To protect democracy, Democrats should talk about corruption – not authoritarianism
The party needs to thread the needle between college-educated and working-class voters. Our survey offers a way
TL;DR
- Resisting authoritarianism is a top priority for Democrats' college-educated base, but only the 19th priority for working-class Americans.
- Democrats need to win working-class votes while addressing their base's concerns about democracy.
- Connecting with working-class voters requires talking about reducing corruption, which they view as injustice and unfairness.
- Jon Ossoff's approach of linking corruption to negative impacts on ordinary people's lives and then pivoting to economic elites provides a template.
- Respecting working-class priorities, which are largely economic (higher wages, opportunity), is crucial.
- The long-term defense of democracy depends on creating an economy that provides a stable, middle-class life for working-class Americans.