I guarantee you that the union steel worker in Bethlehem, PA and the school teacher mother of 4 in Georgia are and have been a sizable part of the base.

Not even. "your not as big as you think you are" goes both ways. United Steel is 1.2 million people. globally (US, Canada and Caribbean, apparently?) even assuming they're all US citizens... that's point-three of a percentage. And how many in the United Steelworks Union even work at the plant that's not a hotbutton issue solely because it's in PA?

the Nippon deal that politicians are trying to block... it's good for the US, it's good for the local economy. And the solution to the "oh but they might treat the union unfairly" isn't to fuck over the deal that's almost certainly going to cause those union jobs to dry up anyway... but rather to strengthen the unions. (what a thought, amiright?)

and oh yeah, by the way, of those 1.2 million, how much you wanna bet some of those union guys are... you know... progressive? or at least, progressive on some things (like strengthening unions. labor rights. Workplace safety protections.)

What I do know is the union reps I deal with are flaming progressives, and their member base is rather somewhat diverse. some are conservatives, some are progressive, most don't talk about it. (not steel. totally different industry, mind.)

ultimately, I suspect it comes down on the specific issues. Healthcare, police reform, immigration; are all things that the base is definitely more progressive than the politicians in Washington. maybe also israel/gaza and climate change