Let’s be honest: the Democratic Party’s claim to stand for the working class is starting to feel like a relic from a bygone era. Sure, they’ll say the right things during campaign season—pandering to unions and blue-collar voters—but when the dust settles, the party's priorities have clearly shifted. And not in favor of the people who keep this country running.
Take 2016, for example. As I sat in New Orleans, like many of you, I saw the writing on the wall. Hillary Clinton’s campaign completely misjudged the Midwest’s discontent. Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania—states that had been blue strongholds since the ‘80s—were barely on her radar. Clinton’s team assumed they had these states in the bag, so much so that Wisconsin didn’t even see a single campaign stop from the candidate. The oversight sent a resounding message to working-class voters: “You’re not worth our time.” Reports from The New York Times later underscored the severity of this miscalculation, pointing to it as one of the many reasons the Rust Belt flipped red.
This wasn’t an isolated incident. The Democratic Party’s slow drift from its working-class roots began decades earlier, during the Clinton administration in the 1990s. Bill Clinton’s support for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) marked a significant departure from the party’s labor-friendly history. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the agreement cost the United States nearly 700,000 manufacturing jobs, devastating blue-collar communities. The once-unbreakable alliance between Democrats and labor unions started to crumble, leaving many workers feeling abandoned.
Then came the Obama years, when the party’s priorities continued to shift.
While Barack Obama’s presidency achieved historic milestones on social issues—such as the passage of DACA and the legalization of same-sex marriage—the focus on urban progressivism left rural and working-class communities feeling further alienated. Critics argue that the administration’s emphasis on these issues came at the expense of a more unified economic message. The Washington Post and Vox documented how Obama’s policies, while celebrated in cities, left many in struggling towns feeling unheard. The result? A significant portion of former Obama voters in blue-collar areas turned to Trump in 2016.
The consequences of ignoring these communities became even more apparent during the 2010 and 2014 midterm elections, when Democrats lost control of the House and Senate. The economic pain of the 2008 financial crisis lingered, but the party’s recovery efforts seemed uneven. Reports from the Brookings Institution and Pew Research Center highlight how rural areas and industrial regions, in particular, struggled to rebound, even as urban centers flourished. And yet, instead of doubling down on economic policies to uplift working-class voters, the Democrats leaned further into cultural debates.
It doesn’t help that the party’s messaging has often come across as condescending, widening the cultural chasm between urban elites and rural America. Hillary Clinton’s infamous “basket of deplorables” remark in 2016 was more than a political gaffe—it symbolized a fundamental misunderstanding of and disdain for the people who used to be the backbone of the Democratic base. The Atlantic and Politico have pointed out how comments like this deepen the divide, playing right into the hands of a populist right eager to claim the mantle of the “forgotten man.”
Here’s where things get more complicated. Just as churchgoers on the right have often wrapped themselves in a cloak of moral self-righteousness, the left’s academics have created their own echo chambers—academic bubbles that dictate cultural norms and policies, not from a pulpit, but from ivory towers. These intellectual elites have become the new high priests, preaching progressive dogma while remaining disconnected from the lived experiences of working-class Americans. It’s hard to take economic advice from someone who’s never had dirt on their hands or struggled to keep food on the table, and the disconnect is palpable.
The Democratic Party’s disconnect is perhaps most glaring in its handling of the 2008 financial crisis. When Wall Street was on the brink of collapse, the party swiftly passed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, funneling $700 billion to rescue financial institutions. Meanwhile, working-class families facing foreclosure got little relief. The New York Times chronicled how this disparity left a lasting sense of betrayal among Main Street Americans, who saw their needs take a backseat to the financial elite’s bailout.
If the Democratic Party is serious about reclaiming its working-class roots, it’s going to take more than lip service. It requires a renewed focus on job security, healthcare, and economic equality. The party needs to prioritize policies that tangibly improve the lives of working-class Americans, while also communicating these efforts in a way that is relatable and respectful. In the spirit of Machiavelli, the Democrats must recognize their past missteps, adapt strategically, and take decisive action to win back the trust of those they have lost.
The time for pandering is over. It’s time to get real.
The Salt of the Earth can see through your veils of pretense.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 heard!