Lars Hagberg /AFP via Getty Images
Lars Hagberg /AFP via Getty Images
Last week, Democratic lawmakers Ro Khanna and Zach Wahls wrote an op-ed in The Economist that outlined their vision for the Democrats to win the fast-approaching midterms and other future elections: try to win back districts in the industrial heartland that were once Democratic strongholds, but have since shifted decisively to the Republican Party under Donald Trump.
“Americans in areas hit hard by deindustrailization feel abandoned by the Democratic Party,” they write. “Democrats must demonstrate that we are the party that is taking action to revitalize America’s factory towns.”
To win over these areas, Khanna and Wahls argue that Democratic candidates should highlight their recent legislative wins, including the American Rescue Plan and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, which have funneled billions of dollars into distressed towns, installing broadband internet, fixing roads and bridges, and so on. Even more, they argue, Democrats “should own up to, and reverse, the disastrous trade and economic policies (adopted by both parties) that have devastated America’s factory towns.”
The anti-free trade sentiments expressed by…
