How large was Bernie's mass base among the "white working class"?

[King of Kensington]

Since there's lots of talk about how the Dems need to move left and populist to win this demographic back, it seems like a good question to assess. 

[drwho1]

Do blue collar union workers believe in socialism?

It seems like unions are socialist organizations so they would like Left wing/socialist ideas that Bernie talks about?

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

Among active union members who actually show up to hang out at union halls? It's very substantial, actually. These people were passionate Bernie supporters. I did a bit of Facebook research and noticed that it was very common for there to be rogue Facebook groups like "IBEW for Bernie" or "Teamsters for Bernie" and it was clear that most posts there were from actual members. As an example, there was a Politico story about the United Steelworkers local that represented workers at the Carrier plant that Trump loved speaking about. Almost all of the active members of this local backed Bernie and hated Trump (presumably many ultimately backed Trump though?). I think it's worth taking seriously the idea that Bernie has some sort of mass base here and, let's face it, it is very unusual for union people to be this passionate about any presidential candidate these days...

As far as non-union people are concerned? The base is essentially confined to young white working class people without college degrees. There were plenty of "Sanders-Trump" voters among this constituency or, at the very least, plenty of Sanders sympathizers here.

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

Among active union members who actually show up to hang out at union halls? It's very substantial, actually. These people were passionate Bernie supporters. I did a bit of Facebook research and noticed that it was very common for there to be rogue Facebook groups like "IBEW for Bernie" or "Teamsters for Bernie" and it was clear that most posts there were from actual members. As an example, there was a Politico story about the United Steelworkers local that represented workers at the Carrier plant that Trump loved speaking about. Almost all of the active members of this local backed Bernie and hated Trump (presumably many ultimately backed Trump though?). I think it's worth taking seriously the idea that Bernie has some sort of mass base here and, let's face it, it is very unusual for union people to be this passionate about any presidential candidate these days...

As far as non-union people are concerned? The base is essentially confined to young white working class people without college degrees. There were plenty of "Sanders-Trump" voters among this constituency or, at the very least, plenty of Sanders sympathizers here.

I can verify that USW 1999 (the carrier folks in Indianapolis) were VERY pro-Bernie.

To move on to speculation: I'm not sure there were so many "Sanders--->Trump" voters. I suspect the far more common move was "Sanders---> Stay Home"

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Well they made up the bulk of his primary support, so...

[Filuwaúrdjan]

There were plenty of "Sanders-Trump" voters among this constituency or, at the very least, plenty of Sanders sympathizers here.

Yes it is now clear that many voters took the opportunity to vote against Clinton twice.

[King of Kensington]

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https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/798192678785716224

Bernie grew up in Jewish Brooklyn in the 40s and 50s, so he wouldn't have been seen as a member of the generic white American working class (though he does represent this demographic as a congressman and senator from Vermont).

Also, I really don't think one can appeal specifically and explicitly to the WWC in a progressive manner.   

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

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https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/798192678785716224

Bernie grew up in Jewish Brooklyn in the 40s and 50s, so he wouldn't have been seen as a member of the generic white American working class (though he does represent this demographic as a congressman and senator from Vermont).

Also, I really don't think one can appeal specifically and explicitly to the WWC in a progressive manner.    

You would not have said this as recently as ten years ago. The issue is that the character of the "WWC" has changed over the past few decades. What used to be widely accepted in these communities has changed with the destruction of organized labor and the death of the "Greatest Generation" (and the Silent Generation and many Baby Boomers; those born later than ~1960-1965 or so won't have much of a memory of organized labor or the left). Also worth noting that what is considered to be "progressive" has changed as well.