Star Member BainsBane (40,120 posts) http://www.democraticunderground.com/10028774196
Why have some decided the only way to improve the party Is to cater to white male Republican voters?
Why do they require special attention? What about the million or so disenfranchised voters of color across the nation, many of whom lost access to the vote following the repeal of Article 5 of the Voting Rights Act and Republican state governments closing polling locations in communities of color?
Exit polls show that Trump won roughly the same percentage of white voters as Romney did, but the turnout among voters of color was down. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/09/behind-trumps-victory-divisions-by-race-gender-education/ That is particularly true in areas where state governments restricted access to the vote. Most of the key states in the 2016 election were run by Republican governors and Republican Secretaries of State: Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Florida. All of them underwent purges of the registered voter lists, shorter poll hours, fewer voting days, and/or fewer voting locations.
Yet self-described progressives insist that the focus should be on the white working class, while making no mention of the problem of disenfranchisement. Why? Is it because they take their lead from a politician who has traditionally relied overwhelmingly on white voters for his electoral wins? Is it because of an implicit, unconscious bias that white male voters matter more? They just don't think about disenfranchised voters because they don't know any? Is it because they want to see the party whiter, like in the days they insist the party was so much better than today? Or is it something else?
Certainly the Democratic Party can try to appeal to voters of all races, but not if they are continually told what matters are Trump-voting white males. The discussion has been almost exclusively about 50-80,000 white voters. The election was only a few months ago. The Trump voters have their man in the White House. Polls indicate that Trump is enormously popular with them. His approval ratings among Republicans are higher than Ronald Reagan's were! So why do Trump voters need special attention from Democrats now? Why should they be in red districts campaigning now, when they have work to do in congress, when they need to represent their constituents dealing with the Trump regime's racist policies?
Would social justice not require us to direct our attentions to the victims of Trump's policies rather than those who see themselves as beneficiaries? I submit it is not the white male Trump voters who are being neglected but the migrant families ripped apart by immigration raids and the Muslim ban; the victims of hate crimes; and the communities that face the brunt of the worst of Trump's actions. Morality, basic decency, requires standing up for the poor and oppressed.
TXCritter (269 posts)
1. two words - "Reagan Democrat"
The Democrats have been running a defensive game based on politics of cowardice ever since the Reagan Democrat appeared on the scene.
You're right. They're wrong.
Freethinker65 (731 posts)
55. Yep. I lived in Macomb County for nine years. Not "Dixiecrats".
Lots of undereducated hard working people doing the best they can voting against their own self interest.
there- I fixed your talking point.
Star Member yeoman6987 (14,214 posts)
87. Right now the Democratic Party has seats that haven been this low since 1920
Something needs to get done to get at least the 1,000 seats back. And one of many ways is to get more voters. We are about 96 percent of the African American votes and 88 percent of the Hispanic. Picking up the four and 12 percent of the two groups will help but is that enough to get our party back on track? I don't think it is.
oh, dear... don't use the facts to explain shit to the DUmpmonkiez...
Star Member Kingofalldems (23,719 posts)
100. Why is it, yeoman6987, that so many of your posts are about how the repubs are in charge and there is nothing we can do? This one is particularly annoying as you once again post there is no solution
To be blunt it looks like taunting and bragging to me-- and more and more members of DU every day.
MIRT that ****er!
Jake Stern (778 posts)
118. Let's see. . . .
Last edited Fri Mar 10, 2017, 02:53 PM - Edit history (1)
They control congress, the presidency and almost certainly the SCOTUS. They have total control (Legislative, Executive, Judicial) in 25 states and at least one branch in 19 more. By contrast the Dems have total control in just six states and at least one branchr in 19 others.
That's not taunting, that's truth.
Now the big question is how to we win that back?
Star Member jalan48 (5,210 posts)
5. Lets do both. We have lost almost all the state governments to Republicans, we need a strategy to win back voters as well as help those who have been unable to vote. Republican control of state houses will only mean continued disenfranchisement.
Star Member SharonAnn (10,651 posts)
119. I believe that overcoming voter suppression is a HUGE opportunity.
While we can't change the laws overnight, we can be sure to reach out to people and be sure they get ID's, help them get ID's including covering the cost), get them to vote (absentee if necessary).
We're often leaving this all to the individual whose vote is being suppressed. Shame on us.
Star Member uponit7771 (40,549 posts)
8. THANK YOU!!! of course POC votes were down in voter suppression states!!!!!
it's not like the black people just didn't like Hillary or anything.
Star Member George II (20,039 posts)
20. What concerns me is that we have someone in charge of so-called "Outreach" whose responsibility is to attract voters - Democrats, independents, and even republicans - by point out the positive things about the Democratic Party and what we can do for them.
Unfortunately all that's coming from him is how bad the Democratic Party is, what's wrong with us, and what we have to do to change.
Star Member BainsBane (40,120 posts)
23. We do have to change
But the way to achieve that is not to constantly assail the party is the press. If the goal is really for the party to reach out to Trump voters, how does continually claiming they are ignoring them help that? It serves only one person, not the party and not voters.
Star Member George II (20,039 posts)
84. The thing is I've seen lots of criticism, but very few specific, positive recommendations....
My very last college class (45 years ago now) was basically a seminar on what to expect in the real, working world.
The one thing that sticks in my mind even today was what the Professor told us - "you're free to criticize anything that's proposed by your co-workers or supervisor, but if you do, you'd better be prepared with a specific recommendation yourself".
I'm not seeing much, if any of that.
Star Member BainsBane (40,120 posts)
65. Those voters of color voted for Democrats before too
and there are many more of them. The point is that voters are not being treated as equal. A small number of Trump voters have consistently been treated as more important than a million voters of color. What does that say about the values being promoted?
I did not reference Dixiecrats. I also specifically referenced the point about reaching out to both. That is only possible if people acknowledge that all Americans are important instead of relentlessly focusing on a small number of white Republicans while ignoring millions.
Lectures about identity politics are what white men--typically, and previously only, conservatives--say as a way of silencing the voices and concerns of people of color and women. That is not a call for inclusion but rather exclusion. All lives are not the same, and pretending they are ensures that women and people of color are not represented. Everyone is not stopped by police for being black or brown. Everyone does not face a government controlling their bodies. Everyone does not face discrimination due to religion. Everyone does not face victimization from hate crimes. Dismissing those concerns as "identity politics" demeans those citizens, placing them below the interests of white men deemed universal simply because they are white and male. That those comments came on the heels of an election that turned on the politics of white identity made those comments all the more disturbing.
I will not stand back while my party capitulates to discrimination. That those advocating for it claim it is progressive does not make it so. It is an effort to turn back the clock to a time when the privileged did not have to suffer the public existence of those they see as less than themselves.
Star Member brooklynite (37,112 posts)
67. How is it you imiagine Democrats are "discriminating" by reaching out to White male voters?
Are the caving on immigration rights? No.
Giving up on support for Planned Parenthood? No.
Demanding more "law and order" in Cities? No.
Remaining silet on transgender rights? No.
Star Member BainsBane (40,120 posts)
82. Decrying identity politics means abandoning those issues
Last edited Fri Mar 10, 2017, 12:58 PM - Edit history (1)
That is what it is an appeal to do. Note that the politician who critiqued "identity politics" focuses on only one of your points above.
Star Member Stonepounder (1,669 posts)
26. Several points.
1. I agree, the Dems need to grow a spine and quit trying to 'triangulate' during the elections. Find a young, charismatic, articulate, passionate person to run. A Bernie Sanders in their 40's-50's.
2. Force the states to accept a nonpartisan committee that draws precinct/district boundries in a non-gerrymandered fashion. One person, one vote in an ethnic/color blind fashion. (Don't ask me how we are going to do this, I don't have a freaking clue.)
3. Go after the unfair voter suppression crap. I, as a middle-class white person have never had to wait more that 10-15 minutes to vote in any election and I vote in most of them. There are always plenty of machines and it is a simple matter to show my ID, sign the voter book, and vote. My MIL never had any trouble voting, even into her 90's when she didn't have a Driver's License, she just converted it into an ID card and that was it. The only place we ever had trouble was in Missouri when we tried to register to vote and they demanded to see a Social Security card and said a bloody US Passport wasn't sufficient ID. Make it easy to register and vote.
Then sit back and watch.
Star Member BainsBane (40,120 posts)
47. First, Bernie is the one who has repeatedly argued that Democrats need to focus on what he calls neglected Trump voters. He hasn't, to my knowledge, once mentioned voter disenfranchisement. Someone in his image would not promote point three.
There are only two ways to force the states to open up the vote: through the courts or through congress. Congress is out, and DOJ is out. The ACLU and other organizations can press some cases, but the only truly effective mechanism is to regain control of state government by focusing relentlessly on building the party at the local level. That means Democrats need to get over the fixation on the presidency and focus on how power is really wielded in our system, at the local level. That means driving turnout in congressional and state elections. That must be treated with equal or greater importance than the presidency.
Parmenides72 (2 posts)
28. I think the point is to reclaim the obama voters we lost.
Certainly it would be a gross mistake to simply cater to white male voters, that would require a substantial shift to the right on all major issues.
Star Member pnwmom (80,536 posts)
32. We lost very few Obama voters to DT. That is a misconception. n/t
newspeak: Hillary didn't lose Barry voters. She had more voters than Barry did- either time. She won the election, really- except for a sneaky rule put in to make sure a white man won.
wcast (272 posts)
33. For some reason many like to pretend that whites are the future of our party.
They aren't but are an important piece. We win them back by proposing legislation that helps every working person, not just the supposed white working class. We shouldn't change our party one iota to appeal to them but we need to stop being in bed with big business.
Star Member gordianot (10,947 posts)
51. As a white male I can attest to the prevailing mindset of white male entitlement.
As a white male you are expected to follow undeserved privilege. When you do not you are held in disdain by other white males. I welcome that disdain.
pretty sure people don't like you because you are an annoying little limp wristed milquetoasted lightly with no butter please ****stick.
NCDem777 (56 posts)
56. How to activate the base?
That's the big issue.
For starters, let's try getting people to vote for our candidate because our candidate has the better platform. Last election, the best message we could come up with was "We aren't Republicans."
And maybe reconnecting with the anti-war movement would be helpful. One of the big reasons, Bernie, love him or hate him, got such big crowds was that he was the first one saying we should DIVEST from trying to solve every minor problem in the Middle East and INVEST in shit we need here.
hippies.
redgreenandblue (1,777 posts)
66. The "everyone except me is racist/sexist" attitude that is seeping from this post is why we lost.
Is it because they take their lead from a politician who has traditionally relied overwhelmingly on white voters for his electoral wins? Is it because of an implicit, unconscious bias that white male voters matter more? They just don't think about disenfranchised voters because they don't know any? Is it because they want to see the party whiter, like in the days they insist the party was so much better than today?
"I'm not accusing anyone of being racist. I'm just asking *wink wink*"
Clue: Hillary achieved meh results with female and Latino voters and that is not the fault of mythical "white male racist progressives".
Star Member BainsBane (40,120 posts)
74. I asked questions
Others have suggested explanations that I did not think of, many of them excellent, far better than mine. You are free to offer some yourself.
How is it you missed my entire argument about voter disenfranchisement on populations of color? Or did you simply not think it relevant?
liquid diamond (1,625 posts)
75. Bravenak has been arguing against this bullshit for months. If democrats pursue fickle and racist white voters, that pandering will lead to loyal minorities leaving the party. Do you caucasians want that?
How about this: Blacks make up about 13% of the population. Whites make up about 60%. I think your plan on telling white people to go **** themselves will work wonders at getting a [D] into the white House in 2020...
Star Member BainsBane (40,120 posts)
80. Why don't you read my post?
Before claiming I am arguing something I don't, and in fact specifically say I am not.
Hey- STFU and go make Frank a sammich.
Star Member BainsBane (40,120 posts)
85. If the point is to treat all groups of Americans with equal respect
Last edited Fri Mar 10, 2017, 01:12 PM - Edit history (1)
Why is one group continually focused on but not others? We have seen a myopic focus on the "working class white voter" since the GE, with virtually no discussion of disenfranchised voters of color. How does that communicate equal value?
working white voters are a large majority of the voting block- in fact THE majority.
Star Member BainsBane (40,120 posts)
117. The problem is there has been no attention on to disenfranchisement
in the aftermath of the GE and a relentless focus on white male Republican voters, especially among those calling themselves progressives. They have ceded analysis of the election to a single politician who has a myopic focus on this point, possibly because his own political fortunes are tied to white voters.
I'll put it plainly. Many progressives aren't paying attention to disenfranchisement because Bernie hadn't told them to.
We also see comments, even in this thread, that issues that relate to women and voters of color are "wedge issues" that should be be championed by the party.
Star Member lark (6,939 posts)
88. Dems need to stand up for poor, oppressed, environment, unions and working class people regardless of their race and ethnicity. If they can find a way to do this, and stop the BS hacking and collusion with foreign powers, they will win again, and bigly. lol
yeah- it was the russians that cheated hillary out of the white house.
Star Member La Lioness Priyanka (53,007 posts)
104. because white lives have always mattered more than the rest of ours
even to liberals
