Why did Obama do better with the WWC (white working class)?

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

Dems had the EC college advantage with 266, VA changed from a confederate state to a multi racial state. Due to Y2K, college students were already, ready to vote Dem in CO, NV and VA.

Va elected Doug Wilder

By far the most thought provoking answer so far. thank you!

[All Along The Watchtower]

McCain and Romney weren't racist enough for them. Trump gave them exactly what they wanted.

I know that hackish condescension toward "white trash" is your shtick, but you're just trolling now.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Anyway, there are many things that factor into answering this question, but one thing that is true is that Obama in both of his campaigns - if not so much in his Presidency - knew how to campaign in the Midwest and Rust Belt (obviously), and knew how to project confidence, optimism, and uh, hope without condescending to non-elite white people (at least, for the most part - "guns and religion" was an uncharacteristically clumsy comment). Clinton didn't and doesn't have this skill.

Also, a lot of people voted for Obama because while he definitely had his share of Establishment support, he was not of the Beltway Establishment in the way that Bush-era Republicans or the Clintons certainly were. The contrast between Obama and Clinton in some ways is reminiscent of the contrast between Reagan and George Bush the Elder, if you know what I mean.

Finally, in terms of issues, Obama in 2008 was offering economic relief, universal health care, a renegotiation of NAFTA, and an end to the quagmire of Iraq. Needless to say, neither McCain nor Clinton had credibility on Iraq, and Clinton obviously suffered a lot from her association with NAFTA via her husband (and the issue people had and have with her husband in general for that matter). As for Romney, you might as well have time-machined the notably charismatic and common-man populist George H.W. Bush from 1992 to 2012 and had him convert to Mormonism.

Plus, Obama didn't have any of the magnitude of personal or political scandals - real and fabricated or at least exaggerated - that Clinton had. And Obama's not being a woman who's iconic to an older generation of feminists, but whose lack of charisma was matched by an admittedly, unfairly gendered negative perception in terms of personality and the way in which someone comes across as a politician helped him as well.

Finally, US politics became increasingly driven by issue of race and identity and social media-era Culture War controversies during the Obama years, even if Obama himself did not suffer as much from it as Hillary Clinton obviously did. Also it should be noted that Obama's white working class support was concentrated in the Midwest and Northeast, and he obviously lost support among whites in general in 2012...

[IceSpear]

McCain and Romney weren't racist enough for them. Trump gave them exactly what they wanted.

Uh, if that was the case then I highly doubt Republicans across the country who are more moderate than Trump would be doing just as well as he did with these voters. look at Mike DeWine in Ohio or Rick Scott in Florida for example.

I think a bigger part of this is that many ancestrally Democratic voters in Appalachia and the rust belt have died and been replaced by younger voters who no longer feel any connection to the Democratic Party.

It’s not worth arguing with IceSpear. He thinks everyone who isn’t him is a racist and his takes are about 90% incorrect.

Says the guy that unironically thought Bob Hugin would win.

And I like how everyone ignored the actual article about real life racists voting for Obama. Anyone who doesn't believe that some racists voted for Obama is utterly delusional. It's also not hard to see why Trump would be more appealing to them than McCain and Romney, because he stoked their racist impulses and fanned the flames in a way that neither of them did.

[NEW JERSEY FOR MENENDEZ]

McCain and Romney weren't racist enough for them. Trump gave them exactly what they wanted.

Uh, if that was the case then I highly doubt Republicans across the country who are more moderate than Trump would be doing just as well as he did with these voters. look at Mike DeWine in Ohio or Rick Scott in Florida for example.

I think a bigger part of this is that many ancestrally Democratic voters in Appalachia and the rust belt have died and been replaced by younger voters who no longer feel any connection to the Democratic Party.

It’s not worth arguing with IceSpear. He thinks everyone who isn’t him is a racist and his takes are about 90% incorrect.

Says the guy that unironically thought Bob Hugin would win.

Actually I conceded in the days leading up to the election that Hugin would be losing to Menendez. Of course, Hugin did not account for 90% of my predictions

Good try. Try harder.

[IceSpear]

McCain and Romney weren't racist enough for them. Trump gave them exactly what they wanted.

Uh, if that was the case then I highly doubt Republicans across the country who are more moderate than Trump would be doing just as well as he did with these voters. look at Mike DeWine in Ohio or Rick Scott in Florida for example.

I think a bigger part of this is that many ancestrally Democratic voters in Appalachia and the rust belt have died and been replaced by younger voters who no longer feel any connection to the Democratic Party.

It’s not worth arguing with IceSpear. He thinks everyone who isn’t him is a racist and his takes are about 90% incorrect.

Says the guy that unironically thought Bob Hugin would win.

Actually I conceded in the days leading up to the election that Hugin would be losing to Menendez. Of course, Hugin did not account for 90% of my predictions

Good try. Try harder.

You also unironically thought Phil Bredesen would win while I called it safe R, so...

I mean, we can keep going if you want. It's not a battle you're going to win.

[NEW JERSEY FOR MENENDEZ]

McCain and Romney weren't racist enough for them. Trump gave them exactly what they wanted.

Uh, if that was the case then I highly doubt Republicans across the country who are more moderate than Trump would be doing just as well as he did with these voters. look at Mike DeWine in Ohio or Rick Scott in Florida for example.

I think a bigger part of this is that many ancestrally Democratic voters in Appalachia and the rust belt have died and been replaced by younger voters who no longer feel any connection to the Democratic Party.

It’s not worth arguing with IceSpear. He thinks everyone who isn’t him is a racist and his takes are about 90% incorrect.

Says the guy that unironically thought Bob Hugin would win.

Actually I conceded in the days leading up to the election that Hugin would be losing to Menendez. Of course, Hugin did not account for 90% of my predictions

Good try. Try harder.

You also unironically thought Phil Bredesen would win while I called it safe R, so...

I mean, we can keep going if you want. It's not a battle you're going to win.

And you said Manchin would lose to Morrisey.

I mean, we can keep going if you want. It's not a battle you're going to win.

[IceSpear]

McCain and Romney weren't racist enough for them. Trump gave them exactly what they wanted.

Uh, if that was the case then I highly doubt Republicans across the country who are more moderate than Trump would be doing just as well as he did with these voters. look at Mike DeWine in Ohio or Rick Scott in Florida for example.

I think a bigger part of this is that many ancestrally Democratic voters in Appalachia and the rust belt have died and been replaced by younger voters who no longer feel any connection to the Democratic Party.

It’s not worth arguing with IceSpear. He thinks everyone who isn’t him is a racist and his takes are about 90% incorrect.

Says the guy that unironically thought Bob Hugin would win.

Actually I conceded in the days leading up to the election that Hugin would be losing to Menendez. Of course, Hugin did not account for 90% of my predictions

Good try. Try harder.

You also unironically thought Phil Bredesen would win while I called it safe R, so...

I mean, we can keep going if you want. It's not a battle you're going to win.

And you said Manchin would lose to Morrisey.

I mean, we can keep going if you want. It's not a battle you're going to win.

Because clearly predicting the wrong winner in a toss up race is much worse than predicting the wrong winner in a safe race.

[NEW JERSEY FOR MENENDEZ]

McCain and Romney weren't racist enough for them. Trump gave them exactly what they wanted.

Uh, if that was the case then I highly doubt Republicans across the country who are more moderate than Trump would be doing just as well as he did with these voters. look at Mike DeWine in Ohio or Rick Scott in Florida for example.

I think a bigger part of this is that many ancestrally Democratic voters in Appalachia and the rust belt have died and been replaced by younger voters who no longer feel any connection to the Democratic Party.

It’s not worth arguing with IceSpear. He thinks everyone who isn’t him is a racist and his takes are about 90% incorrect.

Says the guy that unironically thought Bob Hugin would win.

Actually I conceded in the days leading up to the election that Hugin would be losing to Menendez. Of course, Hugin did not account for 90% of my predictions

Good try. Try harder.

You also unironically thought Phil Bredesen would win while I called it safe R, so...

I mean, we can keep going if you want. It's not a battle you're going to win.

And you said Manchin would lose to Morrisey.

I mean, we can keep going if you want. It's not a battle you're going to win.

Because clearly predicting the wrong winner in a toss up race is much worse than predicting the wrong winner in a safe race.

And your point is? This is kinda fun ngl

[NEW JERSEY FOR MENENDEZ]

I wanna see how many times IceSpear quotes me so I can put it in my sig once he calms down

[Sbane]

Because the economy was bad. Thats all the voters care about. They dont care about nor notice anything else

This is the key. Tell me how the stock market and economy is doing in October 2020 and I can tell you who wins. And this doesn't just apply to the white working class, but the working class in general.