What can the Democratic Party do to strengthen their declining position in the Frostbelt?

[Sea-Spit]

Seeing as how both the Suburban/Sun Belt vote seems to be more swingy than what was originally thought for Democrats. What can Democrats do to build back their position in the traditionally democratic leaning Frost belt (WI, IA, MI, OH,PA)? I personally think that they would win that region by at least lean margin if they just focus on an economic progressive, pro worker agenda and kept their social positions out of the spotlight. Seeing as how a lot of these Frost Belt swing states tend to be economically center-left and socially moderate.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Their issue on social issues won’t be solved by ignoring it lol. Keep in mind Obama was considered very socially liberal yet did very well in the Midwest and that is because liberals at the time believed that people generally should be allowed to live their lifestyles the way they want even if they disagreed with it .

Todays progressives have become extremely moralistic and no longer do that and instead want to impose their social values on everyone else which is why it’s so toxic . It’s actually the same reason the old style social conservatives  didn’t do that great in the Midwest as todays cultural warriors and that is because the old style social conservatives  were viewed as extremely moralistic and were viewed as wanting to impose their southern values on the rest of the nation .


It’s the height of irony , but on many issues todays social conservatives are more liberal than todays social progressives

[Sea-Spit]

Their issue on social issues won’t be solved by ignoring it lol. Keep in mind Obama was considered very socially liberal yet did very well in the Midwest and that is because liberals at the time believed that people generally should be allowed to live their lifestyles the way they want even if they disagreed with it .

Todays progressives have become extremely moralistic and no longer do that and instead want to impose their social values on everyone else which is why it’s so toxic . It’s actually the same reason the old style social conservatives  didn’t do that great in the Midwest as todays cultural warriors and that is because the old style social conservatives  were viewed as extremely moralistic and were viewed as wanting to impose their southern values on the rest of the nation .


It’s the height of irony , but on many issues todays social conservatives are more liberal than todays social progressives

I didn't say they should ignore social issues lol. I said they should have their economic polices be their main focus.

[Skill and Chance]

Their issue on social issues won’t be solved by ignoring it lol. Keep in mind Obama was considered very socially liberal yet did very well in the Midwest and that is because liberals at the time believed that people generally should be allowed to live their lifestyles the way they want even if they disagreed with it .

Todays progressives have become extremely moralistic and no longer do that and instead want to impose their social values on everyone else which is why it’s so toxic . It’s actually the same reason the old style social conservatives  didn’t do that great in the Midwest as todays cultural warriors and that is because the old style social conservatives  were viewed as extremely moralistic and were viewed as wanting to impose their southern values on the rest of the nation .


It’s the height of irony , but on many issues todays social conservatives are more liberal than todays social progressives

This is true.  During 1995-2015 or so, it was Dems making the don't indoctrinate our children (with religious traditionalism) in public schools argument, and they had a lot of success with it in appealing to voters in the rural North.  Now, Republicans are successfully making the same don't indoctrinate our children (with woke stuff) in public schools argument.

[Xing]

Fully disown bad slogans such as "defund (or abolish) the police", for one. BIF/BBB passing would also be a start, and they would finally have some legislative victories to point to (provided they don't allow Republicans to drive the narrative and claim that BBB is actually "socialism", or "CRT" which is a big if.) They can't simply ignore these slogans, they need to call them out and clarify their actual position. More focus on issues such as healthcare and improving wages could help as well, and point out how Republicans are trying to force their agenda on everyone in places like Texas. Also, travel to small towns, as showing their faces will, at the very least, prove that they're not writing off anyone or that they don't care about people who live outside of cities, and reducing margins of defeat in rural areas is critical, as Obama showed throughout the Midwest. They're not going to win back IA/OH in the short term, but they can keep MI/PA/WI competitive, and perhaps start to gain back voters in this region in the long term if they call out the activists who go way too far on rhetoric.

[RINO Tom]

Having just returned from an absolutely wonderful trip to New York (absolutely loved the place and the people!), I think many on this forum do not understand the Midwest at all.  Liberal or conservative, Catholic or Protestant, urban or rural ... Midwesterners seem aggressively "normal" (for better and for worse) compared to other areas of the country, and they (sometimes even subconsciously) view it as not classy and not becoming when people come across as gimmicky, strange, obnoxious, etc.  I was really struck by how emotive New Yorkers are, and I think many people mistake this for being "pushy" or "rude," but they were all extremely nice if you, ya know, tried even slightly to act like you were in New York.

Where this is going is that Midwestern voters want frickin' normal politicians who will solve their problems.  To watch Northwestern Illinois and Eastern Iowa rural counties vote for Obama by significant margins in 2008 and assume they were "socially liberal" or to watch Trump's sweeping Rust Belt gains and assume they're "socially conservative" is just a fundamental swing and a miss regarding how these people vote, IMO.  They're generally soft spoken, believe in respecting norms and don't suffer theatrics.  I know that last one might sound like a no-go for Trump, but having a "loose cannon" that "tells it like it is" - even if he sounds absurd and is constantly making headlines - is not the same as being "theatrical" to try to win votes.  In fact, it's kind of the opposite.  In 2008, Midwestern swing voters were sick of wars they seemingly gained nothing from and economic policies that helped Wall Street while their communities which had been essential to the country's economic success historically were left behind.  In 2016, they were sick of politicians delusionally applying coastal cultural attitudes toward the rest of the country and the Obama Administration/Clinton campaign offering no macroeconomic alternatives to what McCain or Romney would have done while in office (on things like trade and regulation ... not saying they're right, just saying how I think they felt).

Democrats can win Midwestern swing voters (of both "WWC" and "College Grad" varieties) frankly by highlighting their party's comparative normality - or, in political terms, phrasing themselves as the "party of ordinary Americans."  Ordinary Americans don't seem to like tax cuts for the super wealthy or trimming the fat on social safety net programs, but they sure as hell don't like being called a "sexist" or a "racist" or a "transphobe" or whatever else for even QUESTIONING some of the attitudes put forth by the far left on cultural issues lately.  Rightly or wrongly, a lot of people believe that some of this woke stuff is indeed "just the start" if Democrats have too much power.  Tearing down a Confederate statue on government property, in isolation, likely wouldn't piss off too many Midwestern voters, but we have already seen louder and louder extremist voices now turning their gaze to literal Founding Fathers.  (Seriously, nobody gives a  that Jefferson had slaves, and it's alarming that this statement might even cause a debate here.)

The unproductive answer is that until there is a party that has a more subdued "extremist wing," many voters like this will remain "hypothetical swing voters" (i.e., not "gone" for the party like many Southern Whites became or anything like that, so maybe competitive again every 8 years or so?), often times favoring the party out of power.  If we get a future where the nativist/Trumpist right (and I do not mean Obama-Trump voters ... that isn't even close to "extremist") and a truly "big tent" Democratic Party as many here suggest, I think you'll see these voters move back left.  If we get an increasingly socially "woke" Democratic Party that seems to be tearing down basic fabled tenants of America's founding myths and a GOP that reforms as a catch-all alternative to that, these voters will be gone for a while.  Frankly, the way the Democrats have moved culturally since 2008, I would say they're going to lean right for quite a while in a 50/50 environment.