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Democrats are still struggling to make their campaigns look like their voters
NBC NewsWASHINGTON — Democrats pride themselves on the diversity of their voters, but the people who run their campaigns are still disproportionately white graduates of elite colleges, according to new data.
“The key staff of the Democratic Party is more racially representative than it has ever been and not nearly as racially diverse as it ought to be,” said Daniel Laurison, a sociologist at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania who spent years collecting data for his new book, "Producing Politics: Inside the Exclusive Campaign World Where the Privileged Few Shape Politics for All of Us."
Laurison, with the help of research assistants, combed through LinkedIn and other sources to compile a database of more than 4,500 Republicans and Democrats who worked on presidential primary or general election campaigns from 2004 to 2020. They found that class and race disparities persist in both parties.
The people in those positions, Laurison said, not only advise powerful policymakers; they also craft the political messages that help shape Americans’ understanding of politics and their place in it.
“The key staff of the Democratic Party is more racially representative than it has ever been and not nearly as racially diverse as it ought to be,” said Daniel Laurison, a sociologist at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania who spent years collecting data for his new book, "Producing Politics: Inside the Exclusive Campaign World Where the Privileged Few Shape Politics for All of Us."
Laurison, with the help of research assistants, combed through LinkedIn and other sources to compile a database of more than 4,500 Republicans and Democrats who worked on presidential primary or general election campaigns from 2004 to 2020. They found that class and race disparities persist in both parties.
The people in those positions, Laurison said, not only advise powerful policymakers; they also craft the political messages that help shape Americans’ understanding of politics and their place in it.