In the wake of the devastation and collective hangover the Left faced in the aftermath of Trump’s upset in November, the Democratic Party, and by extension the Left, is facing a crisis of soul-searching. The victory has left the extremist right in charge of the country through the vessel of the Republican Party. While the Left will fight tooth and nail to protect LGBT rights and abortion rights, its clear that its not as strong as it could or should be. The Left is strong among minority voters and affluent progressives in the cities, but it lacks strength in the heartland of America, the small towns and rural areas that make up most of the country. How did this happen?

The issue is that today’s Left is a descendant of the New Left of the 1960s and 1970s. The New Left was a counterculture movement associated with the hippies of that era; it was a group of mainly college students dedicated to opposing the Vietnam War, crusading for social justice, obtaining freedom on college campuses, and smoking ridiculous amounts of weed. The New Left was anti-authoritarian and sought to rebel against the corporate Establishment and traditional blue-collar values. They fought against the Old Left, which consisted of the New Dealers who focused on helping blue-collar workers and labor unions but were socially conservative and hawkish on foreign policy. They sought to change everything through constant protesting and living completely radical lifestyles. The energy of the new Left hit its peak in 1968 with their support of Eugene McCarthy’s candidacy(the equivalent of Bernie Sanders). They gave rise to the feminist movement, the environmentalist movement and the LGBT rights movement.

Most of them eventually grew up and became more moderate but some of them formed terrorist groups like Weather Underground and engaged in Marxist terrorism. Others became libertarians or drifted into permanent hippie lifestyles. The New Left’s main movements were absorbed by the mainstream Democratic establishment, and folks like Hillary Clinton and Jesse Jackson joined the party. They caused the party to drift to the left socially, which alienated many white blue-collar workers. They gradually shifted towards the Republicans in first Presidential and then legislative elections. The white blue-collar demographic felt alienated by Democrats, who they viewed as elitist and out of touch. This disconnect was heavily apparent during Obama’s presidency when many of them felt that the Democratic Party only cared about the interests of women, minorities, and LGBT people. This emphasis on social issues cost the party dearly among its former base; they suffered massive losses in Congress and in the state level. And Donald Trump was able to flip Rust Belt states on the strength of disaffected blue-collar Democrats who were turned off by the party.

It is clear why they felt out of touch. Because of the New Left, the Democratic Party became dominated by identity politics; they sought to aggressively focus on the interests and rights of specific groups in society as opposed to making a broad appeal to the country as a whole. While this approach is understandable, it really only works in diverse, cosmopolitan urban areas. In the Obama years, strict adherence to this brand of politics led to the Democratic Party becoming confined to urban areas and the diverse, liberal coastal states. States like West Virginia, Kentucky, and Iowa have gone from being Democratic-dominated to being heavily Republican. All of these states have one thing in common; they are dominated by white, blue collar folks and are often derisively referred to as flyover states. The social issues Democrats focus on are issues that these folks could care less about, and often many of them are socially conservative. Furthermore, Democrats are considered as only caring about the interests of minorities and women and don’t give a damn about them. So that’s why they all went off to the Republican Party and by actually turning out to vote, delivered the country to the Republicans.

There are two choices forward for the Democrats: double down on identity politics or moderate on social issues and emphasize economic populism. The former approach hasn’t really worked out well; the Obama coalition did not turn out enthusiastically enough in 2016 and cost Hillary states like Florida and Pennsylvania. The latter approach would seek to win back white working-class voters in the South and Midwest by running on a progressive economic platform, one that would appeal to their needs. The Dems would also want to moderate their stances on abortion and gun rights to win over socially conservative folks that are fed up with the Republicans. This approach is the same one that Bernie Sanders ran with in his campaign. It would seek to unite urban and rural people, white people and people of color, and assemble a majority coalition. This would be the New Deal Coalition reborn, but a lot more educated and diverse than the old one. The Left would go back to its roots, the spirit and philosophy of FDR, Truman, JFK, LBJ, and Humphrey.

There is simply no place in the Democratic party for economic pragmatism and moderation. We should be seeking to help the working man and the men on the make, not Wall Street and the 1%. The Republicans already exist to cater to them. The Democratic Party has not been considered the main pro-business party since 1896 when William Jennings Bryan took the party by storm. The Democratic Party must become a party of populism and dynamism, one that focuses on practice rather than abstruse theories of white privilege and cultural appropriation. A party that focuses on making people’s checkbooks bigger, not fighting culture wars or stroking the egos of celebrities and radical feminists. In short, we need “a New New Left”.