You'll never convince me that the Democrats' deficit with "working class" voters is due to "pocketbook" issues. Populists have always emphasized cultural ones, especially as, like Trump, they typically ignore the same voters' economic interests. Why? Because culture is the glue that holds societies together.
You'll never convince me that the Democrats' deficit with "working class" voters is due to "pocketbook" issues. Populists have always emphasized cultural ones, especially as, like Trump, they typically ignore the same voters' economic interests. Why? Because culture is the glue that holds societies together.
To take an obvious, extreme example, white supremacy was critical to retaining white working class loyalty in the South, as it provided poor whites with the validation and social imprimatur they would have lacked in a truly free market or libertarian system. Indeed, it was precisely the fear of reducing them to the economic level of blacks that motivated explicit defenders of the system.
To a much lesser but still recognizable extent, gender identity plays the same role today. The Democrats are the "women's" party, and all the policy polemics they bring to bear will be hard pressed to overcome working class male solidarity.
Moreover, how to dislodge MAGA cultural prejudices without provoking a backlash among the Democratic base, I have no idea. Unless Trump creates such an economic catastrophe that his voters disregard culture and, in a panic, simply rush for the exits.
You'll never convince me that the Democrats' deficit with "working class" voters is due to "pocketbook" issues. Populists have always emphasized cultural ones, especially as, like Trump, they typically ignore the same voters' economic interests. Why? Because culture is the glue that holds societies together.
To take an obvious, extreme example, white supremacy was critical to retaining white working class loyalty in the South, as it provided poor whites with the validation and social imprimatur they would have lacked in a truly free market or libertarian system. Indeed, it was precisely the fear of reducing them to the economic level of blacks that motivated explicit defenders of the system.
To a much lesser but still recognizable extent, gender identity plays the same role today. The Democrats are the "women's" party, and all the policy polemics they bring to bear will be hard pressed to overcome working class male solidarity.
Moreover, how to dislodge MAGA cultural prejudices without provoking a backlash among the Democratic base, I have no idea. Unless Trump creates such an economic catastrophe that his voters disregard culture and, in a panic, simply rush for the exits.