What Should Worry Democrats on Path to Midterms – The Wall Street Journal

Posted: June 28, 2021 at 9:44 pm

Almost six months into President Bidens first year, some yellow warning lights are flashing for Democrats.

The presidents party has plenty to feel good about, to be sure. The economys recovery from the coronavirus slide is proceeding apace, and the stock market, which former President Donald Trump predicted would collapse upon his departure, actually is up 10% since the Biden inaugural. Mr. Bidens approval ratings are solid, and the infrastructure deal struck last week with Senate Republicans has the potential to become a long-sought bipartisan achievement.

Yet Democrats control Congress by the narrowest of margins, and face a Republican congressional leadership intent, above all, on winning back control in next years midterm elections. They are probing for Democratic weak spotsand finding some.

Mr. Bidens win last year masked Democrats continuing problems with working-class voters, the partys traditional base. Despite his image as a working-class kind of guy, Mr. Biden actually won a lower share of the working-class vote, both white and nonwhite, than did former President Barack Obama in 2012, according to data compiled by Catalist, a Democratic analytics firm. Meantime, House Democratic candidates underperformed Mr. Biden slightly among white working-class voters.

Some new political currents threaten to continue that trend. Over time, Democrats have lost some working-class voters for cultural reasons, and the woke rhetoric among party progressives may exacerbate that problem. Thats why so many Republicans are using the spread of critical race theorywhich advances the argument that America remains in the grip of systemic racismas a cudgel against Democrats.

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What Should Worry Democrats on Path to Midterms - The Wall Street Journal

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