Editing Reagan Democrat (section)

==Overview==
[[File:Ronald Reagan 1980 bumper sticker 2014BSReagan1Click-1x4.jpg|thumb|left|1980 bumper sticker reading, "Democrats Independents for Reagan"]]
{{conservatism US|parties}}
During the 1980 election a dramatic number of voters in the United States, disillusioned with the [[Economic stagnation|economic malaise]] of the 1970s and the presidency of [[Jimmy Carter]] (even more than four years earlier under moderate Republican [[Gerald Ford]]), supported Reagan, a former Democrat and California governor. Reagan's optimistic tone managed to win over a broad set of voters to an almost unprecedented degree (for a Republican since moderate war hero [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]'s victories in 1952 and 1956) across the board but did not make particular demographic inroads with Democratic voters,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu/polls/us-elections/how-groups-voted/how-groups-voted-1980/|title=How Groups Voted in 1980|work=Roper Center}}</ref> with the possible exception of national security voters (a focused yet relatively small group, difficult to find decisive empirical support for and identified in 1980 with Democrat [[Henry "Scoop" Jackson]], a Reagan ally for a brief period after 1980 until his death in 1983).

The term Reagan Democrat is sometimes used to describe moderate Democrats who are more conservative than liberal on certain issues like national security and immigration. The term Reagan Democrat also refers to the vast sway that Reagan held over the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] during his presidency, even though the house had a Democratic majority during both of his terms.<ref name="Greenberg 1996"/> The term also hearkens back to [[Richard Nixon]]'s [[silent majority]], a concept that Reagan himself used during his political campaigns in the 1970s.

[[File:Democrat for Reagan 1984 bumper sticker.jpg|thumb|left|"Democrat for Reagan" bumper sticker, {{Circa|1984}}]]
Democratic pollster [[Stan Greenberg]] issued a study of Reagan Democrats, analyzing white ethnic voters (largely unionized auto workers) in [[Macomb County, Michigan]], just north of [[Detroit]]. The county voted 63 percent for [[John F. Kennedy]] in 1960 but 66 percent for Reagan in 1984.<ref>michigan.gov/sos</ref> He concluded that Reagan Democrats no longer saw the Democratic Party as champions of their working-class aspirations but instead saw them as working primarily for the benefit of others: the very poor, feminists, the unemployed, African Americans, Latinos, and other groups. In addition, Reagan Democrats enjoyed gains during the period of economic prosperity that coincided with the Reagan administration following the malaise of the [[Carter administration]]. They also supported Reagan's strong stance on national security and opposed the 1980s Democratic Party on such issues as pornography, crime, and high taxes.<ref name="Greenberg 1996">Greenberg (1996)</ref>

Greenberg periodically revisited the voters of Macomb County as a barometer of public opinion until he conducted a 2008 exit poll that found "nearly 60 percent" of Macomb County voters were {{"'}}comfortable' with [[Mr. Obama]]", drawing the conclusion that Macomb County had "become normal and uninteresting" and "illustrates America's evolving relationship with race". As such, Greenberg stated in an op-ed for ''[[The New York Times]]'': "I'm finished with the Reagan Democrats of Macomb County in suburban Detroit after making a career of spotlighting their middle-class anger and frustrations about race and Democratic politicians."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/11/opinion/11greenberg.html?_r=2&ref=opinion&oref=slogin | work=The New York Times | title=Goodbye, Reagan Democrats | first=Stanley B. | last=Greenberg | date=November 11, 2008}}</ref> Obama ultimately won Macomb County by a comfortable 53–45% margin that year, the same margin he won nationally.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?f=0&fips=26&year=2008|title=2008 Presidential General Election Results – Michigan|author=David Leip}}</ref> In 2016, Macomb County voted for [[Donald Trump]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/13/us/politics/michigan-voters-donald-trump.html|title=Michigan Voters Say Trump Could See Their Problems 'Right Off the Bat'|author=Abby Goodnough|date=2016-11-12|newspaper=New York Times}}</ref> and did so again in 2020 and 2024.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Macomb County Clerk/Register of Deeds |title=Electors of President and Vice President of the United States |url=https://electionresults.macombgov.org/m31/5.html |website=Macomb County Clerk/Register of Deeds |publisher=Macomb County, Michigan |access-date=24 April 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/projects/election-results-2024/michigan/?r=0 |title=2024 Michigan Election Results |publisher =The Associated Press}}</ref>

Reagan biographer [[Craig Shirley]] wrote extensively about Reagan Democrats. His 1980 election account "Rendezvous with Destiny" clearly distinguishes the appearance of [[blue-collar]] crossovers for Reagan during the 1980 Wisconsin primaries at a Reagan event in Milwaukee's "ethnic Mecca" Serb Hall. He writes: "A young Democrat, Robert Ponasik, stood on a chair furiously waving a handmade sign that proclaimed, 'Cross Over for Reagan'. Of the reaction to Reagan in Serb Hall, [[Lynn Sherr]] of [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] reported, 'In judging from the way they showed up at a long-time Democratic meeting hall&nbsp;... a large number of blue-collar voters could go for Reagan.{{' "}}<ref name="Reagan Democrats 233">{{cite book |title= Rendezvous with Destiny: Ronald Reagan and the Campaign That Changed America|last= Shirley|first= Craig|author-link= Craig Shirley|year= 2009|publisher= ISI Books|location= Wilmington, Delaware|isbn= 978-1-933859-55-2|page= 233}}</ref>