General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: An open letter to folks like myself who cannot in good conscience vote for Obama [View all]Kelvin Mace
(17,469 posts)Now, you are correct that the demographics are on our side, and we should eventually begin shifting left in the future. But it will be very hard and very ugly, and the shift may happen after it is far too late.
The election of Obama in 2008 continued a leftward shift of the Democratic Party that arguably started after Jimmy Carter, our last ethical president. You can chart the Dems shift right by simply looking at the top tax bracket. 70% under Carter, 35% today. Today welfare benefits are smaller, and the burden on the poor to qualify for them is much greater than in Carter's day. SCOTUS appointments by Dems have always been to the right of the people they replaced.
People stayed home in 2010 (I was not one of them) because they felt betrayed by Obama for his expansion of Bush era policies and his refusal to even mount a minimal fight for the public option. They were also disheartened to see him appoint the very people from BushCo that CAUSED The Great Recession to "fix" it.
Personally, I wish Gore had run in 2008 (Gore version 2002, not Gore version 2000).