Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Reuters/Wikimedia Commons
President Biden’s pitch to rebuild the forgotten middle class puts him squarely on one side of a debate that has divided the Democratic Party. Is the way to win through blue-collar white America? Or can a demographically changing country elect a president with the votes of minorities, young people and single women?
Wherever you land on that question, the roadmap to victory for any Democrat relies on rebuilding the Blue Wall of three industrial states—Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Together they narrowly delivered the presidency to Donald Trump, and then to Biden. The outcome of the 2024 election depends on Democrats reinforcing their hold on these working-class electorates.
Biden is betting that the way to win voters without college degrees is to deliver tangible economic benefits that improve their lives and livelihoods, and to avoid getting entangled in cultural issues.