I'm not sure how a major candidate can sledgehammer through people's heads that via inflation, even the lower tier should be making 18+ an hour. Too many people are of the mindset are of individual responsibility is the key and struggling for 40 years before you see the fruits of labor is just the way our "boot straps" economy works.
I mentioned to my co-worker last night that Amazon beat Walmart out as the number 1 clothing retailer now. She said "Well we only sell cheap clothes." I was like "Most Americans ARE poor! They need our cheap clothes!"
I am a bit of the exception to the rule, I suppose as I have successfully almost finished paying off a house before I turn 40 while working a job where literal mentally disabled people can also manage. I think my opening wage in 2001 was maybe 6 something an hour. I went to tech school, failed to land a job in the Bush wasteland of jobs, then took on a mortgage and guaranteed myself to be locked in place for the duration of that. Without a second income, it's Brodybucks or nothing.
So in the right (cheap ass Wisconsin) environment, and lots of frugal behavior, I've managed to avoid the pratfalls of life. I can't wait until America's shitty health care plans sends me into bankruptcy once obesity and genetics destroy me over the next 10 years.