The end of the Republican "white racial solidarity" strategy.

[XtopherXtopher]

"People feel entitled to things — and which candidate between the two is going to give them things?"


—Bill O'Reilly, blaming minorities and women for Mitt Romney's loss


Bill O'Reilly unwittingly made a very important point.

Wealthy whites feel entitled to superiority and special treatment. They feel entitled to capital-gains tax breaks and corporate welfare. They feel entitled to lead the country, with or without the approval of the unwashed commoners.

Republicans feed on this sense of entitlement to gain votes. They feed on the idea that white males should be considered the "Default American" or the "Standard American" by which everyone else is measured. Using this promise of racial solidarity, they fool poor whites into feeling they're part of the club.

With the changing demographics of the country, the racial divide-and-conquer strategy they've been using since the Civil Rights era is no longer viable. The poor and middle class is more diverse than ever. The poor-white/rich-white coalition is falling apart as more whites realize they have more in common with members of their own class than they have with the Romneys of the world. The Republican electorate is finally waking up to realize that they are no longer the mainstream — in fact, they never were.

[JaneyVee]

1. And apparently they are losing the rich people vote as well:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/obama-wins-8-10-wealthiest-154837437.html

[XtopherXtopher]

4. I'd love to celebrate those numbers...

...but Romney did win a clear majority of the rich vote when counted person-by-person.

The district-based numbers include the vote of middle-class people who live around wealthy people. These middle class people who live in rich areas (example: the entire island of Manhattan) tend to be highly educated, so they vote Democratic.

[GitRDun]

2. A shout out to the Occupy movement

for bringing these inequities to the forefront. They may never field a political candidate, but there contributions awoke the sleeping giant in this country.

[VWolf]

3. ^^^^^^ This.

[XtopherXtopher]

5. Absolutely. nt