Democrats cannot win big or consistently enough, deep enough down the ticket or broadly enough in the states, unless they run much stronger with white working-class and downscale voters. That includes running better with white working-class swing voters, of course. But it also includes winning more decisively with white unmarried […] Read more »
Trade Is a Striking Example of the Political Power of the Affluent
The Pacific Rim trade deal making its way through Congress is the latest step in a decades-long trend toward liberalizing trade — a somewhat mysterious development given that many Americans are skeptical of freer trade. But Americans with higher incomes are not so skeptical. They — along with businesses and […] Read more »
How Income Inequality Factors Into the 2016 Campaign
… Income inequality is back in the headlines, but it’s more than Elizabeth Warren’s rhetoric or Bernie Sanders‘s presidential announcement; Rand Paul, Mike Huckabee, and others have joined the conversation. These combined voices suggest the ground may be shifting on the issue of income inequality and in popular resentment toward […] Read more »
As Middle Class Fades, So Does Use of Term on Campaign Trail
Hillary Rodham Clinton calls them “everyday Americans.” Scott Walker prefers “hardworking taxpayers.” Rand Paul says he speaks for “people who work for the people who own businesses.” Bernie Sanders talks about “ordinary Americans.” The once ubiquitous term “middle class” has gone conspicuously missing from the 2016 campaign trail, as candidates […] Read more »
Populism could divide the Grand Old Party
… Republicans and conservatives have a brand problem. Their presidential campaign will only aggravate it as candidates are forced to double-down on an ideology that is in danger of decline. Moreover, the next year is likely to intensify deep stresses inside their coalition. Mike Huckabee gleefully highlighted these frictions when […] Read more »
Sex, Drugs and Poverty in Red and Blue America
In the fall of 1969, Merle Haggard topped the Billboard country charts for four weeks with “Okie from Muskogee,” the song that quickly became the anthem of red America, even before we called it that. “We don’t smoke marijuana in Muskogee, we don’t take our trips on LSD, we don’t […] Read more »