Historic benefits in stimulus bill may answer a big question for Democrats

The massive stimulus plan President Joe Biden signed last week sets up a critical real-world test of an argument that has divided political professionals for decades: Can Democrats win back White working-class voters drawn to conservative Republican messages on culture and race by offering them more tangible economic benefits? … […] Read more »

White working-class politics

Analysts have been debating the politics of America’s white working-class for years with little net increase in knowledge. The whole discussion assumes a fact not fully in evidence — that membership in the “white working-class” is a politically relevant identity; that it is causally related to voting behavior. Maybe, but […] Read more »

The GOP is rapidly becoming the blue-collar party. Here’s what that means.

The exit of Donald Trump has brought back a more normal rhythm to politics in Washington, but outside the Beltway, deeper forces are reshaping partisan landscape. Data from the NBC News poll shows that the composition of the two major parties is changing, and one massive shift is coming in […] Read more »

White Riot

There is no question that out-and-out racism and a longing to return to the days of white supremacy were high on the list of motivations of the pro-Trump mob that ransacked the Capitol on Jan. 6. That should not end the discussion about why it happened, though. There are other […] Read more »

Left v. Center? Bottom-Up!

The media has been vaunting the divide between the Democrats’ left and center and how the cleavage threatens Democrats’ tenuous majority. Here, a thousand miles outside the Beltway, a lot of the conversation seems pretty obscure: Like who the “squad,” a crew of House members with a talent for press […] Read more »

Culture wars fuel Trump’s blue-collar Latino gains

Donald Trump lost the presidency, but showed Republicans a way to win the culture wars with working-class Hispanics. Despite four years of being defined as a racist for his rhetoric and harsh immigration policies, Trump improved his margins in 78 of the nation’s 100 majority-Hispanic counties. And he did better […] Read more »