issues that draw them to the republican party. do you think that s more what s pulling those voters back to the democrats more than, let s say, paul ryan s issues on medicare? in ohio that s a state where medicare is resonating with voters too. do you think the self-interest is coming back for these voters? well, i guess i don t i don t subscribe to the theory that white working class voters don t understand their self-interest on economic issues. i think we don t talk to them. they may in some cases vote on other issues and cultural issues. i m sure that many do. that would account for the 20% of uaw workers in toledo or youngstown that don t vote for obama or me i assume, but i think the issue is we as democrats by and large fail to talk to the white working class, particularly white working class nonunion voters. we do very well among white working class union voters but not so well among nonunion voters. that s a complex array of issues there, but we don t talk to them
jeep plant in toledo that put together the wrangler, the liberty, and the uaw workers in youngstown that put together the cruise that wouldn t be there in all likelihood without the auto rescue, they re already vote are for obama, voting for me, voting for democrats because they ve had this process of understanding the auto rescue from the first day. the anxiety when they thought their lives were going to their communities and lives were so threatened and standard of living and all. but it s the tier 2 and 3 and 4 suppliers that might make the bolt that goes into the aluminum wheel that goes in cleveland and alcoa that go into the final assembly. those workers are likely to be non-union and those workers are learning increasingly that the auto rescue has mat terd to them. you know, senator brown, this is joy reid, do you feel like because i do think the republicans have bifurcated self interest among white working class voters from the cultural
from over 10.5 to under 7.5%. much of that is the auto rescue. much of that as joe and others were talking on the show is the discussion of exports and attention to manufacturing and spa raising the loan limits for small manufacturing companies and we ve seen trade enforcement create jobs. there s a new steel mill in youngstown that wouldn t have been there if we hadn t enforced the tubular steel rules. we re seeing more tire jobs in finley, more steel jobs in lorraine and cleveland so all of that comes together in a way that makes people a good bit more optimistic but still anxious. there s a long discourse among progressives in every election about the white working class. we ve lost the white working class to the democrats. i thought this chart from i believe public religion and
connie schultz, you worked at the cleveland plain dealer for a long time and have been covering politics for a long time in ohio. did you ever think a presidential candidate would come to ohio with a swiss bank account? well, let s put it this way. it s been a form of entertainment in a way, because when you look at what matters to people in ohio, i remember remember the nascar thing? when he said, i do too know nascar, i know a couple of owners of that. that s what that youtube video sounded like that to me again. they are it s not just that romney s tone deaf, i don t know who s working for him. i don t know i wonder if they re ever touching the ground in ohio and talking to people who are working in ohio. i think there s no coincidence whatsoever that this is helping the president. and the president has also been enforcing trade agreements, which is why we have the new steel plant going in in youngstown. there are things that are happening in ohio that will make a huge dif
record to thump his chest about. and you can t honestly say with a straight face that when you re looting companies you ve invested and you ve skimmed off all this money by virtue of loading them down with debt and having them go bankrupt, that is not a successful record. you don t loot companies. i got money from venture capitalist and private equity folks to start a business. these are the folks that take a risk. they give you capital so you can build a business and hopefully if you work hard, the business succeeds, and you make some money. that s what mitt romney did. that s a good thing. that s what the american dream is all about. no. the steelworker in youngstown, ohio, is the notion that mitt romney and his cronies would have walked away with tens of millions because guys just like that steelwork got hosed when their company got shut down. that s not private equity, that s a perversion of capitalism. and that s what, i think, is going to be effective as this rolls out for th