Only a robust economic message can restore the Democratic Party’s standing with the working class.
By Isaac Rabbani
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A sign against hate outside a home in Wilmington, North Carolina, on February 22, 2024. Democrats are focusing on small towns in swing states they haven’t won since Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, aiming to regain support. (Photographer: Madeline Gray / Bloomberg)
The Democratic Party is grappling with a significant image problem. A considerable portion of voters, particularly those in the working class, perceive the party’s values as diverging from their own. This perception is undermining the party’s broader appeal and electoral prospects.
An Impact Research poll from October 2022 revealed that 55 percent of likely voters considered the Democrats to be excessively extreme or self-righteous. Furthermore, a Pew poll in July 2023 indicated that only 32 percent of adults believe the Democratic Party uniquely represents their interests, with an even lower percentage among those without a college degree. Adding to these concerns, a Gallup poll conducted in June 2022, around the time of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision leak, showed nearly half of adults viewing Democrats as too extreme – a notable 7 percentage point increase from the previous year, and a 3 percentage point disadvantage compared to the Republican Party’s extremism score. These figures underscore a worrying trend for Democrats as they strive to maintain and expand their voter base.
The Democratic Party’s declining popularity among the working class is particularly concerning. This demographic shift, observed across racial and ethnic lines, presents a persistent threat to the party’s electoral success. This trend is paradoxical given the widespread public support for policies often associated with the Democrats, such as Medicaid expansion and minimum wage increases, which have seen success in state referenda and consistently poll favorably for left-leaning economic agendas.
The critical question is: how have Democrats come to be viewed as the extreme party, especially in the context of events like the Dobbs decision, the Trump presidency, and Republican challenges to democratic norms? Some pundits, often labeled “popularist,” attribute this perception to the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. They argue that progressive stances on issues like defunding the police and the use of terms like “Latinx” alienate mainstream voters. These commentators suggest that distancing from these positions would resolve the party’s image problem.
Conversely, progressives argue that these talking points are not the core issue. They contend that the Democratic Party could, and should, adopt even more progressive stances, advocating for a bolder and more unapologetic approach to policy and messaging.
To move beyond this debate about what Democratic politicians should emphasize, it’s essential to examine what they actually do emphasize. The Center for Working-Class Politics (CWCP) undertook a comprehensive quantitative analysis of Democratic candidates’ messaging during the 2022 midterm elections to shed light on this question. The findings reveal a nuanced picture: while Democrats have indeed stepped back from contentious culture war issues, they have not effectively replaced this with a strong, resonant economic platform. This strategic gap has allowed Republicans to frame Democrats as culturally out-of-touch, reinforcing negative perceptions among crucial voter segments.
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In essence, for Democrats to repair their image, merely avoiding controversial topics is insufficient. They must actively demonstrate a clear understanding of and commitment to addressing the economic grievances of the working class. This proactive approach is crucial for regaining trust and credibility with this vital demographic.
To delve into the specifics of Democratic messaging, the CWCP, supported by a team of research assistants, analyzed the website content of nearly 1,000 Democratic candidates who ran for House or Senate seats in the 2022 primaries and general elections. The research meticulously documented each candidate’s stated policy platform, the issues they highlighted, their rhetorical approaches, and their demographic and socioeconomic backgrounds. This data was then combined with district-level information and electoral outcomes to assess how various factors—rhetorical style, policy positions, and class background—influenced a candidate’s electoral success.
The CWCP’s study yielded several key findings regarding Democratic messaging strategies. To gauge the extent to which Democrats engaged with cultural issues during their campaigns, the researchers compiled a list of terms associated with these issues and tracked how frequently Democratic candidates mentioned them. The following graph illustrates the percentage of Democratic candidates who included each term at least once in their campaign messaging.
A notable trend emerges from the data: the Democratic Party is far removed from the caricature of a “woke” political entity frequently portrayed in media commentary. Terms and policy positions such as “abolish ICE,” “Latinx,” and “birthing person” have largely disappeared from Democratic campaign rhetoric. While “LGBT” appeared somewhat more frequently, it no longer serves as the same marker of left-wing ideology it once did. In short, the anticipated surge of progressive cultural rhetoric within the Democratic Party is largely absent. The progressive wing has largely aligned with broader party messaging, and more moderate Democrats never adopted such rhetoric to begin with. The predominant cultural issue that did surface frequently, and significantly more than others, was abortion rights, reflecting its salience in the political landscape.
However, if cultural issues were not at the forefront, the question remains: what did Democrats emphasize in 2022? To answer this, the researchers constructed another list of terms, this time focusing on economic issues, to evaluate the economic stances Democrats articulated. The subsequent graph presents these findings.
A bar chart showing the percentage of Democratic candidates mentioning various cultural issues in their 2022 campaigns, highlighting the dominance of abortion rights and the relative absence of terms like “abolish ICE” and “Latinx.” This visual data supports the argument that Democrats have indeed backed away from divisive cultural rhetoric.
The analysis of economic messaging reveals a lack of strong, unified policy emphasis. Although approximately 70 percent of candidates mentioned “jobs” in general terms, and about half referenced infrastructure investment, significantly fewer articulated a comprehensive or ambitious economic agenda beyond these broad strokes. Less than a quarter of Democratic candidates discussed policies such as Medicare for All, universal free college or childcare, or paid family and medical leave. Alarmingly, only about 5 percent mentioned a $15 minimum wage—a figure that has significantly less purchasing power today than when the “Fight for 15” movement began. Furthermore, there was limited promotion of the Democratic Congress’s economic accomplishments, with only a quarter of candidates mentioning the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). A parallel analysis of candidates’ television advertisements corroborated these patterns, further indicating a muted approach to economic policy messaging.
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This lack of policy boldness was mirrored in the rhetorical strategies employed. The study assessed instances where candidates spoke positively about the working class and, conversely, when they critiqued economic elites—collectively termed “economic populist rhetoric.” While over 70 percent of Democrats praised workers, fewer than 20 percent explicitly blamed economic elites for economic challenges. This is particularly concerning because the analysis indicated that anti-economic-elite rhetoric was associated with greater vote share in working-class districts, even after accounting for various district and candidate characteristics. This finding aligns with previous research suggesting the effectiveness of economic populism in appealing to working-class voters. Overall, it appears that while Democrats have successfully moved away from cultural rhetoric that alienates working-class voters, they have not effectively replaced it with a compelling economic agenda.
The absence of a clear economic agenda has created a vacuum, which has been readily filled by Republican narratives that paint Democrats as out-of-touch elites. The Democratic Party’s failure to directly challenge economic elites further weakens their narrative, especially when contrasted with Republican messaging that, while often disingenuous, effectively taps into class-based grievances. Adding to these challenges, the study also found that very few of the Democratic candidates in 2022 were from working-class backgrounds themselves. Considering these factors—a muted economic message, a media environment eager for culture war narratives, and a well-organized right-wing media apparatus amplifying these narratives—it is not surprising that the public image of the Democratic Party remains skewed towards that of a party of socially detached, affluent individuals.
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The internal political debates within the Democratic Party over the past few years have largely centered on a dichotomy between progressives and popularists. Progressives, often represented by figures like “The Squad” and various advocacy groups, have championed maximalist left-wing positions on both economic and cultural fronts. Popularists, associated with figures like David Shor and various Democratic strategists, have advocated for the party to avoid divisive cultural issues and instead focus on achievable, incremental economic policy improvements to win back working-class voters across different demographics. The CWCP study offers valuable insights into this debate, suggesting that neither approach fully captures the complexities of the situation, yet elements of both are relevant.
The popularists accurately diagnose a critical issue: the realignment of voters along class and educational lines. There is substantial evidence supporting the idea that Democrats’ emphasis on culture war debates has exacerbated this class dealignment, alienating working-class voters and costing the party crucial elections. However, the popularist prescription—to merely sidestep cultural issues and focus on modest economic reforms—appears insufficient to reverse these trends.
Examining the popularist perspective further, they often frame class dealignment as a deep-rooted, global phenomenon, resulting from long-term socioeconomic shifts in electorates worldwide. If this is the case, it is questionable whether a platform primarily featuring drug-pricing reform and infrastructure spending can fundamentally alter the Democratic Party’s image from one of detached technocrats to champions of the working class. While these policies are beneficial, they are unlikely to be transformative enough to bridge the widening gap between the Democratic Party and working-class voters. If class dealignment is indeed a “hemorrhage” as the popularists suggest, their proposed solutions seem more like a band-aid than a comprehensive cure.
Furthermore, relying solely on Republican extremism on issues like abortion, or events like January 6th, to secure electoral victories is a precarious strategy. The Dobbs decision undoubtedly galvanized Democratic voters in 2022 and is likely to remain a significant issue in 2024. However, it is crucial not to underestimate the public’s capacity to adapt to even adverse political realities. The electoral repercussions for Republicans due to these issues will likely diminish over time.
Democrats have the potential to revitalize their image as the party that defends workers, but this requires a more ambitious vision and a more assertive approach than they have demonstrated in recent years. The CWCP study, along with prior research, indicates that the most effective strategy for regaining working-class support involves forcefully addressing their economic concerns. This necessitates both a bold economic policy agenda and a sharp, resonant rhetorical narrative that clearly articulates this agenda and contrasts it with Republican approaches. It is imperative that Democrats heed these lessons; otherwise, the prospect of further right-wing dominance becomes increasingly likely.
Isaac Rabbani
Isaac Rabbani is an economist and a researcher at the Center for Working-Class Politics.
