We really do need to move on from the WWC. This is only going to get worse. I don't like the "economically moderate" suburbanites we're getting in exchange but our base of urban voters and minorities is progressive enough to keep the ball rolling on Medicare For All, ect.
There's zero evidence these suburbanites are actually "economically moderate". That's just media framing and incorrect perception. Studies have shown Romney-Clinton voters to be more liberal on economics than Obama-Trump voters, with far less racial resentment.
In any case, we saw candidates that weren't hiding being progressive like Stacey Abrams and Beto O'Rourke do really well in those "moderate suburbs." Both of them made big gains on even Hillary's gains in those areas.
Okay this puts me in a position to make a point I haven't fully made on here since the election.
If I were to list people who would be the most likely to benefit from left wing fiscal policies, the suburbs would be towards the bottom of the list. But, 2018 made clear that our partisan divide is cultural rather than policy based (it somewhat has been since 1980 but prior to that the divide was less intense and more importantly less secular; it's escalated more the past cycle or two) which is why the bolded paragraph is true. There's not much the Democrats can really do about it either. With our politics so cultural, I don't expect anything but gridlock for the forseeable future. At this point, Dems are best off focusing on being progressive without catering to a specific region, waiting for the dam to break, where the Dems would take advantage of the contrast between them and the GOP.
With that said, I don't think it's productive to just sit there and call Republicans racist. There's obvious truth to it but shaming people into voting for you since the other sides mean comments is not a winning strategy. Credit to the Dems for avoiding this in 2018 though.
