drifted away from the working class,” June 2). Each is broken down even further from there. Unsurprisingly, it leads to a situation where flailing political leadership gets lost while trying to define target voters. It’s no different than the average Joe going to a paint shop looking for the color green and being confronted and confused by 36 different options.
Well, sound the horns for the newest political flavor to excite Democratic leadership: the “working class.” The Democrats are falling all over themselves trying to figure out how to reconnect.
Democrats, relax. If you combine a version of “keep it simple, stupid” and Occam’s razor, you will begin to realize that a member of the working class can be all things: urban or rural, conservative on some issues and liberal on others, male or female, any ethnicity, religion or education level. Current political thought is missing the point. Pay attention to core values that have always resonated with the American voter: honesty, integrity, equality, compassion, empathy, lofty ideals and the sense of “we,” not “them.”
Our greatest political leaders have always emphasized politics that benefit everyone, so that everyone has a chance at attaining the American Dream if they get a leg up, are honest and humble, work hard and look out for others.
Buz Wolf, Big Bear Lake
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To the editor: Guest contributor Nicholas Jacobs gives his opinion as to why the Democratic Party has drifted away from the working class. As I see it, the photograph that was paired with the article says it all.
There’s Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who has been “trying to reconnect” with the working class. Remember when she voiced her disapproval with Amazon as it tried to build a facility in the New York City area? It would have brought thousands of jobs to New Yorkers and added billions of dollars to the city’s economy.
And now Mayor Zohran Mamdani is following the Ocasio-Cortez playbook, which could scare off possible new investors to the city. With his socialist agenda, Mamdani is no doubt causing many of the wealthy capitalists to contemplate leaving. My feeling is that the rich capitalists are waiting out Mamdani in the hopes that the citizens of New York see the light and vote him out of office.
If not, then the citizens of New York City and other cities like it will continue to see their tax base erode as the companies move to business-friendly states where they will make a profit and employ thousands of new workers.
Mark Walker, Yorba Linda
