Why Old Money Supports the Left

Don't underestimate the Democrat's ability to cheat

A recent comment by RFK Jr. struck a chord with me.

In the last election, Biden voters owned 70% of the wealth in the United States, and Trump voters owned 30%.

In 2020, Trump swept through small-town and rural counties, areas with modest economies (represented by red tiles below). Meanwhile, Biden captured counties that were more white-collar working and college-educated. This statistic underscores the US divide: large metro areas are left, while exurban and rural counties lean Republican, each reflecting distinct economic landscapes.

Think back to the 1976 election: Jimmy Carter versus Gerald Ford. Carter's reach west of Texas was nonexistent, except for Hawaii. Back then blue states included Texas, Florida, Missouri, Ohio, and West Virginia, along with current battlegrounds like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia—Carter's backyard. Meanwhile, California and future Democratic strongholds like Oregon, Washington, and Colorado were all red.

Yes, you read that right.

Democrats are no longer the party of the blue-collar worker.

Is that a controversial statement? Is it revelatory, like Moses receiving the 10 Commandments?

No. So my question is how did we get here, and can we turn this ship around peacefully?

Explain liberals like I'm a visitor from Mars

Who are these “liberals” and what is going on with them?

If you had to explain it to a visitor from Mars who had just arrived on this planet, what would you say?

I see it like this… Liberals are the “We could be better than we are” people.
Conservatives are the “We should make sure this is a good idea first” types.

Neither is good or bad.

Liberals believe that workers should have rights, everyone should be able to vote easily and conveniently, the rich must be taxed, and the environment should be protected.

Not in the whole save the whales stuff.

More like passing laws that make polluting drinking water a real crime.

Libs want to get rid of super money in elections. Get rid of private prisons. End the Drug War. Reduce and cut back the military-industrial complex (not as of late) and make housing affordable.

The problem is that, outside of environmental concerns, these ideals no longer apply to modern liberals; they apply to classical liberals like RFK Jr. and former Hawaiian Senator Tulsi Gabbard.

For years, the backbone of the Democratic Party was built on the working class: steelworkers, miners, and farmers. But check that list again—today, almost all of that group has shifted, possibly leaning towards Trump, either quietly or openly.

So what has changed in the last 50 years since that Carter election?

Campaign financing.

Bloomberg

For years, Ronald Reagan was the model Republican President. Even after Reagan stepped down, Republicans upheld his vision: social conservatism, hawkish foreign policy, and (hollow promises of) small government.

The Bushes, Dick Cheney (who endorsed Kamala), John McCain, and Mitt Romney (also anti-Trump) all followed that model.

That all changed after Donald Trump.

On the Democratic side, everything changed after Bill Clinton.

At that time, Clinton and the Democratic party were interested in campaign finance reform because all the corporate money was behind the Republican party.

However, they discovered that if they went corporate, too, they could raise as much money, or more (much more), than Republican candidates.

An article in a small indie publication put it best in 1996 in a story titled “Who Killed Campaign Finance Reform? (and How To Revive It):”

“With the election of Bill Clinton and a large contingent of new members of Congress who ran on a government "reform" platform, there was great hope that the first significant reforms of the campaign finance system in 20 years would pass. But instead of a White House signing ceremony, we see hopes for this year dashed and spending in the 1994 elections soaring to new heights.

The White House also bears significant responsibility for the failure of reform. The Clinton administration, for all of its pro-reform rhetoric, simply did not put much muscle into moving the legislation. Clinton's failure to push early and often for campaign finance reform made it a sitting duck for recalcitrant House Democrats and obstructionist Senate Republicans.”

Globalism has a new face, and it is black, brown, female, trans, gay, etc., etc.

Capitalism began to embrace Democrats.

From a marketing angle, promoting a dynamic figure like Obama or Harris is better than a stuffy old white guy like Trump. This isn't to downplay their political prowess—Obama is arguably the political maestro of our time. It’s just that companies often find it easier to support progressive movements, hence the annual June display of Pride flags or foreign symbols in their profiles.

If push came to shove, these companies don’t give a fuck about gay people. It’s all in service of the almighty dollar. Bow DOWN!

Due to the corporate subversion of the liberal movement, many Democrats have become weaponized empaths. If the TV told them to start sobbing for (insert country name here) you'd see said flags everywhere as a sign of their unwavering empathetic support.

The key issue with liberalism is that the movement has ventured from focusing on people to focusing on an ideological framework that ultimately destroys the working man you claim to champion.

I believe this shift from indigenous concerns to internationalist ones was an intentional subversion by the elite class to destroy the momentum and potential of 20th-century liberal politics.

Can any of this be fixed? (Final thought)

This isn’t to say Donald Trump is the savior of the working class.

He is better than Kamala in that regard from an economic standing.

But as I found interviewing former gubernatorial candidate of New York Larry Sharpe, the real solution lies in the resurrection of a third party.

(I filmed that interview and will post it here Sunday; AMAZING conversation)

Anyone familiar with the campaigns of RFK Jr. and (current campaign) of Dr. Jill Stein can attest to how much bullshit the legal system puts third-party candidates through. I’ll let you watch that video for the details.

The upshot is the two-party system has failed for my entire lifetime.

Most people forget that a conservative-led Supreme Court certified the 2000 election for George W. Bush over Al Gore causing many to believe (and maybe rightfully so) that the election was stolen.

Obama elections were more of a landslide, yet he also led to the mess we’re in, where liberal elites and the working class are at odds with each other.

In closing, I do believe there are many liberals who believe in a world based on what sounds nice and equitable rather than what is physically possible or realistically achievable. Because of this, their ideology is based on moral posturing, gloating, and demonizing their enemies for social credit.

But the majority of the problem isn’t with them.

Just as the left has its woke, the right has Looney Tunes who believe “We need to go back to how things were in the past, and I refuse to believe anything was worse back then.”

The real problem is with the system itself: campaign financing, foreign lobbying (I’ll let you figure that one out), and a broken two-party system.

We need a revolution.

I’m not sure if it will be peaceful or violent.

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Thanks for reading! Posting on Wednesdays and Fridays (Thursdays if I’m late) and a new video or podcast on Sunday. That’s the schedule, and I’m sticking to it.

Now to try and find a way back on Medium…