The Forgotten Man.
That has been the subject of Republican politics for a decade now, ever since Donald Trump announced his run for president in 2015. His platform was meant to revitalize America’s forgotten men and women, those left behind by elite institutions, from government economic policies and crony capitalism to universities, DEI mandates, and so much more that had left moderate America behind.
While politicians keep searching for the next grand initiative, the forgotten man’s best ally had quietly arrived: AI data centers.
Taylor Budowich, a political consultant and president of the Innovation Council, explained in an interview yesterday that despite the widespread unpopularity of AI data centers, they are single-handedly revitalizing forgotten towns, and the forgotten men and women who live in them. Even more promising, it hasn’t required government to lift a finger. It’s relied primarily on private investment and the power of the free market.
WATCH: @Budowich on @hughhewitt: Data center investment is going directly to the “forgotten men and women of America.”
— Innovation Council (@innovationcncl) September 3, 2026
Billions of dollars are flowing into communities hollowed out by decades of offshoring — creating jobs and funding schools, hospitals and first responders. pic.twitter.com/eghP4VRVh4
"Start talking about the good things, the Quincy, Washington, they call it the Quincy miracle, a data center plant was put in, built a new hospital, a new school, obviously funding first responders, there's tremendous impact happening," Budowich said.
"And the investment that's happening is happening in areas that have been abandoned, places, you know, we've talked to the president's talked about the forgotten man and woman, since 2015, when he came down the golden escalator," he said. "And these data centers, this investment, billions of dollars that are getting pouring back into these communities are going directly to the forgotten men and women of America and the communities that have been hollowed out by the offshoring of manufacturing."
In hundreds of counties across the U.S., data centers are driving real economic progress that is touching millions of lives. It's generating construction jobs, trade jobs, and tech jobs; boosting local tax revenue; and breathing life into towns that had long since stalled. They’re letting towns invest in public safety, schools, and infrastructure, funded not by politicians, but by private capital. And contrary to the doom-and-gloom that characterizes the debate, major studies show they’re helping improve housing markets in local areas and, in many cases, holding utility costs in check by expanding grid capacity and encouraging new energy investment.
What’s at stake in the debate over AI data centers is far more than environmental concerns, local governance, or economic benefits. It’s a fundamental question: Do Americans want government to be the primary provider of progress, or private companies? In a country that currently lacks faith in free markets across the political spectrum, it may be time to acknowledge a simple truth, here, the private sector has accomplished in a few short years that no government program ever could.
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