Executive Summary

This report follows on from a now famous 1985 study conducted by Stan Greenberg for Michigan Democrats which drew attention to "Reagan Democrats," defectors from the Democratic Party exemplified by Democrats in Macomb County, Michigan, who voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984. The results of the 1985 study were disconcerting and highlighted the alienation of these voters from government in general and Democrats in particular.

This study, conducted two years later, finds that while Democratic defectors have not returned to the fold they are now more open to Democratic candidates and messages. Anger and alienation has given way to a receptivity to Democrats on solving America’s problems and representing the needs of ordinary people . These voters are ready for leadership that moves in new directions to deal with the budget deficit, America’s international economic problems, and the future of kids and working families.

Methodology

This report on Democratic defection draws on six focus groups conducted in Macomb County between March 9th and 16th, 1987.

Key Findings

• Democratic defectors left the Democrats because they believed the party had turned away from them, prioritizing special interests, particularly unions and minorities over middle class interests.
• Democrats who abandoned the party in l980 and 1984 are open again to the Democratic Party. Although they have not returned to the fold, for many of them the Democrats offer the best route to the future.
• Democratic defectors have not mellowed in their view of minorities as a “special interest,” though their feelings now seem somewhat less personal and somewhat more detached politically.
• Democratic defectors who, two years ago, felt economically vulnerable now seem relatively confident about their jobs and economic prospects.
  
• The Democratic defectors look back on the Reagan era without regret, as a period when America got “straightened out.” Reagan set the country in a “better direction."