The Midwest question: Can US politics move beyond white working class?

This week may be a trial for US President Joe Biden's core strategy-- that appealing to the white working class in the American Midwest is key to the White House

Every now and then, a moment comes when the assumptions underlying a nation’s politics are completely overturned. For India, this moment has come occasionally — most recently in 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a majority for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), overturning a decades-long consensus that coalitions would always be necessary to rule in New Delhi.

 

This week, the United States (US) may face one of those moments. The battle between Vice-President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump is a test of the sole political principle of the administration led by Ms Harris’ boss, President Joe Biden.