In United States politics, the term lunch pail Democrat, lunchbox Democrat, or lunchbucket Democrat refers to members of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

of a "

blue collar A blue-collar worker is a working class person who performs manual labor. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involving manufacturing, warehousing, mining, excavation, electricity generation and power ...

" or working-class background, as well as politicians who share or attempt to leverage this background through populist appeals. Laurence Collins of ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' summarized the term as "a label that connotes an absence of lofty philosophical concerns in favor of a concern for people's more basic needs". The term ''lunchpail'' is also used more broadly as a metaphor for the working class, and in addition to ''Democrat'' is paired with other terms, such as ''lunch pail liberal'' or ''lunch pail socialism''.

History

''The Oxford Dictionary of American Political Slang'' notes the term "lunch-pailers" being used to refer to laborers in a political context as early as 1958, and "lunch-pail liberals and Progressive Democrats" used in 1992.

Politicians

Among the traits associated with lunch-pail Democratic politicians are: * Support for full employment even at the risk of

deficit spending Within the budgetary process, deficit spending is the amount by which spending exceeds revenue over a particular period of time, also called simply deficit, or budget deficit; the opposite of budget surplus. The term may be applied to the budget ...

* Populist appeals to working-class and

lower middle class In developed nations around the world, the lower middle class is a subdivision of the greater middle class. Universally, the term refers to the group of middle class households or individuals who have not attained the status of the upper middle ...

families

Applications

Hubert Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Mi ...

was described as the "last of the lunch-pail Democrats" in 1982 by '' New York'' magazine. *

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic no ...

's efforts during his 1992 campaign have been described as: "determined to cast himself as an old school, labor lunch-pail Democrat in the tradition of Hubert Humphey and

Walter Mondale Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale (January 5, 1928 – April 19, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 42nd vice president of the United States from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. A U.S. senator from Minnesota ...

. This strategy was problematic in a number of ways, not least because it wasn't particularly convincing." *Democratic politician and eventual 56th governor of Mississippi,

Cliff Finch Charles Clifton Finch (April 4, 1927 – April 22, 1986) was an American politician who served as the 57th Governor of the U.S. state of Mississippi, from 1976 to 1980. Early life Finch was born on April, 1927 in the village of Pope in Pan ...

used the emblem of a lunch-pail with his name upon it in his campaigns. *During the 2008 Presidential primaries,

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

was described as "transforming herself into a white lunch-pail populist, knocking back whiskey shots in Indiana." *

Spiro Agnew Spiro Theodore Agnew (November 9, 1918 – September 17, 1996) was the 39th vice president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1973. He is the second vice president to resign the position, the other being John ...

was described as "Nixon's ambassador to the lower middle class, to the blue-collar American — the people who voted Democratic in the past, the people we used to call lunch-pail Democrats."

References

External links

{{Portal, United States, Politics *Cliff Finch'
lunchpail emblem
Mississippi Department of Archives and History Political history of the United States Factions in the Democratic Party (United States) Political terminology of the United States