The Swing Voters in the Culture War

Last month, Michigan state Senator Mallory McMorrow became an overnight sensation in progressive circles. After a colleague accused her of trying to “groom and sexualize kindergartners,” McMorrow delivered a raw and emotional speech that neither shied away from progressive social stances nor consented to fighting the battle on that territory. “People who are different are not the reason that our roads are in bad shape after decades of disinvestment or that health-care costs are too high or that teachers are leaving the profession,” she said.

James Carville, the famed Democratic strategist and critic of liberal focus on social issues, that it was an “enormously effective piece of communication,” adding, “There’s really no comeback to it.” In , David Remnick her “a role