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The 2020 Primaries and a Destructive False Choice.
Why Democrats don’t have to choose between appealing to the rust belt or their base.
Perhaps one of the most telling aspects of everything leading up to the 2020 election was the clear emergence of a generational and ideological divide within the Democratic Party. Naturally, this has led to deep-seeded difference in how we must deal with the notion of “electability”, especially in the context of certain regions across the country. After 2016, the rust belt region — Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Pennsylvania in particular — has been the subject of this conversation. There seems to be an idea that democrats need to choose between appealing to the leftist, grass roots arms in their base, and the rust belt. That is simply not the case at all.
The root of this perceived false choice comes down to the idea — among more centrist democrats — that Democrats have clearly moved too far to the left, and that’s why the rust belt may be moving away from the party. In reality, the loss of the rust belt may not have anything to do with right or left, but instead is more rooted in populism.
As disturbing as his rise might have been, there is a lot to be learned about how Trump was able to propel himself to power.
