| National Journal illustration |
It all started
nearly 40 years ago with an obscure Oakland University sociologist who pieced
together the characteristics of a bloc of voters he called the Middle American
Radicals, or MARS.
These are not
radicals in the extremist sense, professor Donald Warren, now deceased,
explained in a 1976 book he authored. These were folks of modest means who didn’t
trust the system, and wanted a president who bucked the system.
The MARS voters
backed rebel candidates – George Wallace, Ross Perot, Pat Buchanan. And now
Donald Trump.
All of this
sounds exceedingly familiar to those who are well-versed in the politics of Macomb
County, home of the Reagan Democrats – and apparently home of MARS.
sounds exceedingly familiar to those who are well-versed in the politics of Macomb
County, home of the Reagan Democrats – and apparently home of MARS.
In a long piece
recently written for the National Journal, John B. Judis explains the long-running MARS
phenomenon that began in the early 1970s:
“These voters
were not college educated; their income fell somewhere in the middle or
lower-middle range; and they primarily held skilled and semi-skilled blue-collar
jobs or sales and clerical white-collar jobs. At the time, they made up
about a quarter of the electorate. What distinguished them was their ideology:
It was neither conventionally liberal nor conventionally conservative,
but instead revolved around an intense conviction that the middle class
was under siege from above and below.
were not college educated; their income fell somewhere in the middle or
lower-middle range; and they primarily held skilled and semi-skilled blue-collar
jobs or sales and clerical white-collar jobs. At the time, they made up
about a quarter of the electorate. What distinguished them was their ideology:
It was neither conventionally liberal nor conventionally conservative,
but instead revolved around an intense conviction that the middle class
was under siege from above and below.
“On the
other hand, they held very conservative positions on poverty and race.
They were the least likely to agree that whites had any responsibility ‘to
make up for wrongs done to blacks in the past,’ they were the most critical
of welfare agencies, they rejected racial busing, and they wanted to
grant police a ‘heavier hand’ to ‘control crime.’ They were also the group
most distrustful of the national government. And in a stand that wasn’t
really liberal or conservative … MARS
were more likely than any other group to favor strong leadership in Washington—to
advocate for a situation ‘when one person is in charge.’
other hand, they held very conservative positions on poverty and race.
They were the least likely to agree that whites had any responsibility ‘to
make up for wrongs done to blacks in the past,’ they were the most critical
of welfare agencies, they rejected racial busing, and they wanted to
grant police a ‘heavier hand’ to ‘control crime.’ They were also the group
most distrustful of the national government. And in a stand that wasn’t
really liberal or conservative … MARS
were more likely than any other group to favor strong leadership in Washington—to
advocate for a situation ‘when one person is in charge.’
“If
these voters are beginning to sound familiar, they should: Warren’s MARS
of the 1970s are the Donald Trump supporters of today. Since at least the
late 1960s, these voters have periodically coalesced to become a force in
presidential politics, just as they did this past summer. In 1968 and
1972, they were at the heart of George Wallace’s presidential campaigns;
in 1992 and 1996, many of them backed H. Ross Perot or Pat Buchanan. Over the
years, some of their issues have changed—illegal immigration has replaced
explicitly racist appeals—and many of these voters now have junior-college
degrees and are as likely to hold white-collar as blue-collar jobs. But the
basic MARS worldview that Warren outlined has remained surprisingly intact
from the 1970s through the present.”
these voters are beginning to sound familiar, they should: Warren’s MARS
of the 1970s are the Donald Trump supporters of today. Since at least the
late 1960s, these voters have periodically coalesced to become a force in
presidential politics, just as they did this past summer. In 1968 and
1972, they were at the heart of George Wallace’s presidential campaigns;
in 1992 and 1996, many of them backed H. Ross Perot or Pat Buchanan. Over the
years, some of their issues have changed—illegal immigration has replaced
explicitly racist appeals—and many of these voters now have junior-college
degrees and are as likely to hold white-collar as blue-collar jobs. But the
basic MARS worldview that Warren outlined has remained surprisingly intact
from the 1970s through the present.”
