There are lots of populists who have switched from D to R due to the cultural values of the two parties. These are the kind of people who caused Blanche Lincoln to get Blanched in 2010 and propelled Joni Ernst to victory in 2014 (although the latter benefited from an absolute GARBAGE opponent). They are disproportionately white and hate progressive groups' "check your privilege" attitude. They are disproportionately rural and poor and thus still economically populist.
I myself am against RTW and have been a Republican my whole life. My father was part of a labor union for many years (he was a laborer at a chemical plant) and hasn't voted for a Democrat for president since 1976. The party base isn't monolithic in supporting RTW, although perhaps its politicians may be nearly unanimous in that belief.
I'm a registered Republican and a union shop steward, and I can tell you that if there were ever scumbags in politics, it's the GOP Governors that promised not to sign RTW laws, then turned
around and signed them into law. Mitch Daniels, Rick Snyder, and Scott Walker are a special breed of scumbag in this regard.
Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I supported Scott Walker for president until he lied to unions about RTW. He told private-sector unions he wouldn't sign RTW, got a couple of endorsements from them in 2014, won, and then signed a RTW bill into law. Then I switched to Rubio.
