Democrats face gap with white men,

ATLANTA — The Democratic National Convention lineup of speakers has highlighted an increasingly diverse country that could soon elect the first female president to succeed its first black chief executive.

Yet the stream of women, African-Americans, Latinos, gay Americans — from U.S. senators and celebrities to activists and, tonight, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton herself — also serves as a reminder of Democrats’ struggles to connect with most heterosexual white men.

“It’s just sad,” said Dave “Mudcat” Saunders, a Democratic strategist turned Donald Trump supporter who said his party “has abandoned” culturally conservative white men like himself.

Even Vice President Joe Biden offered a noteworthy, if more muted assessment Wednesday. Democrats have “done the right thing” for white working-class voters, he said on MSNBC, but the party hasn’t “spoken to them.”

It’s a long-developing gap that bolsters Republican control of Congress and most statehouses. It could play into the hands of Republican Trump, whose path to victory depends on whites drawn to his blistering critiques of elitism and “political correctness” in the America of Clinton and Barack Obama.

White men still make up about a third of the typical presidential electorate and will be crucial to Trump’s fortunes in Rust Belt states that have seen a declining middle class. They also could tip the balance in battlegrounds such as Virginia and Florida, states Obama won twice.

Saunders said both parties play “wedge and identity politics” on guns and gay rights.

Republicans emphasized “law and order” at their Cleveland convention, while Democrats on Tuesday welcomed “Mothers of the Movement,” black moms whose sons died at the hands of police. Republicans heard National Rifle Association leaders; Democrats are featuring families of gun violence victims.