The Winston Group’s David Winston writes in today’s Roll Call about the “existential split” within the Democratic party that has twice led to the election of Donald Trump and to the Democrats becoming a third party.

What has driven the Democratic Party into third-party status isn’t complicated. There is now, and has been for some time, a potentially existential split in the Democratic Party between working-class voters, historically the key voter group in their coalition, and what I call “Democratic liberal elites,” whose influence isn’t in numbers but in money and the media. 

There is no better example of that disconnect than the events surrounding Kamala Harris’ candidacy, as Democratic power brokers pushed Joe Biden aside hoping for a better candidate.

Lunch bucket Joe was out. Elite progressive Harris was in.

It was this split, rooted in class and ideology, that opened the door to a second Trump presidency and remains a significant challenge to the Democratic Party as it tries to rebuild.

Read the full piece here.