… The GOP’s dominance of small-town and rural America has become the indisputable geographic foundation of its power in Washington. And the party is counting on continued strength in those areas to contain its losses this fall, particularly after the repeated indications in a number of special and local elections […] Read more »
Small-town America has gotten an economic jolt under Trump
Fueled largely by rising oil prices, small town and rural America enjoyed an economic jolt in 2017 that could widen the political gap in November’s midterm election between those smaller places more friendly to President Donald Trump and the big metropolitan areas sharply recoiling from him and his policies, new […] Read more »
Conor Lamb Chips Away at Trump’s Coalition
The Republicans’ last sea wall against a Democratic wave in November visibly cracked, but did not entirely crumble, in Tuesday’s special election for a House seat in Pennsylvania. For all of the gains Democrats have posted in elections held since Donald Trump’s victory in 2016, until this week they had […] Read more »
The places that will decide the 2018 midterm elections
Red pockets. Romneyland. Blue-collar blues. Those labels describe the three groups of seats in the House of Representatives that will likely determine control of the chamber in November’s midterm election. … This battlefield reflects the long-term trends that have seen Democrats demonstrate increasing strength up and down the ballot in […] Read more »
The prosperity paradox is dividing the country in two
While President Donald Trump relentlessly claims credit for the strengthening economy, the nation’s economic growth is being driven overwhelmingly by the places that are most resistant to him. Counties that voted for Hillary Clinton against Trump in 2016 accounted for nearly three-fourths of the nation’s increased economic output and almost […] Read more »
Hope from the Heartland: How Democrats Can Better Serve the Midwest by Bringing Rural, Working Class Wisdom to Washington
Democrats’ national level of support has seen better days. Much better. By the numbers, Democrats are at their lowest in nearly 100 years. While the party had a successful night in off-year elections on Nov. 7, 2017, and in the Dec. 12, 2017, special election in Alabama for U.S. Senate, […] Read more »