Author and historian Thomas Frank has written several books about the shifts in our political parties and the way our government functions.  A talk (show in the video here) he gave a few years ago goes a long way to explaining why populist nationalists like Donald Trump appeal to a large group of voters, many of whom have voted for Democrats their whole lives.

His argument, which I find irrefutable, is that the Democratic party has largely abandoned its traditional working class base for the professional or “creative class.” The Democratic party establishment has thus forfeited their traditional messaging crafted by FDR, Truman and Lyndon Johnson. He lays bare assumptions associated with getting in bed with professionalism.

Perhaps what is most shocking is a statement he makes early on in the video (at the 9:28 mark).  He says that from the Great Depression in the 1930s through 1980, 90% of Americans took home 70% of the income growth in the US economy.  But, from 1997 through 2017, this same 90% of Americans got zero percent of the income growth.  Nada, nothing, goose egg…no income growth at all for 90% of all Americans…all the growth for that past 20 years went to the top 10% of our society.

So most Americans understand that there has been no economic boom for them, even though the stock market was hitting record highs. Instead, it’s been a long steady decline in the affordability of all the essentials of a good life. A living wage, an affordable place to live, and an affordable education.  It’s a fact that our traditional liberal Democratic party has consistently failed to recognize. And it cost them the presidency in 2016…and may very well play out with the same result unless Democrats change their messaging and commitments to the American people.

It’s no accident that Bernie Sanders was leading the race for the Democratic presidential nomination in the initial primaries.  Or that the Democratic party establishment quickly united around Joe Biden. But will a strategy of “moving toward the center” work for what’s going on now—especially with the job losses and stress on our healthcare system from the corona virus?