What Wallace did was portray working class voters as the victims of liberal overreach. They set themselves as the hero’s for those that felt underrepresented, like those that felt alienated by the anti-war protesters. Richard Nixon focused on law and order. The populist rhetoric resonated for those that saw anti- war protesters as disconnected from their struggle that is how Richard Nixon and George Wallace tap into the stereotype for their political advantage. I believe the source of antagonism for white working class Americans stemmed from the fact that they are feeling frustrated by the changes that are happening around them and the working class feeling misunderstood by those that are not in the working class. The shift in the cultural value being one of them, the feeling of being underrepresented, and the instability of the economy being the reasons.
I believe the democrats could have prevented the emerging political realignment had the focused on the issue of the working class and addressed the problems more effectively. They should not have also let the stereotypes of the hard hats vs the elite doves persist for a long time. Their focus on the anti-war movement and on those of cultural elites could have also been one of the reasons that the working class have felt alienated. So if they had given a little bit more attention I believe that had some chance of preventing the political realignment .
Will Wright 