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Are Trump Voters a Lost Cause? by Mindy Isser

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Are Trump Voters a Lost Cause? by Mindy Isser MAGA MARCH TOWARD ELON MUSK’S FINAL THE GIG ECONOMY PUBLIC WAILING AS OBLIVION P. 6 FRONTIER P. 20 CREEP P. 12 POLITICAL DISSENT P. 34 ARE TRUMP VOTERS A LOST CAUSE? BY MINDY ISSER + Clarissa Donnelly- DeRoven investigates a Covid outbreak at an ICE jail JANUARY 2021 INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS 2040 NORTH MILWAUKEE AVENUE • CHICAGO, IL 60647 PHONE (773) 772-0100 • WEB INTHESETIMES.COM Dear Friend, No one has been unaffected by the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic impact that’s resulted from it. The toll it’s taken on the journalism industry has been particularly high. Tens of thousands of journalists have been laid off, countless publications have been forced to scale back, and many have ceased publishing altogether. In These Times has survived, thanks entirely to the support of our readers. Direct donations from readers have allowed us to continue publishing in this difficult time, and for that we cannot thank you enough. With the end of 2020 approaching, and a challenging winter ahead, I’m asking if you are in a position to make an end-of-year donation to help us weather the final months of this difficult time. Better times are ahead, with a new president and (we hope) an end to the Covid-19 pandemic. But there is no getting around the reality that we must first overcome a difficult and lean winter. For In These Times, that means we must raise an additional $177,000 to meet our budget before year end. We know we can do that, but it requires the support of you and all of our readers. Your financial contribution is what allows us to produce the magazine you read each month, and the journalism that supports the progressive change you want to see in the world. With your help, In These Times promises to be an unwavering voice for workers and progressive policies in the critical fights ahead. Will you support In These Times with a year-end donation today? You can use the envelope in the center of this issue, or you can visit InTheseTimes.com/December2020 to make a safe and secure donation online. In solidarity, Joel Bleifuss Editor & Publisher P.S. If you are unable to make a contribution today, we understand, and we hope you’ll consider supporting In These Times in the future. We are all in this together. VOLUME 45 NUMBER 1 ON THE COVER Are Trump Voters a Lost Cause? 14 SPECIAL INVESTIGATION Space: The Final LABOR Inside an Outbreak (Profitable) Workers Resist at an ICE Jail Frontier Pandemic-Era ICE’s Covid strategy? Throw The future belongs to Elon Musk. Disaster Capitalism immigrants in solitary confinement. BY ELEANOR PENNY Ecuador rolls back labor protections. BY CLARISSA DONNELLY-DEROVEN BY KIMBERLEY BROWN 26 20 9 JANUARY 2021 = IN THESE TIMES 1 No political movement can be healthy unless it has its own press to inform it, educate it and orient it. “ — IN THESE TIMES FOUNDER JAMES WEINSTEIN ” TABLE OF CONTENTS FOUNDING EDITOR & PUBLISHER JAMES WEINSTEIN (1926–2005) DISPATCHES FEATURES EDITOR & PUBLISHER Joel Bleifuss EXECUTIVE EDITOR 6 MAGA March 14 LABOR (ON LEAVE) Jessica Stites EXECUTIVE EDITOR Toward Oblivion Are Trump Voters (ACTING) Diana Babineau BY HAMILTON NOLAN a Lost Cause? EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER Christopher Hass BY MINDY ISSER WEB EDITORS Miles Kampf-Lassin, 7 LABOR Sarah Lazare Growing Food, But 20 Space: The Final GUEST EDITORS Jack Mirkinson, Susan Rinkunas None for Them (Profitable) Frontier LABOR REPORTER Hamilton Nolan BY ALLISON SALERNO BY ELEANOR PENNY INVESTIGATIVE FELLOWS Alice Herman, Indigo Olivier 9 LABOR 26 SPECIAL INVESTIGATION COPY EDITOR Bob Miller PROOFREADERS Sharon Bloyd-Peshkin, Workers Resist Pandemic- Inside an Outbreak Rochelle Lodder Era Disaster Capitalism at an ICE Jail SENIOR EDITORS Patricia Aufderheide, BY KIMBERLEY BROWN BY CLARISSA DONNELLY-DEROVEN Susan J. Douglas, David Moberg, Salim Muwakkil, Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007) CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Kate Aronoff, Theo Anderson, Michael Atkinson, Frida VIEWPOINT DEPARTMENTS Berrigan, Michelle Chen, Sady Doyle, Pete Karman, Kari Lydersen, Moshe Z. Marvit, Jane Miller, Shaun Richman, Slavoj Žižek 12 LABOR 4 In Conversation CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Dean Baker, Restoring Antitrust Rebecca Burns, Barbara Ehrenreich, in Each Other 7 This Month in Jeremy Gantz, Leonard C. Goodman, Mindy Late Capitalism Isser, Naomi Klein, Chris Lehmann, John BY MOE TKACIK Nichols, Rick Perlstein, Micah Uetricht 9 By the Numbers: EDITORIAL INTERNS Frank Carber, U.S. Supreme Court Hannah Faris, Clara Liang, Janea Wilson CULTURE CREATIVE DIRECTOR Rachel K. Dooley 10 In Case You Missed It DESIGN ASSISTANT Matt Whitt 34 For Crying Out Loud The Big Idea: CARTOONS EDITOR Matt Bors 13 CARTOONISTS Terry LaBan, Dan Perkins BY RENEE SIMMS National Popular Vote DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR 38 Comics Interstate Compact Lauren Kostoglanis DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR Jamie Hendry 40 In Those Times: PUBLISHING ASSISTANT Caroline Reid A Beef with Pandemic ON THE COVER CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Rebecca Sterner Response IN THESE TIMES BOARD OF DIRECTORS Supporters listen as President Donald M. Nieves Bolaños, Tobita Chow, Kevin Trump speaks at a campaign rally Creighan, Dan Dineen, James Harkin, Robert Kraig, Paul Olsen, Rick Perlstein, on October 26, 2020, in Lititz, Penn. Margaret Rung, Steven Saltzman, Stacy (Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images) Sutton, David Taber, William Weaver The work of In These Times writers is supported by the Puffin Foundation. pms 3015 pms 130 Our staff and writers are represented by these unions: 2 IN THESE TIMES + JANUARY 2021 EDITORIAL New Kids on the Bloc he Democratic majority in the expulsion. In addition, members must attend CPC House is shaping up to be one of the most meetings and respond to requests from the cau- progressive—and partisan—ever, as mem- cus whip (currently Minnesota’s Rep. Ilhan Omar) bers of the 117th Congress assume office about where they stand on issues. January 3. While some moderate Dems If some CPC members find the new rules unac- Tlost their House seats, the Congressional Pro- ceptable, no sweat. Jayapal made clear she “would gressive Caucus (CPC) gained members, includ- rather have people who are really committed to the ing Reps. Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.) and Cori Bush Progressive Caucus in the caucus and participating (Mo.), both members of the Democratic Social- rather than sort of just having it as a label.” ists of America. Bowman greeted news of the reforms Yes, Beltway pundits will bellyache about the death of cross-party comity. But in The Congressional Progressive Congress, bipartisanship does not serve Caucus has restructured itself into the interests of the majority of Democrats, a disciplined, small-d democratic especially those who suffer the effects of structural racism and generation- political operation. al poverty. Look no further than three “crowning” bipartisan achievements with a tweet: “Ready to flex our mus- of the 1990s: the 1994 crime bill, the cle and join the era of collective pro- Welfare Reform Act of 1996 and the gressive power.” 1999 repeal of Glass-Steagall bank reg- Jayapal, who entered Congress in 2016 ulation. The latter came home to roost in (after a 20-year career as a community organizer), 2008, enabling the financial crisis. The George admits in an interview with Seattle’s alternative W. Bush administration’s subsequent $700 billion weekly, The Stranger, that it will become all but im- bank bailout rescued Wall Street but did nothing possible to pass progressive legislation should Re- for the 10 million families who lost their homes. publicans control the Senate. “Then we have to use Fast forward 12 years and we are again head- an inside/outside strategy like the one I was part of ed toward economic catastrophe. The Covid-19 when we got Obama to agree to [the Dream Act],” pandemic and the expiration of pandemic-relat- Jayapal says. “We may have to be the wind behind ed unemployment benefits will move 14 million the sails that helps Joe Biden and Kamala Har- Americans one step closer to deep poverty and ris deliver change through executive action, if we homelessness. This level of economic destitution can’t do it legislatively.” has not been seen since the 1930s. Because the Democratic majority in the One difference between the Covid-19 Reces- House is so slim—just 13 seats—a united CPC sion and the 2008 Great Recession is that pro- could even extract the concessions from House gressives in Congress have since gotten their leadership so desperately needed right now: act together. The CPC has restructured itself eviction moratoriums, student debt relief, un- (starting January 3) into a disciplined, small-d employment assistance. democratic political operation that will push pro- These types of policies are anathema to par- gressive legislation on the inside while helping ty centrists, who apparently would rather captain raise a ruckus on the outside. a sinking ship than surrender any control to parti- Under new rules approved in November 2020, sans in steerage. But providing actual economic re- the CPC will no longer be led by two co-chairs. For lief is essential to prevent Democratic losses in the the 117th Congress, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (Wash.) midterms and 2024. Movement-backed Democrats will lead. Another change requires members to must be disciplined and organized in working with vote as a bloc on issues supported by two-thirds of the new president, who inherits a crisis. the caucus. Should a member fail to adhere to this Otherwise, a shipwreck is imminent. rule at least 66% of the time, they could face — JOEL BLEIFUSS JANUARY 2021 = IN THESE TIMES 3 IN CONVERSATION Conservative Democrats. A PEOPLE’S ACTION THE FEELING’S MUTUAL There is nothing sensible This project sought to This interview (“It’s To- about them, which is what understand why some gether That We Sur- “centrist” implies.
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