The Importance of Parties in Politics

Twenty years ago, the Democratic Party seemed poised to dominate American politics. But having alienated many of their traditional working class voters, that dominance didn’t come to pass—and the party could be on the precipice of a political disaster. To understand how we got here, Jonah invites Ruy Teixeira—senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and author of The Liberal Patriot on Substack—back on The Remnant for some white hot wonkery on the shifting demographics of America’s major parties. In his new book, Where Have All the Democrats Gone? Ruy explores the Democratic Party’s evolution and what it should do to get back on track. Why did the working class turn on the Democrats in the first place? What will it take for the party to embrace a more moderate policy platform? And why is everyone so determined to make the perfect the enemy of the good?

Show Notes:

-Ruy’s page at AEI

-Ruy’s Substack, The Liberal Patriot

-Ruy’s new book, Where Have All the Democrats Gone?

-Ruy’s earlier book, The Emerging Democratic Majority

-Ruy: “A Three Point Plan to Fix the Democrats and Their Coalition”

-Jonah’s first AMA on The Skiff, The Dispatch’s members-only podcast feed

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