Well, the FDR presidency is kind of instructive. FDR succeeded in creating things like Social Security and various New Deal programs that definitely benefited poor people and bolstered the middle class (Rural Electrification and Homeowners Loan Corporation respectively, plus others). However, a key point he leaned on was that failure to act would lead to either a communist or a fascist revolution of the kinds seen in Russia and Germany.

Such an argument would carry weight today.