It Is Actually a Big Problem for Republicans That They’re Losing Voters Who Eat Avocado Toast – Slate, Slate.com

          

                

                   

          Last Thursday, Donald Trump held a rally in Louisiana to support Republican gubernatorial candidate Eddie Rispone. At the rally, Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedyassertedthat he, Trump, and Rispone stood with ordinary everyday folks against the purported condescension of the Democratic Party and its “cosmopolitan, goat’s milk latte – drinking, avocado toast – eating insider’s elite.”         

                   

          Many Democratic eyes were rolled in response; as the Washington Postexplained, Kennedy was updating a Republican talking point to which Dems have long taken exception with references to current food trends. (While “goat’s milk lattes” don’t appear to be widely available, the Post noted it was possible the senator was either riffing on or misunderstanding the increasing availability ofoatmilk at many coffee shops.) Kennedy himself is a graduate of Vanderbilt, the University of Virginia, and Oxford, whose reelection campaign recently ran up a$ 1, 139. 80 food and drink billat the George, a boutique hotel in Washington, DC         

                                                                                                   

          To a large extent, Kennedy’s statement was just as ridiculous as previous iterations of the insult in which the alleged Democratic signifiers were Volvos and arugula. Democratic policies are popular with many millions of non-affluent people who do not engage in conspicuously refined cultural consumption; at one point during the 2016 presidential primary, FiveThirtyEightfoundthat individuals who had voted for Trump had household incomes that were, on average, $ 11, 000higherthan those who’d voted for Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. In Louisiana, incumbent Gov. John Bel Edwards centered his campaign on his support forMedicaid expansion.         

                   

          In another way, though, Kennedy was right. Republicansdoalienate many voters who eat avocado toast and drink lattes. The problem for Kennedy is that his stereotypes about what regular people eat vis a vis “elites” are out of date: Good coffee, and brunch dishes that use fresh produce, are available not just on the Upper East Side and in Harvard Square but all over the country, including in many traditionally conservative suburban areas. And Republicans can’t actually afford to write off the people who live in those places, as was made clear Saturday, whenBel Edwards won reelection by defeating Trump and Kennedy’s friend Rispone.         

                                                                                                   

          As depicted visually here by a polling analyst and Louisiana State University alum, Bel Edwards did especially well in Jefferson Parish, which is just to the west of New Orleans:         

                                                           

          Bel Edwards won 60 percent of voters in Jefferson Parish, which until recently was, as they say, aRepublican stronghold– Hillary Clinton only got 41 percent there. His strong showing in the New Orleans suburbs resembled Democratic Kentucky Gov.-elect Andy Beshear’s showing in theLouisville and Lexington suburbsearlier this month, which resembled Democratic congressional candidates’ showings in places like Orange County, California, in the 2018 midterms — which resembled Democratic Alabama Sen. Doug Jones’ showing in theBirmingham suburbsin 2017. The Dems have made major gains in those regions by appealing tovoters, particularly women, who are concerned about health care coverage and gun violence, unconcerned by the alleged threat of immigration, and personally turned off by Trump.         

                                                           

          And as it happens, you can can get avocado toast at theRuby Slipper CaféandPerks Coffee and Caféin Jefferson Parish; at anoutlet of the First Watch chainin outer Louisville; atBig Bad Breakfastin Homewood, Alabama; and atmany, many establishmentsin Orange County, California. As Democratic operative Brian Fallonput it presciently in 2017, the party’s path to retaking political power ran “through the Panera Breads of America, ”and there are few items you can order at Panera thatdon’thave a damn avocado on them. Guess what, Kennedy? Regular people like good coffee and faux-bourgeois food too. You’d know that if you left the George and went into a Panera occasionally.You snob.