The Democrats’ stunning defeat in the presidential race and continued struggles in lower-level contests have jolted party leaders into concluding that their emphasis on cultural issues has all but crippled them by diverting voters’ attention from the core Democratic message of economic fairness. … Over President Obama’s two terms, Democrats […] Read more »
Yes, working class whites really did make Trump win. No, it wasn’t simply economic anxiety.
We knew all along that Donald Trump drew his strength from the white working class. We knew this from the patterns in the primaries. We knew this from the nonstop polling conducted over the past 18 months. We knew this from all of the campaign-trail dispatches showing his anti-trade, anti-elite […] Read more »
Trump Was Stronger Where The Economy Is Weaker
Donald Trump performed best on Tuesday in places where the economy is in worse shape, and especially in places where jobs are most at risk in the future. … In the months leading up to Tuesday’s vote, experts debated how much Trump’s support was driven by economic anxiety or by […] Read more »
Americans’ economic anxiety reaches new high
It’s been a year. A long year, both in this economy and in the campaign. Last October, Marketplace launched our first-ever national economic survey, the Marketplace-Edison Research Poll. We did it so that we could find out and track — over time — how people are feeling about the economy […] Read more »
The shell-shocked white working class
The problems bothering white Americans without a college degree have less to do with immediate economic insecurity or material hardship, although those are widespread, than with the collapse of a whole way of life. … The rise and fall of stability in working-class life explains much that otherwise seems puzzling […] Read more »
Economy Remains Top Problem in U.S. as Debate Nears
With the first presidential debate approaching, no one issue clearly dominates Americans’ minds when they are asked to name the most important problem facing the U.S. The economy (14%) continues to lead the list, followed closely by dissatisfaction with government (11%) and jobs and unemployment (11%) as the top problem […] Read more »