- Working-Class Perspectives offers weekly commentaries on current issues related to working-class people and communities. Contributors discuss a variety of issues, from what class means to how it intersects with race and gender to how class is shaping American politics. We welcome relevant comments of 500 words or less.
For questions or comments about this blog, e-mail Sherry Linkon. For assistance with news stories about working-class politics and culture, call or e-mail John Russo, 330-207-8085. Categories
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The State of the Working Class
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Tag Archives: Obama
What Works — and What Doesn’t — about Obama’s Free Community College Proposal
In this week’s State of the Union address, President Obama will once again argue that higher education is, as he put it in a preview video, “the key to success for our kids in the 21st century.” To increase access, … Continue reading
How They Think: The Complexity of White Working-Class Voters
Since the late 90s, political pundits have debated how to define the working class and how to explain their voting patterns. Prior to the 2000 presidential election, a standard definition of the working class combined income, occupation, and education. But … Continue reading
How Kasich Can Win Ohio Again
In November 2011, I published a New York Times op-ed entitled “How Obama Can Win Ohio Again.” Now, with my pundit credentials firmly established (sic), I am opining that Ohio Governor John Kasich will win reelection in 2014. This could … Continue reading
Raising the Minimum Wage — The Right Way
Ever since President Obama took office I’ve periodically wished I had the ability to call the White House get him on the phone and say “Hey, you’re not doing it right!” Let me be clear—I don’t mean he hasn’t done … Continue reading
Posted in Contributors, Issues, Leo Jennings, The Working Class and the Economy
Tagged economic policy, low-wage jobs, minimum wage, Obama, wages, Wal-Mart
2 Comments
The White Vote in 2012 & the Obama Coalition
I’ve had it with “the white working class.” Not the actually existing part of the working class that is white, which is composed of complex and interesting people most of whom don’t vote like I think they should, but rather … Continue reading
Posted in Contributors, Issues, Jack Metzgar, Working-class politics
Tagged 2012 election, Obama, working-class voters
6 Comments
Jobs and the “Fiscal Cliff”
My relief that Mitt Romney was not going to be our president, with a Republican Senate along with the House of Representatives, barely lasted through Tuesday night. By my lights, a lot of terrible stuff and a completely wrong direction … Continue reading
Posted in Contributors, Issues, Jack Metzgar, The Working Class and the Economy
Tagged economic growth, fiscal cliff, Jobs, Obama, taxes
1 Comment
Obama Will Cruze to Victory
“And the winner is…” (Drum roll—sound of envelope being ripped open.) “…Barack Obama.” I’m going to be honest about this: when it comes to predicting the outcome of the 2012 presidential contest I’ve been downright Romneyan. It’s not something I’m … Continue reading
Posted in Contributors, Issues, Leo Jennings, Working-class politics
Tagged 2012 election, auto bailout, Obama, Ohio, Romney, working-class voters
5 Comments
“Job Creators” and “Capitalists Like Me”
It’s one thing when one of the world’s wealthiest capitalists argues that he is not being taxed fairly because he is not being taxed enough, as Warren Buffett did last August. But it’s quite another when a wealthy capitalist explains … Continue reading
Right-To-Work Laws and Working-Class Voters: Another Teachable Moment
As a professor, I am always interested in teachable moments. When it became apparent in late 2010 that Ohio Governor John Kasich planned to introduce legislation depriving public sector workers of basic bargaining rights, I told reporters that it was … Continue reading
Posted in Contributors, Issues, John Russo, Working-class politics
Tagged 2012 election, anti-union, Kasich, Obama, Ohio, Right-to-work, union households, working-class voters
4 Comments
The Diversity of the White Working Class
The recent firestorm of debate stirred by Thomas Edsall’s New York Times report of a behind-the-scenes plan by “Democratic operatives” to “explicitly abandon the white working class” reveals more about the degraded state of political journalism than it does about … Continue reading
Posted in Contributors, Issues, Jack Metzgar, Working-class politics
Tagged 2012 election, Democrats, John Halpin, Obama, Ruy Teixeira, The Path to 270, working-class voters
8 Comments