Democrats have a working-class voter problem that progressives like Abdul El-Sayed are still struggling to solve

Class-war rhetoric from Democratic candidates jams working-class voters into a prefabricated progressive agenda, an expert on rural and working-class communities argues.

By: Nicholas Jacobs, Colby College; Institute for Humane Studies, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: August 7, 2026

Words: 1,665

Last Updated: 1 week, 3 days ago

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By Nicholas Jacobs, Colby College; Institute for Humane Studies

Since 2016, when Donald Trump shattered the Democrats’ blue wall by winning working-class voters across the Midwest, a cottage industry has sprung up on the left dedicated to answering a single question: How can Democrats win back the working class?

The answers come in different forms.

Sometimes it is veteran Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, railing against “the oligarchs.”

Or it’s Connecticut …

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