"Democrats at a Crossroads" -- But WHY is that?

[Dekster]

Do you look at that as the primary early driving factor of the tribalism we see today?

To an extent I suppose, but they have been out of power a long time and it has gotten a lot worse, so there is something more systemic going on. People are fundamentally wrapping themselves in bubble wrap and building their own safe space echochambers. I suppose there may be many factors--technology inundating us with too much too fast, the break down of traditional families and social networks, too many prescriptions to keep us from feeling any emotions because we don't know how to deal with them, IDK. It isn't just politics. Golf courses and churches alike are losing membership; civic and community organizations struggle to find members and volunteers. Mom hides in her she shed, dad in his man cave, and little Skippy sits in his room on twitch all day.

 

[SweetSue92]

First the democrats have a hugely popular agenda. They have won every national election for 35 years except for the 9/11 bump Bush received. They just won by receiving more votes than any other election in history. Their policies poll exceptionally well.

Republicans have abandoned policy and are campaigning on protecting white culture and only white culture. This message aided by a favorable constitutional set up for rural states have kept them influential.

The rural low income and low information areas have overwhelmingly decided to abandon supporting policy that benefits them for white culture signaling.

That’s what has happened. Now, what to do about it?

• Buy time for demographics to take over and fight gerrymandering
• Move away from culture discussions to policy where democrats win
• Move aggressively to shore up elderly support by shoring up their financial security and healthcare
• Recapture the patriotism discussion by branding republicans as radically UnAmerican theocrats
• When all else fails start a war we can win and gain land - kidding. Kinda.

I took the trouble of going to the DNC official page and looking at the platform. Lots and lots and tons of mentions of "President Trump" there, IN THE PLATFORM. Here is a whole category of "Healing the Soul of America", which I found funny because the Democrats have done nothing but tear us apart for decades. Here is the first sentence:

Democrats believe in bringing the American people together, not stoking division and distrust. President Trump has denigrated virtually every segment of American society—and in so doing, he has insulted the very idea of America itself.

HEALING THE SOUL OF AMERICA - Democrats

democrats.org

That...is some amazing lack of self-awareness right there. The party of Race Supremacy, all the -phobias, all the -isms, just now wants to say, 'Nope, wasn't us'. That is nuclear bomb level trust-destroying stuff. What that first sentence needs to be is an APOLOGY or at the very least, an explanation. But I know they're not up to that. Just an abject denial.

Anyway, you are losing politically and you are losing the culture. You'll be lucky to come out of this with an intact party to be honest.

 

[CowboyTed]

"Why?" is a question that is no longer asked in American political discussion, perhaps because it risks honesty and self-reflection. We can't have THAT. Honest curiosity -- one of the most valuable of human traits, one that leads to great innovation and progress -- appears to be a characteristic that is dripping away from us by the day, causing our thought process to calcify. The results of that are clear.

Interesting piece here about where the Democrats are today. My question at the bottom.

The Democrats at a Crossroads

Michael Kazin’s new book examines the contradictory past and uncertain future of the Democratic Party.

www.thenation.com

"Gradually for decades, and then rapidly since the 2008 financial crisis, the Democrats have lost the loyalty of white Americans who are below the median income level and who live in rural America—that is, they have lost a large part of their original constituency. They have remained competitive partly by persuading many affluent and educated metropolitan voters, who tend to be liberal on social issues and conservative on economic ones—a category that used to dominate the liberal wing of the Republican Party, when it had a liberal wing—to switch parties.

"The congressional districts with the highest median incomes now overwhelmingly send Democrats to Congress. Michael Podhorzer, an analyst at the AFL-CIO, calls this set of changes in who votes for which party “the Great Reversal.” This isn’t just an American phenomenon; roughly the same dynamic is playing out all over the world."

So here is my "why" question: If the above is true and fair, WHY have the Democrats lost white voters like they have?

I'd love to see how those here who are Left of center would answer that.

Mac,

Democrats lost the media they consume before they lost them...

The same has happened in UK... In the UK they read Newspapers(especially the tabloids), that is one of the most popular ways to consume news. They have more public transport and it is what you do on the Train/Bus... Certain corporate media use there massive influence to yield power of political parties... These media empires (e.g Murdoch) can then order the government what to do.. These people got away with mass bugging of innocent people.

Now just look at it in the US... Media is different but the same method of control is there especially from the right leaning corporate interests... They have created large media empires where there is a media blackout of the Democrat voice in certain areas, that being the rural America... This makes them uninformed.

The scary thing is that they now only want to consume media which reenforces there ideas and not challenge them... Rural communities have less media alternatives and more liable to get the media they are fed. They also live in closer and more isolated communities so a fear of being ostracised in the community makes far easier to follow than challenge.

 

[JoeB131]

To an extent I suppose, but they have been out of power a long time and it has gotten a lot worse, so there is something more systemic going on. People are fundamentally wrapping themselves in bubble wrap and building their own safe space echochambers. I suppose there may be many factors--technology inundating us with too much too fast, the break down of traditional families and social networks, too many prescriptions to keep us from feeling any emotions because we don't know how to deal with them, IDK. It isn't just politics. Golf courses and churches alike are losing membership; civic and community organizations struggle to find members and volunteers. Mom hides in her she shed, dad in his man cave, and little Skippy sits in his room on twitch all day.

Oh, I don't know... maybe I'm an old man, but I've been hearing this kind of stuff since the 1970's...

Trump was an anamoly, the combination of celebrity obsession, a flawed, anachronistic form of selecting presidents, and that the Democrats nominated someone even THEY really didn't like.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Because the majority of Americans outside of NY, San Fran, LA and Portland... care more about their personal finances and their children/grand children than LGBQT/Trans and hating Trump.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Yes, the Democrats are at the Crossroads.

The US Constitution or Communism.

They picked the latter

 

[Mac-7]

So here is my "why" question: If the above is true and fair, WHY have the Democrats lost white voters like they have?

The answer is simple

They dont need them

Dems by hook or crook feel that they can win elections without conservative white voters

So screw them

 

[JoeB131]

Because the majority of Americans outside of NY, San Fran, LA and Portland... care more about their personal finances and their children/grand children than LGBQT/Trans and hating Trump.

Oh, please, the ONLY reason the Republicans are going to do well is because of Gerrymandering.

The RCP average is only showing a 2.5% GOP advantage. That's pathetic for a midterm.

 

[Mac-7]

For almost 50 years Republicans set up the system to offshore manufacturing & import cheap labor to break the back of labor, circumvent regulations & tax laws. Once the voters turned on them, they shifted the political heat to democrats. Because we can't flip a switch to shut down 50 years of offshoring, democrats have to defend the system until critical infrastructure is back onshore & they believe the Truman doctrine of global interdependence prevents WWIII.

Bill Clinton opened the door to cheap chinese imports

 

[JoeB131]

I took the trouble of going to the DNC official page and looking at the platform. Lots and lots and tons of mentions of "President Trump" there, IN THE PLATFORM. Here is a whole category of "Healing the Soul of America", which I found funny because the Democrats have done nothing but tear us apart for decades. Here is the first sentence:

Democrats believe in bringing the American people together, not stoking division and distrust. President Trump has denigrated virtually every segment of American society—and in so doing, he has insulted the very idea of America itself.

HEALING THE SOUL OF AMERICA - Democrats

democrats.org

That...is some amazing lack of self-awareness right there. The party of Race Supremacy, all the -phobias, all the -isms, just now wants to say, 'Nope, wasn't us'. That is nuclear bomb level trust-destroying stuff. What that first sentence needs to be is an APOLOGY or at the very least, an explanation. But I know they're not up to that. Just an abject denial.

Anyway, you are losing politically and you are losing the culture. You'll be lucky to come out of this with an intact party to be honest.

Islamophobic Twat has the sads because someone called her out on her hate.

 

[JoeB131]

Bill Clinton opened the door to cheap chinese imports

Actually, that was Tricky Dick.

The problem is, we've ALWAYS seen China as a huge market for our goods, and we keep trying to get in there.

Trump's tariffs actually HURT American industry because a lot of manufacturers in the US rely on Chinese components.

 

[Kondor3]

Democrats have been losing ground with White Working America for decades.

They still "own" the leadership of Organized Labor but union rank-and-file often ignore their leadership nowadays once they enter the voting booth.

The Supermajority White Vote is split but the Populist Movement we see emerging with the Tea Party and Trumpism is slowly re-crystalizing that voting bloc.

The Democrats are shameless Minority Vote Whores and have been giving Blacks and Hispanics a bigger slice of the pie than indicated by their bloc size.

The Tea Party began as an intellectual exercise by high-end old-style Republican who had become disillusioned by Mainstream Republican Party life.

It quickly morphed into a Populist movement dominated by less-educated but better-motivated and more passionate disaffected White Folk.

Then, as the Tea Party began to collapse in upon itself, all of those White Right-Wing Populists needed somewhere to go to carry-on the fight...

Enter the Orange Con-Man... recently a huge donor to Democratic candidates... sensing an opportunity ripe for exploitation...

Tell the Great White Unwashed what they want to hear, generate a decent-sized sucker-base, and presto-chango, you've got a Presidency on your hands...

And, once in power, considerable numbers of better-educated Whites started drifting into the Rumpian Camp, seeing it as being in their own best interests...

The only reason why that White Vote re-crystalization failed the Republicans in 2020 was that their Orange -tinted candidate proved unfit for high office...

But that was a temporary pause in White Vote re-crystalization necessitated by Rump's existential threat to American representative democracy...

And now, with the Democrats back in power, and with Whites hostile over gas prices, inflation, the southern border, Afghanistan, Russia, etc., well...

The Democrats... hopelessly mired in minority vote-whoring and unable to openly advance an agenda for White Folk, are rapidly losing that demographic...

With the White Vote split between (R) and (D), minorities stand a halfway decent chance of obtaining political power disproportionate to their size...

With the Democrats driving White Folk away from the party in droves, well, that White Vote isn't anywhere near as badly split as it was even two years ago...

The Dems are in big-time trouble... much of it has its basis in Race... more of it has its basis in Economics... all of it has its basis in Democrat stupidity...

The only way the Republicans lose in 2024 is if they're stupid enough to run that obnoxious, ignorant, traitorous, toxic Orange A$$hole again...

And... sad-to-say, and let's face it... collectively... the Republicans haven't exactly shown themselves to be the brightest crayons in the box, recently...

 

[Mac-7]

Actually, that was Tricky Dick.

The problem is, we've ALWAYS seen China as a huge market for our goods, and we keep trying to get in there.

Trump's tariffs actually HURT American industry because a lot of manufacturers in the US rely on Chinese components.

Nixon opened the door with diplomatic recognition of communist china

But he is not the reason that America is a declining world power and china is plotting to take our place

That came 25 years later thanks to the Baby Boomer generation led by clinton

 

[JoeB131]

Nixon opened the door with diplomatic recognition of communist china

But he is not the reason that America is a declining world power and china is plotting to take our place

That came 25 years later thanks to the Baby Boomer generation led by clinton

Our Decline is largely because it was always artificial.

We only took the top spot because the rest of the world wrecked itself in WWII.

now the rest of the world has caught up.

If China wants to piss away their resources, let them.

 

[Mac-7]

Our Decline is largely because it was always artificial.

We only took the top spot because the rest of the world wrecked itself in WWII.

now the rest of the world has caught up.

If China wants to piss away their resources, let them.

Wrong

We were tops long before WWII

 

[Mac-7]

If China wants to piss away their resources, let them.

China has few resources to piss away

Thats why they are taking over africa and trying to dominate elsewhere

 

[JoeB131]

Democrats have been losing ground with White Working America for decades.

They still "own" the leadership of Organized Labor but union rank-and-file often ignore their leadership nowadays once they enter the voting booth.

The Supermajority White Vote is split but the Populist Movement we see emerging with the Tea Party and Trumpism is slowly re-crystalizing that voting bloc.

The Democrats are shameless Minority Vote Whores and have been giving Blacks and Hispanics a bigger slice of the pie than indicated by their bloc size.

The Tea Party began as an intellectual exercise by high-end old-style Republican who had become disillusioned by Mainstream Republican Party life.

It quickly morphed into a Populist movement dominated by less-educated but better-motivated and more passionate disaffected White Folk.

Then, as the Tea Party began to collapse in upon itself, all of those White Right-Wing Populists needed somewhere to go to carry-on the fight...

Enter the Orange Con-Man... recently a huge donor to Democratic candidates... sensing an opportunity ripe for exploitation...

Tell the Great White Unwashed what they want to hear, generate a decent-sized sucker-base, and presto-chango, you've got a Presidency on your hands...

And, once in power, considerable numbers of better-educated Whites started drifting into the Rumpian Camp, seeing it as being in their own best interests...

The only reason why that White Vote re-crystalization failed the Republicans in 2020 was that their Orange -tinted candidate proved unfit for high office...

But that was a temporary pause in White Vote re-crystalization necessitated by Rump's existential threat to American representative democracy...

And now, with the Democrats back in power, and with Whites hostile over gas prices, inflation, the southern border, Afghanistan, Russia, etc., well...

The Democrats... hopelessly mired in minority vote-whoring and unable to openly advance an agenda for White Folk, are rapidly losing that demographic...

With the White Vote split between (R) and (D), minorities stand a halfway decent chance of obtaining political power disproportionate to their size...

With the Democrats driving White Folk away from the party in droves, well, that White Vote isn't anywhere near as badly split as it was even two years ago...

The Dems are in big-time trouble... much of it has its basis in Race... more of it has its basis in Economics... all of it has its basis in Democrat stupidity...

The only way the Republicans lose in 2024 is if they're stupid enough to run that obnoxious, ignorant, traitorous, toxic Orange A$$hole again...

And... sad-to-say, and let's face it... collectively... the Republicans haven't exactly shown themselves to be the brightest crayons in the box, recently...

Actually, Trump performed better in 2020 than he did in 2016, despite his failures.

The white vote has gone 55-60% for Republicans for years, all the way back to Nixon, and that isn't going to change any time soon. In fact, Bush did better with white folks than Trump did. Reagan did WAY better.

Biden has the problem that Clinton and Obama had in their first midterm- the economy didn't get better fast enough and their constituencies didn't get all their dreams come true.

By 2024, that could be a completely different scenario. The economy could be doing better - it probably will be - and Republicans will alienate a lot of voters with their fanaticism.

The fly in the ointment is that Biden is too damned old, and the Democrats don't have a clear successor. So Desantis could look young and vigorous if no one looks too closely at what a regressive twat he is.

 

[JoeB131]

Wrong

We were tops long before WWII

No, we really weren't. Our military was considered a joke, not only before the war, but well into it.

During the North African Campaign, the US Army performed so poorly at first that the British remarked, "We found our Italians!"

 

[Bootney Lee Farnsworth]

I think the answer is pretty simple mac. It's called right wing race baiting.

Irony just had a stroke.

 

[Bootney Lee Farnsworth]

On top of that, whites are not the only people who vote. Democrats have remained competitive by utilizing a multicultural voting base and younger white voters. And as the nation becomes less white, this is the way democrats can win.

Behold, replacement theory...