College towns, like Madison, Wisconsin, have become crucial for Democrats in winning elections due to the voting proclivities of younger voters and recent college graduates.
It is not much of an exaggeration, if it is one at all, that college towns are to the Democrats today what factory towns were through most of the 20President Biden gestures after speaking about student loan debt relief at Madison Area Technical College in Madison , Wisc., on Monday.to save his embattled presidency to Madison , Wisc., the capital of a state he is counting on winning in November.
Historically, Democrats have counted on running up big margins in industrial Milwaukee County, long a stronghold of organized labor and the state's most populous county. Dane and a few other populous counties were counted on in supporting roles. If a Democrat was to win statewide, these polities had to counterbalance the strong Republican leanings of the state's more affluent suburbs and farm towns.But in recent elections, Dane has stepped out to sing lead.
So it made sense for Biden to be in Madison if he hopes to keep Wisconsin in his column this fall. And it is hard to overstate the importance of doing so for the president. In 2020 he managed just 49.6 percent of the statewide vote, but it was better than the 46.9 percent Hillary Clinton had in the state in 2016 and just enough to shade then-incumbent President Donald Trump who had 48.9 percent. Trump was only 20,000 votes behind.
So far, of course, both these Biden initiatives count as virtue signaling more than actual policy making. The debt relief proposal will need to survive court tests, and an earlier Biden effort to cancel debt was spiked by the Supreme Court when the justices decided it needed congressional approval. The gun control measure will also confront Republican resistance and still more tests in federal courts.
Many activists are distressed at the gradual approach Biden has taken to their issue, be it climate change or gun control or income inequality. Many think he has overcommitted the U.S. to supporting Israel in its war against Hamas. Biden likes to call college"a ticket to the middle class." And the recent emphasis on lowering educational barriers and boosting educational borrowers may well reinforce the impression that Democrats mostly care about the educated. That is an argument Republicans are sure to make and stress.
College Towns Democrats Elections Voting Younger Voters Recent College Graduates Madison Wisconsin
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