Supreme Court Building on Jin Washington, DC. House Democrats participate in a sit-in in front of the U.S. Jay Williams, a Republican consultant in Georgia, told Newsweek that the perception used to be that 'the rich stockbroker types were Republican, and the Democratic Party had a union-oriented, nine-to-five, hardhat mentality. That argument was a core part of former President Donald Trump's populist message, and has become increasingly popular on the right as Republicans seek to win back control of Congress in the midterm elections. Republicans pointed to the survey as further proof that the Democratic Party caters to wealthy, white, college-educated progressives who hold far-left views on issues like abortion, climate change and gun control. 'But the polling numbers don't always bear that out these days.' 'Democratic leaders would like to tell themselves that they still maintain that alliance with working class voters,' said Dante Scala, a political science professor at the University of New Hampshire.

It also suggested the center of gravity in the Party has shifted to wealthier, more progressive white voters with college degrees.

The finding appears to show cracks in the Obama coalition, the alignment of young, nonwhite and college-educated women and men that propelled former President Barack Obama to the White House and helped elect Biden in 2020. The latest New York Times/Siena College poll has set off alarm bells in the Party, fueling the debate about whether Biden should, or will, run for reelection in the year he turns 82.īut Democratic operatives zeroed in on another, overlooked warning sign in the poll that could spell long-term trouble for the Party, regardless of its nominee in 2024 and beyond: in a first for the national survey, Democrats received more support from white college-educated voters than they did from nonwhite voters. President Joe Biden's reelection prospects received a major blow last week in a prominent poll that found most Democratic voters don't want him to seek a second term.

Voting blocs