How the Democrats Lost the Working Class (NYT)

[betsuni]

71. American union membership peaked in the mid-50s -- class identity lessens as union membership does.

We're going back in time to blame Democrats for the changes in American culture, they're to blame that the post war American Dream boom economy lasted until the early 70s when the global situation changed, other countries caught up with the U.S., and the manufacturing economy shifted to service and then tech? How did they do that?

What does "Democrats have treated the working class as consumers rather than workers first and foremost" mean? I'll give ten dollars and a coffeecake to anyone who can possible explain that one to us. Something about elites?