Can Economic Populism Save the Democratic Party? | The Ezra Klein Show

The “Democratic penalty” should scare the hell out of Democrats. The Democratic Party brand has become toxic in certain parts of the country, especially with working-class voters. The Center for Working-Class Politics has actually measured this so-called Democratic penalty, and found it’s in the double digits in some Rust Belt states. So what should Democrats do about it? One theory says that Democrats were once economic populists and just need to be again. Another theory says that the working class feels left behind and looked down on by a Democratic Party that has moved sharply left on culture, on climate, on guns, on immigration. Jared Abbott is the director of the Center for Working-Class Politics, which has done a lot of research and polling on working-class voters. So I asked him on the show to talk through these theories and what it would take for Democrats to once again be the party of the working class. 0:00 Intro 02:16 The Democratic penalty 08:06 Lessons from Dan Osborn’s campaign 16:25 Class de-alignment 24:20 Pre-Distribution vs. Re-Distribution 32:04 International de-alignments 37:55 Affect and what resonates with working class voters 51:04 Broadening the bench 01:04:50 Book recommendations Read the full transcript here: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-jared-abbott.html Watch more on @EzraKleinShow Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com. You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.html