As Donald Trump prepares to assume the presidency, many progressives find themselves searching for an effective political strategy to counter his agenda. While some may advocate for a revival of the #Resistance tactics deployed against Trump in 2016, a more impactful approach requires honestly grappling with the class dynamics that delivered him to the White House. Trump’s victory represented a revolt of working-class voters—spanning racial, geographic, and partisan lines—against the professional-class liberals who have come to dominate the Democratic Party.
Confronting Trumpism demands that the left reckon with its own class contradictions. The Democratic embrace of affluent knowledge workers has coincided with the economic and cultural neglect of the working class. Even as industrial jobs disappeared, Democrats did little to revitalize blue-collar communities, instead crafting policies to boost dynamic coastal hubs and the credentialed elite. Worse, highly educated progressives have aggressively imposed their own cultural tastes and priorities, alienating workers. As one study notes:
Professionals have dragged their party away from working-class views “twice as much on cultural issues as on economic ones”.
– Nicolas Longuet-Marx
Forging a populist alternative requires Democrats to confront this “liberal aristocracy” as fiercely as they oppose Republican oligarchs. This entails:
- Embracing a pro-worker economic agenda focused on strengthening unions, rebuilding industry, and expanding the social safety net
- Realigning culturally to better reflect working-class values and priorities
A Working-Class Economic Vision
Promisingly, evidence suggests blue-collar voters may be receptive to progressive economics, even more so than professional-class Democrats. A populist program could include:
- Confronting unfair labor practices like mass layoffs, outsourcing, and automation
- Providing high-wage industrial jobs for workers of all education levels
- Strengthening union rights and revitalizing social programs to support workers
Some leaders, like Senators Chris Murphy and Bernie Sanders, have advocated for such a worker-centric realignment. Union voices have also criticized Democrats’ detachment from working-class concerns:
Jimmy Williams Jr, the head of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, called the Democrats’ message “tone-deaf” and advocated for a return to putting the working class at the center of political appeals.
Fusing these economic stances with culturally attuned messaging offers Democrats a path back to blue-collar relevance. But it requires fortitude to break from entrenched interests and truly prioritize working-class needs.
Overcoming the Liberal Elite
Ultimately, defeating Trumpism demands a two-front struggle. Progressives must vigorously oppose Republican plutocrats and their billionaire-friendly policies. But with equal fervor, they must confront the liberal professional elite whose cultural and political dominance has marginalized working-class voters.
This won’t be easy. Credentialed liberals exert immense influence within the Democratic ecosystem—as donors, strategists, and opinion leaders. Shifting to a pro-worker paradigm threatens their status and power.
But the alternative is ceding the working-class mantle to Trump and his ilk. For all its flaws, the New Deal coalition understood the centrality of blue-collar workers. A contemporary left must recover that commitment, marrying economic populism with respect for working-class culture.
The class struggle of our era pits the working class against overlapping systems of economic and cultural domination—corporate giants and professional-class gatekeepers. Leadership requires taking on both simultaneously. Only then can progressives counter a Trumpian GOP and deliver meaningful change. The path forward is arduous but essential: a class struggle on two fronts.
