Author Event - When Democrats Won the Heartland by Cory Haala in Conversation with Dr. Ross Tangedal
Schedule
Tue Apr 21 2026 at 06:00 pm to 07:30 pm
UTC-05:00Location
Great Northern Distilling | Stevens Point, WI
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Join us and Great Northern Distilling for an author event with Cory Haala, a UWSP history professor and Midwest political scholar. His newest book, “When Democrats Won the Heartland: Progressive Populism in the age of Reagan, 1978-1992,” is a deep-dive into the Liberal populism that arose in response to Reagan-era conservatism and Neoliberalism. Perhaps there are some lessons here that can be used in analyzing the current political landscape…No tickets are required for this event.
--- WHEN DEMOCRATS WON THE HEARTLAND ---
In the 1980s, the Midwestern economic collapse caused by the farm crisis and deindustrialization inspired the region’s liberal politicians to call on progressive populist traditions to rebuild local, state, and national Democratic parties. Cory Haala looks at the Midwest’s central role in asserting an updated populism wielded by grassroots activists, politicians, and a wide-ranging coalition of voters to counter Reagan-era conservativism.
This left-oriented movement resurrected the imagery and policies of twentieth-century radical parties like the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party and Robert La Follette’s Wisconsin Idea. Delving into progressive populist ideas and tactics, Haala illuminates the work of the activists and politicians who led protests, founded a congressional caucus, and backed presidential campaigns that sought to advance their cause. Haala’s account moves from Iron Range union halls to Iowa farmhouses to South Dakota reservations to revise views of Democratic Party history, the Midwest’s political culture, and populism’s role in US politics.
A counter to established political narratives, When Democrats Won the Heartland takes readers into the history of an unexpected political moment.
ROSS K. TANGEDAL is Associate Professor of English and Director/Publisher of the Cornerstone Press at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point. He specializes in American print & publishing culture, book history, bibliography, textual editing, and the profession of authorship, as well as Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
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Where is it happening?
Great Northern Distilling, Moose Club, 1025 2nd St, Stevens Point, WI 54481, United StatesEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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