I looked at an article that explained how the Democrats have lost the ‘Working Class’. I’m fairly certain the Republican grasp on the ‘Working Class’ isn’t all that strong either.
I’ve spent a lot of my life in higher education – but it was never a comfortable fit with my colleagues, most of whom were further to the left. As a cow-college guy (if I’m formal, I can use the term ‘land grant’) and JC teacher, I suppose I’ve been a lot closer to working class than most university faculty.
So I look at the House of Representatives, and 179 of the 435 are law school graduates. That’s about 40% who are definitely not working class. I remember reading – probably over half a century ago – that when Texas was a republic, its constitution kept attorneys and clergy out of the legislature. It kind of makes sense to keep those who make a living by arguing law away from making law, and I suspect the old Tejanos figured that keeping the clergy out maintained the separation of church and state.
This fall we have five candidates for Senator in Montana. Kurt Alme is the most likely to win – and a practicing attorney. Alani Bankhead, Democrat, retired from the Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel – again, not ‘Working Class’. Seth Bodnar, Independent, was President at UM – again, a work history not consistent with the ‘Working Class’. I guess Kyle Austin, running as a Libertarian, and a pharmacist, is the closest yet to ‘Working Class’. Jami Dee Woodman, of Dodson, will probably receive the fewest votes, but is also the actual ‘Working Class’ candidate.
It is safe to say that neither major party gives a rat’s patootie about the ‘Working Class’. Montana’s five Senate candidates pretty well demonstrate that.
I think that, when I looked at the world through a transit, and carried a rod, I qualified as ‘Working Class’. Possibly, like a carpenter or electrician, a skilled tradesman. Basically for ten or twelve years out of a 40+ year working career I may have been ‘Working Class’ – and I hope I have remembered the challenges there.
Too many of our Political Class never spent time as ‘Working Class’. It’s small wonder that both parties have forgotten the ‘Working Class’.
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