Revising NYT History on Democrats Losing the Working Class

Photograph Source: Frypie – CC BY-SA 4.0

The New York Times had a lengthy piece giving a story on how the Democrats lost the support of working-class voters over the last three decades. The essence of the argument is that working-class voters were angered by Democrats’ support of “free trade” and the bailouts of the financial industry in the financial crisis. While this story is largely true it seriously understates the working-class cause for complaint.

First and foremost, our trade deals were not about free trade.