A Windy Nation: Midwest politics edition vol. 1.
Trump visits Wisconsin, the Freedom Caucus survival in Mich., civility in Indiana, and a new newsletter…
Suggestion: Read this on Medium if you want to see all the links. I won’t be offended, though, as long as you read a little.
As political observers far wiser than I have noted, the Midwest controls the fate of the presidency and, thus, is a fundamental lever in our national politics. I’m based at the epicenter in Chicago — a place with its own, often sordid, political history surrounded by areas and states to the South and North that delivered Donald Trump the presidency. It was the Midwest’s “blue wall” that was supposed to deliver for Hillary Clinton, who was the first candidate since 1972 not to spend any time in the Badger state.
Suffice it to say, following the politics of the region seems to be of vital interest, and I’ll attempt to do that here on a weekly basis. Contact me with any advice, tips, suggestions.
It’s a good time to launch this newsletter — I’ll be migrating it to Tiny Letter next week, more on that shortly — since President Trump headed to Janesville, Wis., on Tuesday to sign a “Buy American, Hire American” executive order. It was a chance for the president to reconnect with his blue collar base and deliver on what was one of the few clear policy proposals of his campaign — the bid to bring back jobs to struggling Rust Belt or blue collar communities.
Janesville, of course, isn’t really part of the Rust Belt, but its struggles are indicative of so many of the issues that plague Midwest industrial towns and serves as a good case in point for why such promises will be difficult to deliver without a sustained strategy. It’s where House Speaker Paul Ryan is from — and where Trump received more votes than he did in the recent election. It’s also where Washington Post reporter Amy Goldstein spent years working on a book about the American experience that has turned out to be prescient.
Helpfully, the Washington Post’s Daily 202 broke down some of the key takeaways from Goldstein’s book:
- Union power has dramatically dissipated.
- The civil war in Wisconsin after Scott Walker took on public employee unions also divided Janesville. Some of the civility that the town had really prided itself on was lost during the recall fight in 2012.
- Jobs have finally come back to Janesville, but they don’t pay as well. And they’re not in manufacturing.
- Many folks who lost jobs never fully regained their confidence.
Following many of those themes the Midwest read of the week, also from the Washington Post, was from Stephanie McCrummen in Kiron, Iowa, with a narrative based out of the back of the Quik Mart. Worth your time. I noticed the comments section got shut down. I can only imagine given the theme of race that weaves itself through the story how nasty things got.
Cleveland.com is following the money of what looks to be an incredibly expensive House and Senate races in Ohio. The regular voter folk are sick and tired of political money — but with spending limits nonexistent, the problem is only getting worse. In Illinois, it appears the only way to become governor (a seemingly thankless job with the very real risk of prison) is to become a billionaire first. It’s an ironic byproduct of an age of government transparency whereby the nastiness of our politics and the political patronage system being out of favor seems to be leaving many opting out of the political ring but encouraging those outside of it — with the means to do so — to jump into politics.
I don’t think it’s what the founders had in mind. (Side note: USA Today tells us why it’s inevitable only billionaires are going for the office: Under Illinois campaign law, when a candidate for statewide office donates more than $250,000 to his or her own campaign within 12 months before an election it lifts spending limits for all candidates vying for the seat)
This was a surprising and sobering stat coming from Indiana, per the Northwest Indiana Times:
Suicide claims a Hoosier life roughly every nine hours.
Indiana teens lead the nation in contemplating suicide with nearly 1 in 5 thinking about taking their own life in the past year, and slightly more than 1 in 10 attempting to kill themselves.
Speaking of Indiana, I was in nearby Gary recently for a story for the Christian Science Monitor. I describe a civility initiative that has managed to, surprisingly, spur discussions of race, class and identity in an unlikely place.
The district of Michigan congressman Justin Amash is fascinating. The Freedom Caucus member was one of those who didn’t go along with the health care bill — and Trump said he plans to take the fight to him.
Amash’s response: “not worried.” (From the Record-Eagle).
Run, Mona, Run!
Kind of love this from blogger Susan Demas about Dr. Mona Hanna-Atisha, who was the pediatrician that blew the whistle on Flint, Michigan’s poisonous lead levels and forced government action. I also didn’t realize that the doctor is dipping into political waters (OK bad pun) as folks like Demas hope she’ll consider public office:
But the grumbling has gotten progressively louder after Hanna-Attisha spoke this winter at the Michigan Progressive Summit, which is kind of like Lollapalooza for liberals. The Iraqi-born immigrant praised the 1936 Flint sit-down strike and slammed the Emergency Manager law for being “undemocratic.” She revealed she’s not a fan of the Electoral College and criticized gerrymandering.
She also wrote a powerful New York Times op-ed on Trump’s Muslim ban, noting that her family arrived in the United States in 1980 “full of hope, trading a future of war, fascism and oppression for one of peace, freedom and opportunity.” The doctor argued they would have been denied entry to the country if the ban had been in place, which is causing the “American dream to fade away.”
Months before Trump, Katherine J. Cramer wrote a book about the “Politics of Resentment” about the rise of Scott Walker in Wisconsin. Cramer tells MinnPost this:
“Trump will be judged primarily on identity, not on the number of jobs he creates, because I think it’s primarily the identity stuff that got him elected,” she said. “When I’m asking people what are you hopeful about? What kind of results do you expect to see? The answer I get is ‘ Well, nothing’s going to change around here, but at least [Trump]’s gonna stop giving all that money to people who don’t deserve it.”
I’m personally interested to see what happens to Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly, a Democrat in deep red Indiana. Indy Star columnist Tim Swarens says he may not be in as much trouble as everyone says.
An underplayed story from southern Illinois: Cairo residents are being forced to move by HUD from public housing,with no real plan on where they should go. Chicago knows something about how to mismanage public housing…
This is not something you see a lot of but something that should happen much more often: scrutiny of judges. In this case, Injustice Watch takes on the tremendous task of poring through U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Frank Easterbrook’s opinions to examine his apparently specious relationship with the truth. No, not exactly a political story, but an important one.
How does Missouri political survivor Sen. Claire McCaskill plan to survive the Trump era? Staying in the center. She breaks down politics to its basest, call it the Dancing With the Stars analysis: some voters are FOX News devotees. Others MSNBC.
“And then there’s a whole bunch of Missourians who watch ‘Dancing With the Stars’ and don’t like any of us,” she said, “and it’s those voters who decide Missouri elections.”
I want to spend more time in Detroit, an incredible and difficult reimagining of a once great American city. To see it’s downfall in a positive light, what if a city could be reimagined? That’s how folks there are thinking, but it still is very much a tale of two cities, the Chicago Tribune critic Blair Kamin writes.
Still I love this optimism from folks: Detroit “might be a more equitable Brooklyn or a more inclusive Brooklyn,” Cox said.
How times have changed… One would not think the state of Indiana and pot would go together. But it seems some lawmakers think they might someday — and it looks like some were looking to cash in. Check out the report from the Indy Star.
Journalism
We’ve had the Pulitzer and all that good stuff — many deserving winners, some less deserving (ahem, Peggy Noonan, but I digress), but a good representation and hope all around for a struggling industry. While this wasn’t on this year’s list, the Columbia Journalism Review dove into a Tampa Bay Times investigation on police shootings. It’s a worthy read and something to consider when you’re thinking about checking ambition at the door.
Speaking of, I did lesson one from ESPN storytelling wiz Kevin Van Valkenburg’s narrative journalism course, which he has graciously posted online. Industry veteran? Newbie journalist? Lover of words? Do lesson one yourself and let me know the results — I’ll post them here. Lesson two coming soon, maybe next week.
I’ll probably cross post this newsletter on Medium going forward, but for those who would like to receive it in their inbox, I’m planning to head over to Tiny Letter in the coming weeks. Subscribe here.
Read more about what we mean by the untold story, an ideal and a destination, here. I’m Jeremy Borden, an independent journalist in Chicago focused on criminal justice and politics, with an occasional foray into business, sports and other topics. Contact me with any advice, tips, arguments at borden.jeremy@gmail.com.
