Reagan Democrat

A Reagan Democrat is someone who usually votes for the Democratic Party (the political party often associated with labor unions, the environment, and economic opportunities for the underprivileged), but who supported Republican President Ronald Reagan in the 1980 election. Reagan was the first Republican president to get the vote of a lot of blue-collar Democrats, who usually voted for the Democrats. He appealed to them because he was a tough-talking, 'no-nonsense' leader who promised to create jobs and reduce taxes for working class Americans. He also promised to rebuild America's armed forces, which blue-collar voters responded to. Reagan Democrats wanted real change from the way things were before, and he provided that.