Likewise here, remembering when Democrats were that labor party. I recall the Democratic convention of 1972. The "Ohio passes" convention in which the new guard took over from the old. Where the divide between the factions delayed McGovern's acceptance speech until the wee hours of the morning. It was the last political convention worth viewing as all subsequent ones are so well scripted.
Actually, the Democrats realized the radicals taking over the convention in 1972 was a disaster, when they threw out Dick Daley leading the Illinois delegation and replaced them with Jesse Jackson.
Which is why they have the superdelegate rule after that.
If you look at it from brass tacks, the Republicans are the party of the Investor Class, and the Democrats are the party of the working class.
The problem being, that line has kind of blurred in recent years, as more and more of us have become both investors and workers.
But the real trick the GOP has pulled since Nixon is that they've played on the racial, religious, and sexual fears of white working people to get them to vote against their own economic interests.
Take away my union job, but I don't want darkies moving in next door!
Take away my worker's protections, but I don't want some queer openly flaunting it.
Take away my pension and replace it with a 401K that I have little control over, but I don't want teachers telling my kid he evolved from an ape!
So you had the white working man clinging to his gun and his bible... despite the best efforts of Democrats to reach them.
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