Does this forum completely fail to understand working class whites?

[RFayette]

A solid majority of working class whites (outside of the South) are loyal Democrats, and most have more liberal views in general (but particularly on economic issues) than middle and upper class whites (which are the bulk of this forum's posters, so...).

Agreed, but many people think upper-income blue collar workers (like owners of a plumbing company), who are really Republican, are part of the working class.  That's the confusion, I think.

[RFayette]

A solid majority of working class whites (outside of the South) are loyal Democrats, and most have more liberal views in general (but particularly on economic issues) than middle and upper class whites (which are the bulk of this forum's posters, so...).

Agreed, but many people think upper-income blue collar workers (like owners of a plumbing company), who are really Republican, are part of the working class.  That's the confusion, I think.

Eh, there's plenty of evidence that suggests that highly-skilled blue collar workers, who tend to operate as individual contractors, are fairly Democratic. This shouldn't be that surprising considering where "building trades" skills tend to be attained (as "apprentices" in union shops).

For instance, look at "verdant labs" project that lists the partisan affiliation of various occupations and notice the discrepancy between "skilled trades" and "construction". Those who define themselves as "electricians", "handymen", "carpenters", "welders" and "mechanics" are far more Democratic-leaning than their, typically skilled, peers who are "foremen". Plumbers are, well, unique in that they tend to make large sums of money and, oftentimes list themselves as "plumbers", they simply own plumbing businesses. Other skilled workers in the building trades who own their own "businesses" oftentimes own a business composed of one worker.

Also, without question, those in the building trades or, in general, who are "skilled" manual workers are working class. In fact, throughout history, they have defined the working class. Strangely enough, and contrary to what Marx would have predicted, it has been the labor aristocracy that has tended towards radical political action/organization and that tends to have the strongest sense of class identity. Organizing workers in heavy industry was a major challenge in the late 19th and early 20th century; artisans, on the other hand, have been in trade organizations for centuries, which, naturally, lends itself to political mobilization.

Note: much of this is an over-generalization and is a bit hyperbolic but it's worth considering. It's taken as conventional wisdom that, say, a custodian is, all else equal, going to be more left-wing than, say, an electrician but, in truth, the electrician is more likely to be a very active "union man" (or woman) who votes in every election.

This is fair.  I suppose plumbers were more the exception rather than the rule.  I assume the big GOP advantage among no college-degree whites is more related to construction foremen (mentioned previously), police and firemen (though this is a very recent shift), military veterans, and non-unionized skilled factory workers then.  

[RFayette]

There are a lot of people in well paying white collar and management jobs who do not have degrees, particularly if older than fifty.

I agree with this factor, though I definitely think there has to have been a shift in manufacturing/construction as well to account for the difference, with respect to what is called "skilled workers."

http://themonkeycage.org/2012/02/understanding-the-zombie-confusion-about-class-and-voting/