Readers React: The delusion that Trump is a champion of the working class

To the editor: I am an admirer of Eric Alterman, but his April 3 op-ed article, “The Democrats need a candidate who speaks to Springsteen voters,” does a disservice to Democrats and the working class.

I grew up in a working-class family, and I have no sympathy for members of that class who voted for President Trump. If they thought Trump had their best interests at heart and Hillary Clinton did not, they were sadly deluded.

Yes, some had a perception that Clinton wasn’t friendly to the working class, but that was a myth and merely an excuse for swallowing Trump’s sexism and bigotry and not voting for, God help us, a highly qualified woman.

Also, Alterman sets up a false dichotomy between the white working class and other Democratic constituencies, such as supporters of Planned Parenthood and the Human Rights Campaign. Workers need reproductive healthcare, and some of them are LGBTQ and are worried about discrimination.

Let’s not perpetuate stereotypes that these constituencies are somehow at odds with each other.

Trudy Ring, Sherman Oaks

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To the editor: In the 2016 election, Clinton won nearly 3 million more votes than Trump. In 2018 House elections, Democratic candidates garnered upward of 9 million more votes than Republicans.

The message that the Democratic Party sends is being heard by women, millennials, the college educated and people of color. Democratic candidates were supported by Planned Parenthood, the Sierra Club, Greenpeace and other important organizations.

The party message is good. The trouble with so-called Springsteen voters is that they are not listening with their eyes open.

Donna Handy, Santa Barbara

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