Poll: 84 Percent of Working Class Whites Say Government Doesn’t Represent Our Views

A Kaiser Family Foundation/CNN poll finds 84 percent of white working class voters say that the government in Washington, D.C. doesn’t represent the views of people like them–and 74 percent of whites with a four-year college degree say they agree.

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Nearly half, or 47 percent, of working class whites feel the country’s best days are behind us. Only 18 percent feel satisfied with the country’s economic situation, with 78 percent dissatisfied–and 53 percent very dissatisfied. Only 24 percent feel satisfied with “the influence people like you have on the political process,” with 45 percent feeling very dissatisfied.

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Trade is a sore spot with working class voters of all races polled. Sixty-nine percent of working class whites say trade agreements have cost the U.S. jobs, along with 62 percent of whites with college degrees. Thirty-seven percent of working class blacks and Hispanics also say trade deals with other countries have wound up costing Americans their jobs.

Fifty percent of working class whites view the “increasing racial and ethnic diversity in America” as “helpful because it provides economic and social benefits to most Americans,” while 38 percent of working class whites and blacks, along with 31 percent of working class Hispanics, said it was “harmful because some people feel like they no longer belong.” Only 20 percent of college-educated whites agreed.

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Forty-seven percent of working class whites believe “immigrants today are a burden on our country because they take our jobs, housing, and health care,” while 63 percent believe migrants from Muslim countries are “basically good, honest people.” However, 43 percent believe they add to the crime problems in the U.S., 40 percent believe they take jobs from American workers, and 63 percent believe they increase the risk of terrorist attacks.

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