A story on the RealClearPolitics website contends that the Republican Party, if it plays its cards properly, could begin a historic political realignment that would compare with the Democratic Party’s decades of Washington dominance that started during the Great Depression.
The story noted that in the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump got plenty of support from working-class voters. His task was made easier because Democrats paid less attention to workers and labor unions, a longtime base of support. Nevertheless, Trump pulled it off, which made his pollster John McLaughlin wonder if that trend would last.
“Right now, these Trump voters — the GOP is just renting them,” McLaughlin said. He believes if Republicans want to keep the working class on their side, they need to adjust some of their policies.
That’s the goal of Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who RCP described as a right-of-center politician — but also pro-labor. That’s a rare blend, yet Hawley has lived up to the description.
In 2024, he ended his support for right-to-work laws, which do not require workers to pay dues if they are not they are a union member. Before that, he introduced a worker-friendly bill to cap credit card interest rates, and another one to overturn the Supreme Court’s campaign finance ruling, Citizens United, which tends to favor business interests.
This year, Hawley is expected to introduce a bill that says once a workplace votes to form a union, management must begin negotiations within 10 days. Unions have wanted that quick timeline for years, and the oddity of a Republican senator proposing it is highlighted by the fact that two Democrats already have promised to co-sponsor the bill.
Hawley has been criticized for these bills, and it is hard to see significant numbers of Republicans in Congress getting on board. But the story correctly notes that “skepticism of corporate power is increasingly in vogue among the GOP because of Trump’s ascendancy.”
Hawley himself said, “As conservatives who are now benefiting from the support of working people, it’s time we deliver for them and bring into actuality this Trump realignment, this working-class realignment of the Republican Party.” If the GOP doesn’t do it, he added, it will never be a majority party.
The real question is how hard Trump pushes for pro-labor laws, or pushes congressional Republicans to get on board. He certainly benefitted from blue-collar votes last year, but he also did pretty well with Big Business, especially in campaign contributions. He was a pro-business president during his first term. If that has changed, he will have to walk a very fine line to keep both sides happy.
Honestly, it’s hard to see this realignment happening. It would require some Republicans to vote against a century’s worth of the party’s core beliefs. And even though Democrats may like some of the ideas, would they go along if it costs them politically?
It’s easy for a few senators to introduce a few bills. It’s a lot harder to get them written into the law.
Which of Mississippi’s congressional Republicans, for example, would be willing to vote for Hawley’s bills? And who’s to say Democrats won’t wake up, realize their mistakes and start running candidates that will pay better attention to the working class?
Though this Republican realignment seems unlikely, stranger things have happened. We may not know for a while, but 2024 could mark a year of great change in American politics.
— Jack Ryan, McComb Enterprise-Journal
