For the Democrats, America’s daily life of work, profit and loss across 50 states is essentially an alien phenomenon that sends them revenue, the way a pipeline transmits natural gas. This pipeline fuels their “economy,” which is the thousands and thousands of spending and line items in the $4 trillion federal budget.

Some would call this redistribution. The Democrats would call it their life’s work. Truth is, it isn’t working for them anymore.

There is no possibility that the Democrats are going to gain back enough of these Trump voters unless someone in their party stands up and shouts that these emperors of “economic fairness” aren’t wearing any clothes.

Other than the direct injection of infrastructure spending, you will look in vain through the party’s postmortems for a policy idea that would lift the economic prospects of people in places like Wilkes-Barre, Pa., who went over to Donald Trump.