Will Democrats' materialist playbook work in US mid-term polls?

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US President Donald Trump and the other populists around the world have transformed politics in three gigantic ways.

First, they told a different narrative. Their central story is that the good, decent people of the heartland are being threatened by immigrants, foreigners and other outsiders while corrupt elites do nothing.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 25, 2018, with the headline Will Democrats' materialist playbook work in US mid-term polls?. Subscribe