When Barack Obama won his second presidential term eight years ago, the exit polls clearly showed that he benefitted from what I called the “new American mainstream”—the growing voter blocs of youth, people of color, and the college-educated. That calculus changed in 2016, when Donald Trump shocked the political world with a “demographic blowback” among, largely, older whites without college degrees that took him to the White House. As ballots continue to be counted for 2020’s election, Joe Biden’s path to victory over Trump reflects elements of both of these demographic constituencies. And if exit polls are to be believed, several voting blocs comprised of white and older Americans will be largely responsible. CONT.
William H. Frey, Brookings Institution
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