Once upon a time, we had “Dixiecrats,” or U.S. Senate Democrats from the old Confederacy. They were some of the great characters of the U.S. Senate, like Senator Thurmond, who ran for president in 1948, or Senator Fulbright of Arkansas, who was very close to Bill Clinton, and others who represented their region rather well.
Today, there are no Dixiecrats. Instead, there are southern GOP senators and members of the U.S. House.
What we do have is a shrinking and very coastal Democratic Party, as TIME magazine exposed and Matt Vespa analyzed:
The Democratic Party is in shambles.
Say what you will about the Republicans – they have problems too – but at least they’re a national party.For all his faults, Trump was able to virtually get the entire GOP base to vote for him in 2016. The GOP controls Congress, the presidency, two-thirds of the governorships, and 69/99 state legislatures.They’re at the apex of their power.As the GOP licked their wounds and learned from their 2008 and 2012 defeats, the Democrats, smug, content, and insufferable, felt they had advantage for the next generation. They would run the table on national elections due to demographic shifts.Then, Hillary Clinton torpedoed that whole narrative. Time magazine delved into the state of the party, its hit to the mouth after Trump’s win, and noted that things look grim for this regional, shrinking party.As many other, including here, have noted – the Democrats have no leader, no message, dismal fundraising, and seem to be on the brink of civil war over issues on what actually makes one a Democrat.
The party has a lot of problems, indeed.
The climax was election night 2016. It was that night that Democrats walked away from the party, as they did in 1972, when President Nixon blew up the Democrat South, and in 1980, when then-governor Reagan connected with blue-collar workers.
A week after Mr. Trump’s victory, I was at Telemundo Dallas discussing the results. I was asked why so many “white workers” had walked away. I answered by focusing on the Democrats’ obsession with illegal aliens.
Then I used this example of a mythical couple living in the Midwest.
Imagine a working-class couple in southern Wisconsin. They have lived there for generations. It’s possible that their father and grandfather worked at that factory. It’s likely that they also served in World War II, Korea, or Vietnam. The man probably hunts often, and they proudly display the US flag. They are religious and believe in the goodness of their country.
The wife asks her husband about the news that the plant may be closing and moving overseas. The husband confirms the story. The wife asks: who is looking out for us?
After dinner, they turn on the TV to watch the news. They hear Mr. Trump talking about saving their jobs and the Democrats talking about sanctuary cities or protecting illegal immigrants.
Whom did that couple vote for? They voted for Mr. Trump, and that’s why he won.
The Democratic Party no longer connects with that couple in southern Wisconsin or others who feel disconnected from a party run by public-sector unions and secular elites who call you a “homophobe” if you believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. They also don’t get why the party is more focused on climate change than their manufacturing jobs.
Before we write the Democrats’ obituary, let’s remember the cycles of politics. At the same time, parties come back when they learn from their defeats. They bring back the voters they rejected.
How do the Democrats bring back conservative white workers? I don’t see anything they are doing that will bring them back anytime soon.
Yes, they will be the Coastalcrats for a while.
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