Publisher Description

In the wake of the 2016 presidential election there was widespread shock that the Midwest, the Democrats' so-called blue wall, had been so effectively breached by Donald Trump. But the blue wall, as The Conservative Heartland makes clear, was never quite as secure as so many observers assumed. A deep look at the Midwest's history of conservative politics, this timely volume reveals how conservative victories in state houses, legislatures, and national elections in the early twenty-first century, far from coming out of nowhere, in fact had extensive roots across decades of political organization in the region.

Focusing on nine states, from Iowa and the Dakotas to Indiana and Ohio, the essays in this collection detail the rise of midwestern conservatism after World War II - a trend that coincided with the transformation of the prewar Republican Party into the New Right. This transformation, the authors contend, involved the Midwest and the Sunbelt states. Through the lenses of race, class, gender, and sexuality, their essays explore the development of midwestern conservative politics in light of deindustrialization, environmentalism, second wave feminism, mass incarceration, privatization, and debates over same-sex marriage and abortion, among other issues. Together these essays map the region's complex patchwork of viable rural and urban areas, variously subject to a wide array of conflicting interests and concerns; the perspective they provide, at once broad and in-depth, offers unique historical insight into the Midwest's political complexity - and its status as the last real competitive battleground in presidential elections.

Author Biography

Jon K. Lauck is the founding president of the Midwestern History Association, editor-in-chief of the Middle West Review, and adjunct professor of political science at the University of South Dakota.

Catherine McNicol Stock is the Barbara Zaccheo Kohn '72 Professor of History at Connecticut College.

Table of Contents

Introduction Finding the Deeper Conservatism of the American Midwest, Jon K. Lauck and Catherine McNicol Stock 1. The Surprising New Political Battleground The Midwest, Michael Barone 2. The Emerging Republican Midwest? Forty Years of Political Change in the Heartland, Kyle Kondik 3. Fly-To Country The Midwest as Presidential Battleground, 1946-2016, Daniel R. Birdsong and Christopher J. Devine 4. Urban/Rural Frictions in the Midwest The Chicago-Downstate Battle for Legislative Reapportionment in Illinois, 1953-1965, Devin Hunter 5. Politics Makes for Strange Bedfellows Republican Feminists Fight for Abortion Rights in Michigan, 1968-1982, Ann Marie Wambeke 6. Combative Conservatism at the "Berkeley of the Midwest" The American Spectator and Baby Boomer Conservative Intellectuals, 1967-1973, Daniel Spillman 7. A New "State of Superior" Political Fracture and Antienvironmentalism in the Upper Midwest, Camden Burd 8. "The Little Guy for the Little Guy" 1969 Minneapolis and the White Working-Class Revolt, Jeffrey Bloodworth 9. Not "Fit to Sleep with the Hogs" James Rhodes, Working-Class Populism, and the Rust Belt, William Russell Coil 10. "there Exists a Conservative Veneer" Terry Branstad, Chuck Grassley, and the New Right's Capture of Republican Politics in Iowa, 1976-1986, Cory Haala 11. From Breweries to the Super-Max The Making of Carceral Populism in Metropolitan Milwaukee, 1950-2000, Ian Toller-Clark 12. The Decline of South Dakota Democrats and the Fall of George McGovern, 1974-1980, Jon K. Lauck 13. Local and Regional Countercurrents Reagan Democrats and the Politics of the Rust Belt, 1976-1980, Daniel Rowe 14. Red Rogues Orbit Blue Stars "Astro-Politics"in the Trump-Era Upper Midwest, Zachary Michael Jack 15. Mitch Daniels and Conservative Politics in the Changing Midwest, A. James Fuller 16. Reading the Ralph Privatization in the "New" North Dakota, 1989-2018, Catherine McNicol Stock 17. Culture Wars in the Midwest Same-Sex Marriage Votes in the States, Chad Kinsella About the Contributors Index

Review

The Conservative Heartland is essential reading for anyone interested in how and why the Midwest has become America's most contested political battleground. Anchored by Lauck and Stock's superb introductory essay, a talented group of historians provide a tour d'horizon of the Midwest's economic and cultural fracture lines, revealing how the region became the proving ground for an enduring strain of conservative politics." - David Farber, Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor, University of Kansas, and author of The Rise and Fall of Modern American Conservatism

"This timely book provides a trove of great information for people who want to understand the history and politics of the Midwest. Despite covering many subjects and using diverse methods, it is extremely readable and will be approachable and helpful for both scholars and students." - George Hawley, author of Right-Wing Critics of American Conservatism

Review Quote

" The Conservative Heartland is essential reading for anyone interested in how and why the Midwest has become America's most contested political battleground. Anchored by Lauck and Stock's superb introductory essay, a talented group of historians provide a tour d'horizon of the Midwest's economic and cultural fracture lines, revealing how the region became the proving ground for an enduring strain of conservative politics."-- David Farber , Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor, University of Kansas, and author of The Rise and Fall of Modern American Conservatism "This timely book provides a trove of great information for people who want to understand the history and politics of the Midwest. Despite covering many subjects and using diverse methods, it is extremely readable and will be approachable and helpful for both scholars and students."-- George Hawley , author of Right-Wing Critics of American Conservatism

New Feature

Introduction Finding the Deeper Conservatism of the American Midwest, Jon K. Lauck and Catherine McNicol Stock 1. The Surprising New Political Battleground The Midwest, Michael Barone 2. The Emerging Republican Midwest? Forty Years of Political Change in the Heartland, Kyle Kondik 3. Fly-To Country The Midwest as Presidential Battleground, 1946-2016, Daniel R. Birdsong and Christopher J. Devine 4. Urban/Rural Frictions in the Midwest The Chicago-Downstate Battle for Legislative Reapportionment in Illinois, 1953-1965, Devin Hunter 5. Politics Makes for Strange Bedfellows Republican Feminists Fight for Abortion Rights in Michigan, 1968-1982, Ann Marie Wambeke 6. Combative Conservatism at the "Berkeley of the Midwest" The American Spectator and Baby Boomer Conservative Intellectuals, 1967-1973, Daniel Spillman 7. A New "State of Superior" Political Fracture and Antienvironmentalism in the Upper Midwest, Camden Burd 8. "The Little Guy for the Little Guy" 1969 Minneapolis and the White Working-Class Revolt, Jeffrey Bloodworth 9. Not "Fit to Sleep with the Hogs" James Rhodes, Working-Class Populism, and the Rust Belt, William Russell Coil 10. "there Exists a Conservative Veneer" Terry Branstad, Chuck Grassley, and the New Right's Capture of Republican Politics in Iowa, 1976-1986, Cory Haala 11. From Breweries to the Super-Max The Making of Carceral Populism in Metropolitan Milwaukee, 1950-2000, Ian Toller-Clark 12. The Decline of South Dakota Democrats and the Fall of George McGovern, 1974-1980, Jon K. Lauck 13. Local and Regional Countercurrents Reagan Democrats and the Politics of the Rust Belt, 1976-1980, Daniel Rowe 14. Red Rogues Orbit Blue Stars "Astro-Politics"in the Trump-Era Upper Midwest, Zachary Michael Jack 15. Mitch Daniels and Conservative Politics in the Changing Midwest, A. James Fuller 16. Reading the Ralph Privatization in the "New" North Dakota, 1989-2018, Catherine McNicol Stock 17. Culture Wars in the Midwest Same-Sex Marriage Votes in the States, Chad Kinsella About the Contributors Index

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