A Single Day Exposed the Central Tension Driving American Politics
The same explosive question rumbled through this week’s Supreme Court ruling on the 2020 census and the two nights of Democratic presidential debates: How will America respond to the propulsive demographic, social, and economic changes remaking the nation?
The juxtaposition of these two events, purely coincidental, underscored how much of American politics in the years ahead is likely to turn on that elemental question. Trump’s determination to add a citizenship question to the census, which many think will depress Latino participation, demonstrates how thoroughly he has pointed his agenda at the voters most uneasy about these fundamental changes, a group I’ve called the coalition of restoration. Even after the Supreme Court, for now, blocked the citizenship question in a 5–4 decision yesterday, Trump immediately tweeted that he’s resolved to include it, even if that means delaying the census.
[Read: Democrats wrestle over what their party stands for]
Against that backdrop, the Democratic debates, with their diverse cast of candidates and nearly unswerving calls to advance the interests of minority groups, showed how deeply Democrats are invested in mobilizing the voters who either embody these changes or welcome them, a group I’ve called the coalition of transformation. Especially in last night’s debate, the Democrats crystallized the question of whether
