Editor’s note: The following, which is for Editorial Board subscribers only, first appeared in Dan’s newsletter, Dandadad. Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman have a new book out titled White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy. It has proved controversial. There are two major objections, as I understand them. First, Schaller and Waldman may have misrepresented or misunderstood scholarship on the rural context. Second, their thesis — white rural voters pose a unique threat to American democracy — may be overstated and under-supported. I’ve known of Schaller and Waldman’s work for a long tim…
