Heidi Heitkamp: Issues With Identity Politics | SALT Talks #136

Heidi Heitkamp is the first woman ever elected to be a U.S. Senator from North Dakota (2013-19). Senator Heitkamp also served two terms as North Dakota State Tax Commissioner and two terms as North Dakota Attorney General as a member of the North Dakota Democratic-Nonpartisan League Party. A political career that started at 28 years of age, and has spanned over 35 years, has seen a massive shift in North Dakota’s electoral makeup. The Democratic party’s base once consisted of the elderly, the working class and small family farmers. That group has shifted almost completely over to the Republican party, replaced by working professionals as the party’s base. The partisan polarization seen from Republican voters is due, in part, to ideas around identity. Swaths of the country feel judged by a more multicultural, multiethnic coalition more likely to admonish politically incorrect behavior. This has created a defensive posture and accelerated an urban-rural divide in American politics that has quickly turned states like North Dakota red. ————————————————————————— To learn more about this episode, including podcast transcripts and show notes, visit salt.org/talks Moderated by Anthony Scaramucci.