Democrats turned their backs on organized labor after Dukakis lost in 1988. It was apparent to Democrats that with declining union membership, that voter block couldn't be counted on to win an election. Bill Clinton abandoned the working class in favor of the more highly educated. Since then, unions were largely ignored by Democrats (except in California), and the working class started voting Republican. In my opinion, the Republican coalition should be easy to break apart with labor-related wedge issues, but Democrats are too weak and too stupid to shatter the Republican coalition. The working class voting Republican still shocks people who don't understand why slaves would vote with their oppressors.