Truck Stop Politics: Understanding the Emerging Force of Working Class America

Nearly 4 million manufacturing jobs have been lost in the United States since 1998. And yet, politicians in Washington still pay little more than lip service to the issues threatening the domestic manufacturing sector, while working class communities wither on the vine. Policymakers proclaim the booming service industry as the panacea for displaced manufacturing workers, who struggle to adapt their skills to these lower paying service jobs. The stress of unemployment and the need for multiple incomes eats at the core of American life - the family. Ripples of distress reverberate in the streets of our communities, from the pulpits of our churches, and through the halls of our local governments. Truck Stop Politics examines the key voting block in America that keeps resurfacing with different names - Roosevelt Democrats, Hardhats, Reagan Democrats, and Red-state Republicans - and looks at how the working class is coming to terms with the 21st century realities of globalization. Neither "protectionists" nor "economic nationalists," America's workers are eager to take on the challenges that accompany a global marketplace, and want leaders in D.C. who will be champions for a level playing field on which American workers can compete. But in a Washington obsessed with maintaining power, it is the multinationals that have the ears of America's decisionmakers, who turn a blind eye to the unfair and illegal trade practices that accommodate the flow of goods from foreign nations. And as the 2006 mid-term elections showed, working Americans are fed up. They want a chance to show that the age-old American values of hard work, ingenuity, and dedication can still allow us to outcompete anyone in the world. And they perceive a political class in D.C. that prefers the values of manipulation, distortion, and spin. Until one of America's parties steps up to enforce fairness and compliance from our trading "partners" with our existing trade agreements, Washington will continue to see the incumbent party - Republicans or Democrats - turned out, as voters search for a government of the people.