Shifting Allegiances in Small Towns

For the Democrats to hold on to power in Washington, they have to do what President Biden did in Pennsylvania two years ago: Break the Republican Party’s grip on the white working-class vote, once the core of the Democratic base. 

In tomorrow’s midterm election, no race better encapsulates that challenge than the Pennsylvania Senate candidacy of John Fetterman.

Is the plan working or is this crucial group of voters now a lost cause for the Democrats?

Guest: Shane Goldmacher, a national political reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• Among white working-class voters in places like northeast Pennsylvania, the Democratic Party has both the furthest to fall and the most to gain.
• In the final days of the Pennsylvania Senate race, Mr. Fetterman has acknowledged that his recovery from a stroke remains a work in progress, leaning into the issue with a mix of humor, sarcasm and notes of empathy. 

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

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