Roundup: May 30, 2025
News and Views Concerning Working-Class Politics
What can Democrats learn from MAGA? Poland goes Brahmin Left. The American Left can learn populist lessons from Mexico. Plus, new polling on abundance and populism.
Below you’ll find a range of news and views that concern working-class politics, class dealignment, and political strategy. Many are written by research associates and friends of the Center for Working-Class Politics.
The Democratic Senator Taking Cues From Trumpism
Senator Chris Murphy continues to push against the Democratic establishment, arguing that the party was severely unprepared for the aggressive nature of Trump’s second term. Murphy links economic fairness to democratic reform: unrigging the economy requires unrigging government. He argues Democrats must shift from subsidy-based policy to structural changes that make work pay. Or, put another way, from a focus on redistribution to a focus on predistribution — higher wages, stronger unions, and more competition for small businesses. Without bold, credible reforms, voters will remain disillusioned.
Poland, a Case Study in Class Dealignment
In Poland, class dealignment continues to reveal itself as the defining political trend. Social democratic forces have split into centrist pragmatists and left-wing stubborn activists, neither of whom looked poised to win back working-class support from far-right parties. A left stuck between compromise and concession, or legislative isolation, Poland’s social democratic Lewica coalition will require new strategies moving forward.
What Democrats Can Learn From Morena
Morena’s success in ushering a novel political regime derived in large part from AMLO’s ability to channel worker grievances against oligarchs and college-educated professionals
Claudia Sheinbaum’s landslide victory in Mexico marked the left-populist Morena party as a rare incumbent success in a global wave of post-pandemic backlash. Morena defied the global trend of elite-driven liberalism by delivering material gains—tripling the minimum wage, expanding unions, and stabilizing inflation—without raising taxes. Morena’s model—rooted in economic nationalism and traditionalist rhetoric—has proved popular, especially among working-class Mexicans.
Morena remain one of the only parties of the Left that have not only stop the bleeding of working-class voters, but have actually won back their historic base, reversing the process of class dealignment.
The Left Has to Speak to Average Americans’ Values
Long time scholar of class differences, Joan C. Williams argues understanding voters’ desire for stability, discipline, and directness is key for Democratic success. With economic precarity a stronger predictor of support from Trump than poverty, Democrats have long made the mistake of shallow, moral, feminized language that appeals to only the poor and the elite. No frills rhetoric like that of Bernie Sanders and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez offers something different.
Catalist’s “What Happened in the 2024 Election” Report
Democratic data firm Catalist provides a new look at the 2024 presidential election results. It’s clear some of Trump’s biggest gains were among non-white and young voters. Notably, Kamala Harris lost ground with both men and women of color: down 7 points with Latina women, 4 points with Asian women, and 1 point with women overall. She lost 12 points with Latino men, 7 points with black men, and 6 points with Asian men. She gained with voters who were previously politically engaged.
Not surprisingly, these results spell trouble for the Democrats.
RUBI’s May briefing: Running as an Independent with Nebraska’s Dan Osborn
Our friends at RUBI (Rural Urban Bridge Initiative) were joined by Independent Nebraska senate candidate Dan Osborn at their May briefing. Hear from Dan and RUBI about his union background, and how, when and where Independents can run to win rural races.
Poll: Democratic voters prefer "populism" over "abundance"
A new survey of 1,200 registered voters sponsored by the progressive advocacy organization Demand Progress, and administered by YouGov tested language relating to “abundance” and “populist” political narratives. Pollsters asked respondents to choose between two meta-narratives about the state of the country:
Abundance: "The big problem is 'bottlenecks' that make it harder to produce housing, expand energy production, or build new roads and bridges."
Populism: "The big problem is that big corporations have way too much power over our economy and our government."
55.6% of respondents preferred the populist argument. None of this is to say that advocates for “abundance” are cooked, but the narrative oomph of populism still has an edge.
Great stuff as always, thanks!
What do you mean by "feminized" language? Can you give an example?