How Hillary can win Republicans

In the '80s, we he had Reagan Democrats. Will 2016 bring Clinton Republicans?

Now may be the time to jump ship.
(Image credit: Illustrated by Lauren Hansen | Image courtesy iStock)

Blue-collar "Reagan Democrats" helped Ronald Reagan coast to landslide presidential victories in 1980 and 1984. More than three decades later, Hillary Clinton would love to see the 2016 presidential election turn in her favor thanks to "Clinton Republicans."

It's easy enough to imagine. In a new CBS poll, only 64 percent of conservatives said they support Donald Trump. Compare that to the roughly 80 percent of conservatives who supported George W. Bush in 2004, John McCain in 2008, and Mitt Romney in 2012. Many conservatives are clearly uneasy with Trump's brand of dark, authoritarian populism. This seems to present Democrats a real opportunity to slice off a chunk of the traditional GOP in 2016 — and maybe beyond.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
James Pethokoukis

James Pethokoukis is the DeWitt Wallace Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute where he runs the AEIdeas blog. He has also written for The New York Times, National Review, Commentary, The Weekly Standard, and other places.