Robert Reich writing on FaceBook Sunday, Aug 7th, 2016: (the emphasis is mine)
Did the white working class give up on the Democratic Party or did the Democratic Party give up on the white working class? Working-class and poor whites have been on a downward economic escalator for years, but Democrats have done little or nothing to reverse the decline. Relatedly, working-class and poor whites have succumbed to opiate addiction and rising rates of mortality, but here too Democrats have done little or nothing in response. Donald Trump is not giving them hope. He’s validating their anger – and directing it against Mexican immigrants, Latinos, Muslims, blacks, political elites, and Hillary Clinton.
The long-term goal must be a multi-racial, multi-ethnic coalition of poor, working class, and middle class Americans intent on reclaiming our economy and democracy from an elite that is running away with both.
The Despair of Poor White Americans
Sometime during the past few years, the country started talking differently about white Americans of modest means. Early in the Obama era, the ennobling language of campaign pundits prevailed. There was much discussion of “white working-class voters,” with whom the Democrats, and especially Barack Obama, were having such trouble connecting.