This article has a lot of real truths masquerading as a vanilla analysis on Nebraska.

And especially the reaction to the article from ppl who obviously didn’t read it so - lets do a quick thread. https://twitter.com/fivethirtyeight/status/1344304247400247299

The reaction to this article was expected.

But if you think like this - you are never going to get the why behind they why.

In the @538politics article it points to the fact liberal ballot measures passed at the same time they voted for super right leaning conservatives

This is not shocking if you understand the why behind the why of the Republican voter

Republicans are not opposed to social programs with limits.

They oppose the universality of these programs.

That is the tweet of tweets. That is the balance of my time. If you could promise to exclude ppl from these programs the popularity would improve by a jump

@SER1897 Stepehen Robinson often writes about this.

Populist programs gain a measure of support when you target the audience for inclusion. The Nebraska community took on high anti immigration measures and expanded support programs- telling this story completely

If you know anything about history- you know that ppl of color were intentionally left out. Ww have not progressed that much as a Nation.

POC receiving aid conjures Reagan’s false image of the welfare Queen.

The heartland getting help conjure images of uplifting the worthy

So I have with amusement watch Bernie Sanders dance around this.



The Lou Dobbs appearing Bernie kinda understood this audience better than the 2019 version of himself trying to run in a Democratic audience that sees the previous version as a dog whistle

Populism is not universal

It speaks to a specific people that I will be there for you.

It accepts government has financial and capacity limits and offers prime membership to some and not to others.

Bernie’s electoral hopes had to go through POC voters that recognizes this conversation and knows what’s its about

When we reject it - they automatically snap to we just don’t know what good for us - demonstrating an underlying condescension that confirms our 1st take

Bernie and his movement has an authenticity - it is who he is as a champion for the white working class. He is in his zone for this group. He stumbles to be realistic outside of it.

Historically this group has kept POC from joining unions and when we did not as full partners

Younger Bernie supporters don’t have historical context and see Black and Latinos voters rejection of him, as uninformed. They never bother to see the why behind the why.

And they keep making mistakes that build larger electoral holes for themselves

Bernie 2015 would have done better against Joe Biden. He would have still lost because Black voters .

But did y’all know Bernie only got 26% of the primary vote and only 50% of the primary vote in Vermont

It is hard to not be yourself Bernie’s immigration position is all over the place. When not running he was against Abolish Ice - then he came in pitching Abolish Ice to court the Latino vote when he ran for president. He didn’t understand that doesn’t quite play across groups

Immigration is the wall that Trump sits on.

Understanding voters is our one job.

The constant refrain of just looking at voters not with you and saying - they are too stupid isn’t going to get us anything