In 2004, historian and journalist Thomas Frank’s book What’s The Matter With Kansas? was released. In the book, Frank used his native state of Kansas as a case study to try to figure out why voters vote against their economic self-interest and support conservative candidates.
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It is a question that has confounded Democrats for decades, because the party that should have the support of farmers and blue-collar workers, because their economic policies are better for them, has seen these voters drift more to the right and become solidly Republican.
Frank’s book remains a classic, and still applies today to our politics in 2026.
American politics is a pendulum, and by nature and instinct, most voters look for equilibrium. The American people tend to reject extreme shifts. When a president or a political party shifts toward the extreme, there is an inevitable backlash and correction in the opposite direction.
Donald Trump has carried out the most extreme rightward agenda in modern US political history. His agenda of tariffs, immigration crackdowns, and Middle Eastern wars has caused pain to everyone who is not a member of the wealthy and billionaire classes.
Kansas farmers embraced the GOP’s social conservatism and ignored the economic damage that Trump did to them the first time he was in office.
Trump’s policies are destroying farmers in states like Kansas. Republicans are worried that a blue prairie fire is going to sweep through the Midwest this November, and one of those candidates who could pull off a surprising win is Rev. Adam Hamilton, who is the Democratic Senate candidate in Kansas.
Hamilton said that everywhere he goes, Republicans are telling him that they are voting for him.
