The Democratic Party’s biggest problem is that too many people see its adherents as censorious, inquisitorial, joyless, gatekeeping and overall more interested in ideological purity than in governing effectively or addressing the concerns of everyday people. This is a problem in a country like America with nonconformism in its political DNA.

As a result, the party has almost completely lost what we might call “downscale voters.” This is a broader group than the so-called “white working class.”

It encompasses anyone whose hobbies (toying with firearms), media consumption (preferring “Yellowstone” to “Succession”), cultural interests (enjoying mixed martial arts, not NPR), views of sex (insisting men are men and women are women), job descriptions (using physical tools), religious views (be

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