Sometimes I wonder if anyone with an IQ above room temperature has been guiding the leadership of the Democrat party.
Case in point: Last night’s vote on Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill (BBB), a massive tax and spend bill that includes a number of important tax cuts that will benefit blue collar workers – including those who depend on tips – as well as seniors living on limited and fixed means.
While the bill passed thanks to the almost monolithic support by the thin Republican majority, the Democrats unanimously opposed it – in essence, turning their backs on their most important core constituents: Blacks, blue collar workers and seniors.
They did this in the House back in the Spring, and they did it again last night.
Fortunately for their former key constituencies, the Democrats’ opposition to this bill failed to stop it from passing in its current form.
However, the fight isn’t over. The Senate bill is far different from the House bill, and finding common ground could see the coalition in support of this legislation fail. Should that happen, Trump and his allies would be wise to offer the tax cuts for seniors and tip-dependent blue collar workers as a stand-alone bill. It needs to be passed.
Why is this a betrayal? It’s simple. The BBB contains provisions exempting tips from being taxed by the IRS – great for millions of blue collar workers who depend on tips, along with their families – as well as for exempting seniors from income tax on their Social Security and other income. For those struggling on a fixed income, this is like manna from heaven – a gift beyond price.
Bottom line: If their opposition to this bill isn’t a betrayal of the Democrats’ traditionally most important constituencies, I’m not sure what would be.
Those voting blocs are the core constituencies that the Democrats have relied upon since FDR created Social Security and a variety of programs to help out-of-work blue collar workers to get jobs during the depths of the Great Depression. That represents more than ninety years of loyalty and strong support for the increasingly left-leaning Democrat party. Their vote against the BBB is indeed a clear betrayal.
The Dems are known for delivering the pork to core constituents – which has allowed them to ignore the actual interests of those same core constituencies. However, in 2024, this lack of support turned on them, big time.
For example, look at how little they have done for Black citizens since the landmark civil rights laws in 1964 and 1965. President Reagan was the first Republican to capitalize on that – a little -- almost 50 years ago.
But Donald Trump did far more than Reagan, just in his first term. Trump won sixteen percent of black votes in 2024, up from eight percent in 2020 – and this number was within the margin of victory for Trump.
Looking for proof of the decline in blue-collar support for Democrats – from those without college degrees and making less than $100,000 – statistics tell the story. These once-loyal blue collar voters moved away from Kamala Harris and the Democrats in droves. Trump carried a plurality of all blue-collar workers, including union members who fit the criteria of no college degree and incomes under $100,000.
Voters – in another survey targeting those who make $50,000 or less – who were sixty percent or more in support of Obama during his two elections instead sided with Trump. The margin wasn’t big, but the drop was significant. Harris got 48.5 percent while Trump got 49 percent of those voters.
“Between 2008 and 2024, the Democrats lost almost thirty percent of working-class voters. And that’s enough to explain the outcomes of the election …” That’s among voters making $50,000 or less.
If you expand the blue-collar group to include those with no college degree and income under $100,000, the margin of victory for Trump, and the shift away from Democrats, is even higher.
Another metric of the shift away from Democrats by blue-collar voters, Trump’s capture of a majority of voters who are members of labor unions was another shocker for the Dems.
In my home base of Las Vegas, the tens of thousands of tip-dependent workers in restaurants and casinos are members of the Culinary Union, a huge organization in Vegas and in other casino cities around the country. The tip issue should be decisive in the next two elections, if – pardon the pun – the Republicans play their cards right.
There was one other mass defection among traditional Democrat voters. That’s seniors, defined by AARP as those age fifty and above, but dominated by those sixty-five and older. Harris garnered 47 percent of those voters, but Trump had a outside-the-margins majority of 52 percent, according to AP VoteCast. More traditional exit polls projected that number as 55 percent for Trump. The AP election analysis service also noted that Americans age fifty and older also “constituted fifty-two percent of the electorate.”
The latter is useful for all seniors, but especially for those on a fixed income.
What does all of this mean?
In terms of upcoming elections in ’26 and ‘28, every single Republican candidate for any office should create at least one powerful television ad showing how vehemently the Dems in office – from Schumer on down in the Senate, and Jeffries and his crew in the House – rallied their troops to vote against Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill.
As card-carrying members of the Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) support group, they sought to deny Trump a win, despite provisions in the bill specifically targeted toward lowering taxes for blue collar workers and for retirees.
The Congressional Democrats’ opposition failed to stop the bill from being passed, but it should send a clear signal to every blue-collar and senior voter. They’d sell you out for a cheap victory over Trump.
Loyalty works, or should work, both ways – up from the rank-and-file and down from the leadership.
In this critical vote, the Democrats showed their true colors. They’d rather damage their opponent than support their millions of loyal – until now – friends. This Congressional vote against tax relief for blue-collar workers and seniors could mark the victory for Republicans in 2026, and again in 2028, when voters by the millions will come out to reward those who supported them with the most significant tax reduction in decades.
Seriously, what this means in 2026 and 2028 – assuming the Republicans realize the gift that Schumer and Jeffries have given them, and also assuming the Republicans use that gift to create on-target campaign ads – is even bigger margins in the Senate and House in 2026, and a repeat presidency in 2028.
How this is managed is up to the Republicans (I hope you’re listening), but the gift is theirs for the taking.
A Note from the author: This article, and each day’s edition of American Thinker, is brought to you through the generosity of donors and contributors, as well as through advertisers who sponsor our content. However, the greatest source of revenue comes from readers just like you – and like me, as I’m not only an author, but a reader, and a paying member. If you like what American Thinker has to offer, please consider donating to AT, either as a one-time donation or as an ongoing “subscription.” We need your help, and we thank you for considering this. -Ned Barnett
About Ned Barnett: For his entire career, Ned has been active in conservative politics on a strategic and policy-making level – including two times testifying before Congress on national healthcare policy. He has been a leader in grassroots advocacy for conservative causes, and continues to keep a sharp eye on Washington.
The author of forty published books himself, for the past decade, Ned has helped authors to write, edit, publish and market their books, and in 18 instances, he ghost-wrote those books for the named “authors.” Subjects include healthcare, conservative politics and fiction, as well as religious books taking alternative, but scripturally-sound perspectives on issues faced by believers. Ned can be reached at 702-561-1167 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Image: Grok ai-generated picture, via X
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