Heartland Politics with Robin Johnson

Tough Love: A Democratic Consultant's Inside Account of the Party's Move Away From the Working Class Toward Cultural Elitism

By Robin Johnson

Published September 11, 2026 at 11:00 PM CDT

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Evan Barker talks about her book, Nothing Left: Confessions of a Democratic Operative that traces her rise from working class roots to consulting on major Democratic campaigns. Her initial enthusiasm during the Obama era turns into disappointment and disillusionment as the party turns away from its working class roots to focus on cultural issues. She addresses all this as well as her vote in the 2024 presidential race and advice for Democrats to recapture working class voters. Evan had a front row seat to the political realignment shaping our politics and her book is the most important of this campaign season to understand what's going on.

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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