Building a New Majority

Building a New Majority weaves together the autobiographical recollections of the political and professional life of the author, Michael P. Balzano, with his seasoned analysis of several successful Republican presidential campaigns. The combination provides the foundation for recommendations for current and future Republican candidates to follow in capturing a majority of the nation's working-class voters. The narrative follows the author, the son of working-class Italian immigrants, from his boyhood in New Haven, Connecticut, through his time as a high-school dropout and garbage collector to his return to school, where he earned a doctoral degree at Georgetown University. His story attracted the attention of staff members in the administration of President Richard M. Nixon. Brought on board to provide insights and to coordinate efforts to reach ethnic and working-class voters as part of Nixon's strategy to create a New Majority, he contributed to the winning 1972 campaign. He later performed similar roles in President Ronald Reagan's 1980 and 1984 campaigns and in President George H. W. Bush's 1988 campaign. From these experiences, he offers guidance to Republican candidates seeking to win elections by appealing to members of labor unions and the working class. For any political party to win the White House, it must capture a majority of working-class voters. Building a New Majority is a blueprint for constructing a new Republican majority that can win elections. Building upon those victories, they can govern in ways that invite all people to share in a common future in which individuals may improve their social status and their economic wellbeing, living out the American Dream.