ELECTION 2020
New Hampshire Primaries Paint a Picture of Modern Day Class War in America
While the primary totals for Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg were relatively
close, their support came from radically different segments of the population.
by Alan Macleod
February 12th, 2020
By Alan Macleod
Unlike Iowa’s debacle, yesterday’s New Hampshire primary results were announced
promptly, showing Vermont senator Bernie Sanders in first place with 26 percent
of the vote total. Former South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg was a close second,
winning 24 percent of votes and the same number of delegates as Sanders.
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar came third, the only other candidate to draw
enough support to secure any delegates.
But while the primary totals were relatively close, the top candidates’ support
comes from radically different segments of the population, highlighting the
deep fault lines in American society. Sanders was the runaway winner among New
Hampshire’s working class, receiving 38 percent of the vote from those with
household incomes less than $50,000. That is a 21-point lead over his nearest
challenger. But his support fell to just 17 percent among those earning over
$100,000. In contrast, Buttigieg doubled Sanders’ votes among the rich but
fared poorly among the working class. It was a similar case with Klobuchar, who
fared extremely well among the super-wealthy, but was in single digits with
those earning under $50,000. Indeed, of all the measurable metrics polling
tracked, she and Mayor Pete fared the worst when it came to class. Sanders also
was the clear favorite among unionized households.
Alan MacLeod
@AlanRMacLeod
New Hampshire results in full:
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A tale of two futures
The American public is faced with a stark choice this year: embrace a more
egalitarian social-democratic future with Sanders, or continue on a neoliberal
path with Buttigieg (or Klobuchar). This is highlighted by the nature of their
campaigns. Bernie took time out of campaigning to join the Chicago teachers’
strike and refuses to accept money from billionaires, arguing they are a
corrosive force in U.S. politics. Buttigieg, on the other hand, has received
payments from 40 billionaires and held a glitzy fundraiser in an exclusive Napa
Valley wine cave, where guests were served $900 bottles of wine. Meanwhile,
corporate media have lauded Klobuchar for unflinchingly opposing virtually
every piece of progressive legislation, including Medicare for All, the Green
New Deal and free public college tuition.
Teddy Schleifer
✔
@teddyschleifer
Here are some photos of the Buttigieg fundraiser in Napa -- with the famous
wine cave and the chandelier with 1,500 Swarovski crystals -- that
@BrianSlodysko wrote
about.https://www.instagram.com/p/B6H4aipBK_z/?igshid=b0spab7ikq16 …
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Fault Lines
There is an increasingly close correlation between age and class in the United
States, as more and more young people on the wrong side of the 2008 financial
crisis are locked out of the American dream. Those who grew up in decades where
college, healthcare and property were far cheaper have been more able to accrue
wealth and avoid being saddled with huge debts like the younger generation.
Total student loan debt currently stands at over $1.6 trillion, a number
Sanders plans to cancel completely. Half of all young people believe the
American dream is dead, and the majority of them are embracing socialism.
At the same time, the poor die young in America; a 2017 Congressional Research
Service report found that rich Americans lived between 10-15 years longer than
poor ones, meaning those who have survived to retirement age are
disproportionately wealthy. Sanders won more voters under the age of 30 than
all other candidates combined, yet his support craters to just 14 percent of
the population aged over 65. Klobuchar, meanwhile, was the most popular
candidate among the old but can count on only four percent of the young.
Sanders was also the overwhelming choice of non-white voters, 32 percent of
whom voted for the Vermont senator – twice that of his nearest challenger, Joe
Biden.
A political revolution
While the exit polls showed that the professional middle classes are highly
fickle – the large majority of Klobuchar and Buttigieg supporters undecided or
switching allegiances until the final few days – it appears the working class
is ready for a political revolution. Freshman Congresswoman Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez called for just that to liquidate ICE and end mass incarceration.
Ocasio-Cortez was speaking at a Sanders rally on the eve of the primary. “It’s
going to take you to do it, mass movement politics to do it. That’s the theory
of change, that’s what political revolution is all about,” she told the crowd.
Almost half of America is broke, and 58 percent of the country is living
paycheck to paycheck, with savings of less than $1,000. 37 million Americans go
to bed hungry and over half a million sleep on the streets on any given night,
with many millions more in vehicles or relying on friends or family. In
September, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that wealth inequality had risen to
the highest levels they had ever recorded. Sanders has been a constant critic
of economic inequality for decades and has emerged as the figurehead of a
nationwide movement against it. Many forecasts project him as the favorite in
all 50 states, but even if he does lose or is denied the nomination like in
2016, the conditions for his rise will not disappear, especially if Donald
Trump wins again in November.
