What Most Concerns Working Class Voters About the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” – and What Dem Message Works?
In open-ended online discussion boards, working class voters expressed serious concerns with the bill's impacts on Americans' health care.
We’re back this week with another update from the largest research effort to understand why working class voters are trending away from Democrats.
We have shared a lot in recent weeks about what people in our in-person focus groups have had to say about the Democratic Party – for example, Latinos in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, or Black voters across five states. Give those a read if you haven’t yet.
But this week we’re sharing brand-new data about the so-called “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” being pushed by President Trump and Republicans in Congress.
For months, as part of our comprehensive efforts to listen to working class voters across the country, we’ve been conducting online research known as “Qualboards.”
What is a “Qualboard,” you might understandably ask? Simply put, it’s an online discussion forum. Think of it as similar to an interactive message board like Reddit.
A moderator posts written questions on different issues and topics, and participants respond by posting comments with their thoughts in their own words. Participants can also respond to each other’s comments. It’s a great way to get working class voters’ unvarnished and personal views on stuff.
So last week, as the House was on its way to passing the GOP spending bill, we asked 27 working class voters in our Qualboard about it. All 27 voted for Trump in 2024.
Here’s some of what we learned…
TOP CONCERN FOR WORKING CLASS VOTERS: MILLIONS LOSING HEALTH INSURANCE
Participants were provided 11 facts about the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” and asked to choose three things that concerned them most.
Their top concern was that the bill could kick as many as 13 million Americans off their health insurance. It wasn’t just people getting booted from insurance that ranked highly. The bill’s impacts on health care were consistently rated as top concerns, including others like:
Raising health insurance premiums for millions of middle-class Americans by ending tax credits that help people afford health insurance,
Raising out-of-pocket health care costs for millions by increasing copays for most health services, and
Cutting billions of dollars in funding for rural hospitals and nursing homes, potentially forcing many to close.
Combined, no issue raised as high a concern as health care.
“Anything related to cutting health care and raising costs is obviously not a good thing. Our health care is already shot and broken.” – 44-year-old white man from Arizona
“Cutting funds to Medicaid is worrying. Thousands of people rely on it for their health care needs. I think it will also directly impact my family and I, as we use Medicaid.” – 40-year-old Latina woman from Nevada
“The closing of rural hospitals is scary, having to drive several hours to see a doctor might not be possible for everyone living in those areas.” – 36-year-old white man from Michigan
“Whenever the elderly have issues receiving decent health care, it bothers me deeply. Senior citizens should never be in a position where their health problems are ignored. President Trump needs to be reminded he is a senior citizen too.” – 55-year-old white man from Nevada
“This is going to cause the middle and lower class to go bankrupt to afford health coverage and to seek medical attention when needed. This will deter a lot of the working class Americans from seeking the medical help that they need as well because they will not be able to afford treatment for any serious medical concerns they may have.” – 37-year-old white man from New Jersey
“Health care is already messed up and expensive, and I’m concerned about it becoming more expensive.” – 34-year-old Black woman from Wisconsin
These sentiments echoed what we have heard from voters in our in-person focus groups, where participants were also unaware of the potential cuts and upset to learn about them. Many immediately launched into personal stories about how the cuts would harm them or someone close to them.
ANOTHER MAJOR CONCERN: CUTTING TAXES FOR THE RICH, WHILE CUTTING INCOMES FOR WORKING PEOPLE
Half the participants also expressed concern that the legislation cuts taxes for the top 1% of Americans while lowering incomes of the bottom 20%. This sense of unfairness resonated with this group, but also reflects much of what we’ve heard in focus groups with working class voters over the past few months.
They largely believe that the system is rigged against regular working people just trying to make a decent living and move up the economic ladder. They aren’t looking for handouts, and in fact, express frustration that political leaders don’t focus enough on helping the working class gain upward economic mobility. They aspire to and don’t vilify wealth, but they simply do not think the already-wealthy need more tax breaks.
“It makes me angry. Rich people don’t need a tax cut, they need to pay their fair share. I’m not saying we need free health care because I know there are a lot of lazy people, but everyone needs to do their part, especially the rich.” – 31-year-old Latina woman from Florida
“It’s hard to see taxes get raised for people not making much while the rich just get richer. It’s concerning to hear that more is being taken away from people in need. I don’t think this legislation is good and I worry about the people it will really affect. It does not seem like it will have a ton of effect on me vs other people, but there is still a lot to be concerned about like us being even more in debt and less clean energy.” – 25-year-old white woman from Minnesota
“I’m concerned with the raising of taxes on working Americans. This is the class that affects everyone.” – 46-year-old Black woman from Georgia
“The upside-down tax bracket format makes no sense. I make $22 an hour, so I'm afraid of being taxed not just more but way more.” – 44-year-old white man from Arizona
“It’s crazy to me that the issues seem like they are being ignored, and the benefit to these tax changes doesn’t add up to me. Seems backwards.” – 43-year-old white man from Maine
“I am kind of surprised, especially since Trump kept talking about raising taxes on the richest Americans.” – 37-year-old white man from North Carolina
“It’s going to cripple us and definitely impact our everyday lives as working class Americans.” – 39-year-old Latino man from Texas
SO WHAT DEMOCRATIC MESSAGE ABOUT THE BILL WAS MOST CONVINCING TO WORKING CLASS VOTERS?
The most convincing message for these working class voters about the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill,” focused on re-centering working Americans’ economic standing as the top priority for our country, not letting those at the top gain more power and influence and get even richer.
MOST CONVINCING MESSAGE:
It’s not okay for a handful of billionaires to have too much influence over our economy and our government, while so many Americans feel they can’t even afford the basics. We need to get back to rewarding hard work, by paying people what they’re worth, and making it possible to get good education and good health care, instead of letting the ultra-rich get even richer.
Here’s how voters reacted to hearing this message:
“Rewards for hard work really hits home for me. I know the ‘the rich only want to stay rich and keep the poor down’ agenda has been said for years. It’s sad that it might actually be true now.” – 44-year-old white man from Arizona
“This option is most convincing because there are hard working Americans that need to get paid what they're worth. And now with the Dept of Education gone, I'm not sure we'll be able to raise our children in a good public school.” – 49-year-old Latina woman from Texas
“I think people who are working multiple jobs shouldn’t be struggling to get by.” – 34-year-old Black woman from Wisconsin
“We need to lower the cost of living in order to afford basic human services. Our wages aren't being met to compare.” – 50-year-old white woman from Nevada
Other messages that more intensely emphasized corrupt special interests or leaned on personal resentment toward billionaires were less resonant.
 | A guest post by
|
I’m wondering about the message that you point to as most popular to working class voters. It seems like the only part of that message that really resonated, at least in the quotes you provide, is that part that says, “We need to get back to rewarding hard work, by paying people what they’re worth . . . “. The rest of it, about billionaire influence over the economy isn’t mentioned. I would not be all surprised to know that it was primarily that one part that resonated. And that would be important. Can you say more about this?
I think that you should draw inspiration from Teddy Roosevelt and 'The Square Deal' for messaging. The U.S. dealt with these very same trust busting issues in the early twentieth century (i.e., robber baron industrialists, trusts and monopolies). It should have wide appeal because the U.S. antitrust regime was established by measures secured by this Republic president. He focused on conservation, corporate law and consumer protection and believed that unchecked power was detrimental to the public interest. You'll find terms that can be used like: stock jobbers, predatory wealth, wage slavery, trust busters, etc. that were coined at the time. It sounds like they need to be reactivated.