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New York Times: How Biden Can Help Democrats Become the Party of the Working Class Again

Berry Craig
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By Steven Greenhouse

Mr. Greenhouse reported on labor and workplace issues for The New York Times for 19 years. He is the author of “Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor.”

This past spring, Representative Jim Banks of Indiana, chairman of the House Republican Study Committee, wrote a curious policy memo, with the subject line “URGENT: Cementing GOP as the Working-Class Party.” He argued that Republicans should look to nail down working-class support through tough immigration policies, a crusade against “Wokeness,” and attacks against tech companies that “censor” Donald Trump and other conservatives, among other policies. The memo honored a time-tested Republican tradition: Wooing working-class voters by focusing not on economic issues like higher pay and runaway health care costs, but on polarizing social issues, like abortion and same-sex marriage.

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