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Following in the footsteps of FDR, Democratic support in the past hundred years has drawn largely from working-class individuals, labor unions, and civil society organizations. Republican support, conversely, tended to rely upon larger corporate donations and the support of high-income individuals. In 2024, these traditional roles are evolving, and the new reality of campaign finance is becoming something far more nuanced and complicated.
Straight Arrow News contributor Larry Lindsey dives into the newest data about who is contributing to political campaigns and argues the data are representative of a much larger shift in American political society. Social and economic class, Lindsey contends, will play a critical role in the upcoming election, and which side wins might determine how American concepts of class are shaped in the years to come.
Among small-dollar donors, Trump led by a margin of three to two. Among big-dollar donors, Biden led by a margin of 2.3 to one. In fact, Biden got more money just from big, high-roller donors than Trump got from all donors combined. Again, it’s the elites, experts and credentialed people who are on one side. They can afford to give those that money. The working guys could not.
Again, this is a switch from history. From the New Deal on, it was thought that the economic elites were Republicans, and the working class were the Democrats. But now it’s obvious the working class are the Republicans, and the economic elites are the Democrats.
Whatever happens on November 5, it’s going to be a very, very interesting result because the class divisions within America as showing up at the ballot box have never been wider. And so whichever side wins is going to really have a big impact on how class in America is defined going forward.
