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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsYeah, we have great Dem demographics - women, Latinos, young - who *DON'T VOTE* - "squishy base"
Last edited Wed Mar 19, 2014, 01:57 PM - Edit history (1)
As BEGALA has pegged Texas, "It's not a Red state, it's a NON-VOTING state." And the same point has been presciently made about why Liberal talk shows have sunk while wingnuts are kudzu: Liberal constituents - minorities, young - are doing other things, activities, music, whatever, "have their own media universe" (I don't know who said it).
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http://www.latimes.com/opinion/topoftheticket/la-na-tt-squishy-base-for-democrats-20140317,0,1105886.story#ixzz2wQfYO5er
[font size=5]Latinos, single women, young voters: a squishy base for Democrats[/font]
By David Horsey
March 18, 2014, 7:09 a.m.
.... If current demographic trends hold true, the Democratic Party has a healthy future, but, in the near term -- meaning the 2014 congressional campaign -- Republicans still have the key to success: [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]voters who actually show up on Election Day[/FONT]. ....
Democrats sunny hopes for the years ahead lie with the fact that big majorities of young people, single women and Latinos identify with them -- or at least disdain the retrograde ideology of the GOP. Those demographic groups are rising, while the core Republican voters, older white men, are literally dying off.
[FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]But they are not dead yet. Old white guys -- plus many older white women, as well as younger white conservatives and religious fundamentalists[/FONT] -- are the base of the party and they are as riled up as ever. They believe they are in a battle to protect traditional social values, religious freedom and gun rights from an onslaught from the secular left. They are motivated by anger, by fear and by a sense of patriotism, and they keep track of when they will next have a chance to make their political feelings known. In other words, they know when it is time to vote.
The new [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]Democratic voters are very different. Many fewer of them pay close attention to politics. They are not generally talk radio listeners or newspaper readers or local news watchers[/FONT]. They have shown that a young, cool, multiracial candidate such as Obama can inspire them to cast a ballot, but congressional races hold far less interest for them. Most election days are just another day to text their friends, post party photos on Facebook or rush a kid to daycare before going to work.
Judging by Obamas two election wins and the aggregate congressional vote totals in 2008 and 2012, the majority of Americans already lean toward the Democrats and that advantage is growing. But [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]until that majority shows up[/FONT] for more than presidential elections, [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]Republicans will cling to power[/FONT] in Congress and in state legislatures [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]and they will continue to impose policies[/FONT] -- such as unfettered access to high-powered firearms -- that, according to polls, [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]a majority of Americans do not support[/FONT].
There may be better days ahead for Democrats, but, [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]for now, it is the old white guys[/FONT] such as Mitch McConnell, John Boehner and the Koch brothers [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]who hold the nations future in their hands[/FONT].
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Maedhros
(10,007 posts)rather than point at the Republicans and ask them for a vote AGAINST.
ljm2002
(10,751 posts)Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)Which is, essentially, what the non-voters are saying.
UTUSN
(70,680 posts)After all, what are they going to find to vote FOR in the Rethug core values and agenda (not a question). If I sound like I'm saying our constituencies have a shallow streak, well...