(PolitiFact) On the campaign trail, Sen. Cory Booker often name-drops his Newark, N.J., neighborhood, noting that he "lives in a community that is below the poverty line." Pete Buttigieg, now mayor of South Bend where he grew up, has touted his "middle-class lifestyle, in a middle-class neighborhood." Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Boston-area transplant, claims family roots in the Oklahoma plains.
As Democratic candidates roll out affordable housing plans and other ideas for tackling wealth inequality, some are emphasizing the modesty of their own lived experience as a symbol of unity with the middle- and lower-income Americans whose votes they’re courting.
The logic behind the message is clear, given the shortage of affordable housing in many parts of the country.