Why Working-Class Voters Are Turning Away from the Democratic Party (with Lainey Newman)

Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

Civic Ventures

Business, Government, News, Politics

4.8 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 18 March 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For decades, unions were more than just labor organizations—they were community anchors that shaped working-class identity and political loyalty. But what happens when an entire generation loses its economic and social foundation? The Rust Belt’s working-class voters were once a Democratic stronghold, but that’s no longer the case. Lainey Newman, co-author of Rust Belt Union Blues, joins Paul and Goldy this week to explain how the erosion of union power helped shift working-class voters away from Democrats, and why economic fixes alone won’t be enough to win them back. Lainey Newman is an author and J.D. candidate at Harvard Law School. She is a graduate of Harvard College and a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Social Media: @laineynewman.bsky.social laineynewman @LaineyNewman Further reading: Rust Belt Union Blues: Why Working-Class Voters Are Turning Away from the Democratic Party Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Threads: pitchforkeconomics Bluesky: @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics LinkedIn: Pitchfork Economics Substack: The Pitch

Transcript

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0:00.0	The rising inequality and growing political instability that we see today are the direct result of decades of bad economic theory.
0:11.0	The last five decades of trickle-down economics haven't worked. But what's the alternative?
0:16.0	Middle-out economics is the answer.
0:19.0	Because the middle class is the source of growth, not its consequence.
0:23.1	That's right.
0:28.7	This is pitchfork economics with Nick Hanauer, a podcast about how to build the economy from the middle out.
0:36.9	Welcome to the show.
0:44.5	Paul Constant.
0:46.5	Hello.
0:47.4	Hi.
0:47.9	How are you?
0:48.7	You're not Nick Hanauer.
0:50.5	To my eternal regret, I am not Nick Hanauer.
0:54.1	So I have a question for you, which I wouldn't ask of Nick because I'd already know the answer.
1:02.0	Were you ever a member of a union?
1:04.0	You know, one of the big regrets in my life is that I've never been a member of a union.
1:09.0	I, of course, tried to unionize
1:12.0	an alternative weekly once. That didn't get very far, but no, I've always wanted to. I always,
1:18.2	really, the idea of a union is so appealing to me, the idea of like, you know, fellowship and
1:23.7	and working with other people and taking pride in your work and all that.
1:27.8	It's always been a dream of mine, but no, I have not.
1:30.6	Were either of your parents union members?
	...

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