From Common Dreams, an excerpt from “
“…Nationally, there were 20 Congressional districts in which the Democrats didn’t even run a candidate in 2024, and overall, there were 132 districts that the Republicans won by 25 percent or more.
But while rural America may be a lost cause for the Democrats, it’s an area of opportunity for a new working-class political formation.
Why do I think a working-class candidate would do well in these overwhelmingly red districts? Because of what we found in our YouGov survey of 3,000 voters in four key industrial (and surprisingly rural) states.
Our data shows that voters in flaming red rural areas in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin are willing to support a new working-class political organization dedicated to a very progressive economic platform.
We asked the following question:
Would you support a new organization, the Independent Workers Political Association, that would support working-class issues independent of both the Democratic and Republican parties? It would run and support independent political candidates committed to a platform that included:
- Stop big companies that receive tax dollars from laying off workers who pay taxes
- Guarantee everyone who wants to work a decent-paying job, and if the private sector can’t provide it, the government will
- Raise the minimum wage so every family can lead a decent life
- Stop drug company price-gouging and put price controls on food cartels
That’s a very radical idea and a very radical platform, clearly more progressive than what any congressperson is currently willing to support, except for maybe Sen. Bernie Sanders. Yet we found that 57 percent of the 3,000 respondents supported this new organization, which doesn’t even exist!
The survey also collected information about voters living in five areas: Big city, Smaller city, Suburban area, Small town, and Rural Area. Let’s zoom in on rural areas, where 585 of the 3,000 respondents (19.5%) live. Trump won in these rural areas with 51 percent of the vote in 2020 and 61 percent in 2024.
How did our Independent Workers Political Association do? Surprisingly well.
Voter Support for the Independent Workers’ Political Association
Rural Republicans: 50%
Rural Independents: 50%
Rural Democrats: 77%
This is good news for working-class advocates like me. The spoiler argument goes away because in these areas the Democratic Party hardly exists. A new workers’ party would rapidly become the second party, not the third party, challenging the Republicans.
The door is wide open to try something new. But that requires that a core group of labor unions come together to experiment with running working-class candidates in a few of these rural districts, ideally this cycle.
The idea has yet to catch on, although a few labor leaders like Shawn Fain of the UAW seem interested. Let’s hope more support emerges soon, because a rural red district with no Democratic Party is a terrible thing to waste.
Happy Holidays!”
The bet here would be that any such elected officials would oppose the Republicans’ anti-labor policies and support Democratic reforms.
I think this view underestimates how much culture matters to such people, but worth a shot. The ruins of the Blue Dogs and similar lack of conservative Democrats in the Senate show that the old model for picking up seats by neutralizing the social conservatism of the countryside doesn’t work anymore. Despite the best efforts of some to cast doubt on fair test cases.
If the Independent Worker’s Political Association is that popular, why not create one?