Should Democrats bother to compete in the midwestern struggling factory town?
The report, released on Tuesday, answers this question with an emphasis on “yes.” But the fact that it’s totally sought after speaks to the Democratic unresolved challenge of how to regain the more than 2.6 million voters lost in Otamua, Iowa and Scranton, Pennsylvania since 2012. increase.
More than five years after Donald Trump brought the white working class to life in America’s declining industrial center, Democrats are still trying to figure out what happened and others to vote. Discussing whether to look around for a place. Should they instead try to increase their election scores in urban areas and suburbs of the inner circle?
Basic election math suggests that they have few choices. Democrats are their “Blue wallContinued erosion in the Midwest and in smaller communities may make it impossible in the near future.
In the middle of this year, Democrats are trying to win Senate seats in Ohio and Pennsylvania, but hope to manage to get rid of the Republican incumbents in Iowa and Wisconsin. It has changed over the last few decades.
But not only who exercises political power, but some are at stake.
“If fascism and authoritarianism continue to rise in this country, it will be because more voters in the small and medium-sized counties of the manufacturing belt will drive that progress,” the author wrote.
Economic slips and political changes
In Iowa, where the primary elections are held on Tuesday, Democrats have almost given up.
Trump has beaten the state 8 percentage points The 2020 presidential election, and this year’s midterm elections, will bring more misery to the Democratic Party. They hold only one of the four parliamentary seats in Iowa, and the number of major offices throughout the state has disappeared.
Jasper County, just east of Des Moines, is a prime example of a typical Factory Town Ark.
The county was once the center of the American washing machine industry, but after the Maytag factory closed in 2007, the unemployment rate surged to 10%, the highest in the state. Barack Obama won the county with 53% of the 2008 votes. But 12 years later, Joe Biden lost to Trump with 22 points.
Iowa was able to provide, but the new report warns that it provided a glimpse into the future of the Republican-prone region as a whole.
issued by A non-profit organization called American Family Voices, It was written primarily by Democratic strategist Mike Lux, an ally of Biden with roots in the region. Based on a study published last fall, Emphasized by colleague Jonathan Martin at the time. The survey used polls, focus groups, hundreds of interviews and meetings with local officials, political activists, activists, and details of voter files and census data.
The author has published a wealth of findings to recommend a “message and organizing path” to the 10 states, 565 counties, and the Democratic Party of Approximately 55 million voters surveyed.
Polls conducted by Lake Research Partners show that people suffering from rising living costs and health-related crises are suffering. For example, the majority stated that they or their families were in chronic health. The majority also said they were personally suffering from disabilities, unemployment, mental health problems, or addictions.
The political challenges facing Democrats in these communities are tough. According to TargetSmart, a democratic data company hired to work on the project, voters’ democratic share in so-called Factory Town County shrank from 33% to 24% between 2012 and 2020. 40% to 51% or more in the same period.
Voters in this “factory town” demographic still make up almost half of the voters in these states, and Democrats often consider it too weak to set an economic agenda, with politicians in general. Cynical about their ability to help them.
“Progressive Populism”
The report contains nine recommendations, which can be summarized in a call for “progressive populism” to combat the frustration and financial turmoil many of these voters feel about politics. increase.
“Perhaps the biggest surprise to me is how desperate people are to the community,” Lux said in an interview, spending most of last year investigating.
Former labor organization Lux said the factory town had an untapped “hunger” to talk about political issues and “overcome anger and parts of Vitriol and have a more balanced conversation.” Convinced, he said he was away from the conversation.
He focuses on Democrats, trade unions, and progressive activists engaging in a pool of middle-aged voters who oppose radicalism, and is not convinced that Republicans have their economic interests in mind. It is recommended.
“Given the growing levels of cynicism and dissatisfaction from mainstream politics, this is a challenging mission,” Lux admits in the report.
But with the right amount of “old-fashioned community building,” voters in the factory town could “form a voting block that could be the basis for the resurgence of a progressive movement,” he said. Insist.
What to read
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Mayors of big cities are furious at recent shootings, often with authority over police and social welfare programs, but enact gun control measures that many consider necessary to prevent tragedy. They say that is almost powerless. Mitch Smith has a story..
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Next week, Adam Liptak writes, the Supreme Court may hear the “800-pound gorilla” in the election law case.It has to do with legal theory Fundamentally changing the way federal elections are held By significantly expanding the power of the legislature, setting election rules that conflict with the state constitution, and drawing a map of the legislature distorted by the party gerrymandering.
How they run
Mayor of Long Beach aims to head to Washington
The mayor of the Southern California city of Long Beach, who made a national headline with his leadership during the pandemic, has emerged as a leading candidate for an open parliamentary seat where the Democratic Party is expected to win in November.
Mayor Robert Garcia was the first Latino-American to lead Long Beach and the first openly gay.
He 17 speakers At the keynote speech of the 2020 Democratic National Convention the news Throughout A pandemic that encourages safety after his mother and stepfather died in Covid-19.Later he open Long Beach Convention Center to protect undocumented children arriving at the southern border.
In the primary elections on Tuesday, Garcia is backed by Governor Gavin Newsom and several members of the California State Legislature delegation.
“The problems that existed before the pandemic exist today, but they are just bigger,” Garcia said. Said 2020 colleague Jill Cowan. “Think about income inequality and the homeless, the housing crisis here in California, and the issues of climate change. These are all huge.”
Sarasadwani, a political assistant professor at Pomona College who said he was a member of the California constituency change committee and did not publicly support the candidate, said Los Angeles frequently saw Long Beach as a model for successful policy. Said that.
“His leadership seems to be progressive and practical,” Sadhwani said.
Garcia faces several democratic challengers, but the most prominent is Christina Garcia, who has nothing to do with him.
Christina Garcia, a member of the Legislature representing Southern Los Angeles County, protect And support women.She sponsored the legislation Exemption Pads and tampons from sales tax, and as head of the legislative caucuses leader At the #MeToo movement in California.
Her reputation was hit in 2018, but Politico is a former staff member He accused her of groping for him; he Proceedings He claimed to be abused because he was a man to her and Congress.of Radio interview In the case of KQED, Garcia said, “No one has been assaulted.”
Around the same time she was accused of making it again Anti-Asia When Homosexual disgust comment. She denied intentionally using insulting words.
Her campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
— Break & Rear
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