Progressives meet your base

[angee_is_mad]

Interesting article about the potential future of the democratic party and the GOP.

It's not all doom and gloom in 2010 and 2012 for the dems. With the changing demographic, this could be an opportunity to finally elect politicians who will support OUR president and the the democratic agenda. My state (NC) is listed as one of those that is experiencing this growth. Can you imagine NC having TWO democratic senators in DC?

Link:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/njonline/no_20091219_6555.php

"We're entering a new era which is being defined to a great degree by the incredible explosion of the nonwhite electorate and its distribution around the country," says Simon Rosenberg, president of NDN, a Democratic group that studies electoral trends. "The growth of this nonwhite population is creating a fundamentally new politics in the United States."

The most-diverse districts remain concentrated in traditional destinations for immigrants and minorities. Of the 205 districts where minorities make up at least 30 percent of the population, more than half are in four states: California (49), Texas (30), New York (17), and Florida (12). And as the map on p. 20 shows, the Sun Belt, the Southeast, and the West Coast remain more diverse than the interior states.

But 34 states now count at least one district where minorities make up at least 30 percent of the population. States as different as Arizona, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Virginia all contain multiple districts with that percentage of minorities. Only New England, the Upper Midwest, and the Appalachian swath from western Pennsylvania and southeastern Ohio down through West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee have been largely exempt from this change.]

Great article considering what has been out in the media recently.

[Clio the Leo]

1. our banjos.....

.... tend to scare off minorities.

(which is ironic considering where the banjo came from, but just for the purpose of this joke, I'm going to need you all to pretend the banjo was invented in Europe somewhere lol)

[BlueIdaho]

2. Yeah the banjos, definitely the banjos... nt.

[angee_is_mad]

3. but think of the possibilities

and the opportunities.

[Clio the Leo]

4. yeah, just gives us another 10 years......

... and we'll catch up ..... too many ... ya know ..... babies coming if you get my drift. ;)

[Ken Burch]

9. When David Duke was running for governor of Louisiana

he always had a country or bluegrass band on the platform with him, in all the photographs I saw. That band always had a guitar picker and a banjo player. I always had the fantasy of pulling David Duke aside and telling him "Well, Dave, the guitar was invented by Spanish-speakin Arabs, and, well, as for the banjo, now, you're probably gonna want to sit down and let me pour you a really stiff drink before I tell you..."

[NYC_SKP]

5. Thank you. My last post before hitting the hay.

Thanks!

[LooseWilly]

6. Are you intentionally trying to drive a "wedge" between "progressives" and "minorities"?

The tone of your title suggests you are... suggests that you are under the impression that progressives ought to be shocked, and will likely be terrified, by the changing demographics.

Mind you, I'll admit to the existence of some "liberals" that I think you might be right about... but by and large, I don't think there's grounds to presume the worst in advance (the "worst" that I hear in a snickering sub-tone of the phrasing of your title may well come to pass... but I don't think it's imminent enough to approve of the sub-tone that I think I'm hearing... though, to be honest, I think I can relate to where its coming from).

Can I point out a couple of things though. "Progressives meet your base" presumes that the "progressives" are the ones in charge of the party, and that they are the ones that have a "base". There have been numerous threads here (not to mention talking points expressed by Rahm Emmanuel) to explicitly tell progressives that they are not the base of the party. If the progressives are being told that we're not the base... imagine the surprise we're liable to show when presented with an OP which suggests that we're the leadership.

Perhaps you should've titled it "Progressives, meet the base."

Unless... despite the implications of snark and "threat to postition"... your OP was actually meant to usher in a new partnership between progressives and the growing "minority" demographics? If so... this is one progressive who's all for it. Let's throw some centrists under some buses...

All I can say is, all the labor types that I've ever been in contact with embrace these new demographics with open arms... realizing it's the bosses, not the "minorities", that are a threat to "progress". This isn't the progressives' base... this is an evolution of the Democratic base... and judging by the post you had up earlier quoting BooMan, and the most recent statements by the big unions (SEIU, AFL-CIO)... there's some serious unity of perception going on here...

Who the hell is it that's still arguing for the mandate, anyway? ("This bill will cover 31 million people...", or "This bill will legally force 31 people to cover themselves, and we will use tax payer dollars to help some of them pay... because it will save taxpayers money...")

[Ken Burch]

10. NO...I don't think the OP expected shock...more like pleasant astonishment

Chill, dude.

[LooseWilly]

21. Ok... chilling...

[Ildem09]

7. The base can better be understood in socio-economic terms rather than racial

our base is a wide one demographically speaking. however, the political realities therein cannot be ascertained until after the 2011 redistricting. Red States that have Republican Governors or legislatures will certainly stay that way and visa-versa. even in bipartisan states redistricting tends towards self preservation look at the Illinois 4th CD and the Illinois 17th CD as prime examples. The traditional Base of New England, the Upper Midwest, and the Coast will continue to be so. we will make small gains in the metro areas of the south, but the south will largely remain irrelevant in terms of electoral payoff for progressives. The base of the Progressives movement can be better understood in educational and economic terms... the base is cleaved into two camps highly educated upper middle class folks and poor working class folks who generally have technical training or finish with just a bachelors. nothing wrong with that but it creates a diametric that can be hostile sometimes

[girl gone mad]

8. Democrats will have to earn the minority vote.

They are not entitled to it.

Many of my Hispanic friends voted for Bush in 2000, but quickly grew disillusioned with him. It turns out that a token AG appointment and a few poorly pronounced Spanish words peppered into speeches just wasn't enough when they were struggling to get green cards for family members, find work, pay bills and save for college. Go figure. When politics came up, "What has he done for us lately?" Was a phrase I heard quite often.

A lot of immigrants are deeply religious and fiscally conservative, and Republicans who pander to their traditionalist beliefs and budgetary consciousness can gain significant ground. The only thing Democrats really have going for us is historic populism. I don't think many minorities or immigrants have interests in line with those of the corporatists who are currently running the party. BTW, I live in a county with a significant immigrant population. Howard Dean was very popular here in the 2004 primaries. I saw a few huge Dean banners in front of Hispanic-run businesses and Dean signs were prevalent in the surrounding neighborhoods. I was a Clark supporter then (thought he had a better shot at beating Bush with the electorate's imagination still primarily focused on "terrorism"), but I remember being impressed by Dean's sudden, almost overnight success. I think his populist message resonated deeply.

[treestar]

14. POTUS approval ratings are highest among minorities

[girl gone mad]

17. That won't last at the rate he's going.

I think most non-whites are rightly thrilled that a minority was elected president and are willing to cut him more slack, but his race will not be enough to sustain his popularity while he is continuing policies that are extremely oppressive to the middle class. In fact, I think the betrayal will cut deeper to many.

[DCBob]

11. This is the reality of demographic changes in America that Repulbicans cannnot do anything about..

Unless they can begin to appeal to non-whites, they are a dead party.

[DCBob]

12. This is the main reason Republicans focus so much scorn on ACORN...

They know the voter registration activities of ACORN are slowly but surely killing the GOP.

[angee_is_mad]

16. Thank you Bob

The purpose of my post is to show that the party is changing and the democratic base is not just the so-call progressive.

As a black southern woman, I am progressive and grew up in a progressive family. My family may not have labeled themselves that way, but they live their life that way and voted that way.

I grew up going to my senior citizen relatives homes and on the wall there would be a picture of JFK, MLK, and Jesus on the living room wall. If that's not progressive, I don't know what the hell is.

[eridani]

13. Gee. You mean that minorities want to be forced to buy crappy underinsurance? n/t

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

15. Minorities want to be able to buy any semblence of insurance with help from the gov't.

So nice try, but I'm guessing you're too comfy with your own insurance to see that.

[eridani]

18. Right. They want to be criminals if they pick purchasing insulin--

--over paying a premium for a shitty policy with a 30% co-pay that they don't get to use except under catastrophic circumstances. I have exactly that kind of shitty policy right now and is sure the hell is not "comfy." Right now, I can afford ongoing medical expenses, but to those who would sic the IRS on me if I picked taking care of those expenses over continuing pay for a shitty policy that I haven't yet used, I have only one thing to say. FUCK YOU ALL STRAIGHT TO HELL!!

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[eridani]

25. Nicerational argument there n/t

[Indenturedebtor]

22. Well it's clear that Congress and the POTUS didn't get that memo

This bill is going to go over like a fart in an elevator.

[Jamastiene]

19. "Can you imagine NC having TWO democratic senators in DC?"

I would love to see two Democratic Senators in NC and more Democratic US Reps too.

I think it's happening now. I can feel it, actually.

[Ildem09]

20. WTF?

I think you are mistaken. The party Is going to shift focus towards the interor west... why do you think we had the convention in Denver? Latinos are already the largest minority in the country, whether or not the party will focus on them or on the newest member to the democratic coalition White Upper-middle class College Graduates is yet to be seen. *historically those college educated folks had been republican (BA and MA) if you get a PhD you go all sorts of crazy liberal :). The south will continue to be a Republican stronghold for the next generation or two. Therefore outside a few unique circumstances (more blue-dogs anyone) I would suspect the party to ignore it in favor of the West and those new latino voters that are statistically speaking still up for grabs by either party.

[Jamastiene]

23. NC went blue this time and it is going more progressive.

Progressive strongholds are springing up all over the state. It's nice to see.

Yes, they want the Latino vote, but NC has a LARGE Latino population. So, we do still count in this scenario.

I'm not mistaken.