history of class in America. Man, it is hard on the South. I have to say that I am not crazy impressed with the book - I don't know that I've seen all that much in the way of earth shattering revelation. The thesis of the book is that America claims to be, if not a classless society, at least one with tremendous class mobility. I certainly never saw it as classless, always counted my own blessings and would not overstate class mobility.

But boy, for all you southern folk who may be interested in the book, if you're a "Pride of the South" type, strap on your thickest skin. While not exactly forgiving of the North, it thinks of the Antebellum South and the many years of continued segregation that followed the Civil War (I'm up to the Great Depression now - author is quite the fan of the New Deal) as a modern day attempt to recreate the strict class strata of Feudal Europe, and policy is not designed just to keep down the freed black population, but also the po' white population, which has often been thought of as a separate and unequal race from whites of a "higher station". The class issue is intermingled with slavery and race, but goes beyond it.

So the question is, what's the reality you think dems need to explain better? The conditions in your article have existed for centuries (I think more widespread than just the South). There's no quick, pat explanation to give. And getting the poor to vote seemingly against their interests is a skill sharpened since the poor could vote, which due to property ownership requirements and things like poll taxes much more recently, has not been the case as long as we might think.