Heartland Politics with Robin Johnson

Bloodworth: Democrats' Lessons From Losing the Center Hold the Key to Winning it Back

By Robin Johnson

Published August 7, 2026 at 11:00 PM CDT

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Jeff Bloodworth, professor of American history at Gannon University, talks about his book, Losing the Center: The Decline of American Liberalism 1968-1992. The book examines the downfall of Democrats along ideological, racial, and class lines. Published in 2013, the book was prescient in seeing the rise of Trump and realignment of the two parties along class lines.

Heartland Politics with Robin Johnson

Robin Johnson

Robin A. Johnson is a governmental relations, public policy and political consultant. He is an expert on government reform issues and has consulted with numerous local governments on consolidation/merger, public-private partnerships and full-cost accounting of public services. Robin has also helped candidates win elections for the U.S. Senate, U.S. Congress, state legislature, judiciary and local government. Robin served as a consultant to the Office of Statewide Performance Review in the Illinois Governor’s Office and is former director of the Illinois Center for Competitive Government, a partnership between the Illinois Comptroller’s Office and the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs at Western Illinois University. Prior to that, he was Director of the Local Government Affairs Division of the Illinois Comptroller’s Office. Robin served on the Board of Directors of the National Council for Public-Private Partnerships (NCPPP) in 1999-2000.

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