He rather sees the industry as a key piece to restoring some of America’s most prized places to their original luster. He’s a progressive who likes to use that label. But unlike some of his contemporaries on the left, he’s not crusading against the tech sector. Elected in the district where tech giants dominate, the liberal House member sees his position, both geographically and politically, as unique. Khanna’s been on a mission beyond the Beltway to change that. “You know what they resent? That their kids don’t have the opportunity that the kids in my district do.” That’s not the case in many other communities,” Khanna said. “In my district, when there’s a town hall, 80 percent of hands go up saying they’re optimistic about America. If Democrats can offer that, he believes voters will listen and the party will be rewarded at the ballot box. They want the education, training and skills that come from industries of the future, and they want to be compensated accordingly. There is a ton of demand for new kinds of jobs, and residents are dying to innovate. They understand we’re in an economy where technology really matters.” They understand what’s changing the economy. “One of the things that is a stereotype in my view against rural Americans is this view somehow that they don’t understand what’s happening in the world,” Khanna told The Hill.

Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said he believes there’s something Democrats get wrong about voters around here. Seated in a dimly lit hotel conference room in Des Moines, far from his hub in Silicon Valley and work base in Washington, D.C., Rep.

The things we say in the dark