It is interesting, in the way that a crime spree is interesting, to watch our two major political parties struggle with defining their political values system, or ideology. Like the proverbial man on the street, or that loudmouth at the end of the bar, they’re good at spouting off about their rights but act like Curly, Moe, and Larry when it comes to getting anything done.
Democrats, all along the chain from local to national parties, need to recognize that significant numbers of Obama voters became Trump voters because they wanted hope and change and didn’t get either. Yes, Obama was a good President, but his terms were focused on fixing the policy mistakes of both Bush and Clinton. Those administrations – especially Clinton’s – gutted the working class, and Obama was so frantically busy propping up banks and Middle Eastern con men that he missed seeing that the day-to-day lives of many Americans have become episodes of Breaking Bad.
Democrats obviously have to run better candidates. But it matters less who they nominate –whether man, woman, black, white, straight, gay, Christian or non-Christian – than about what their candidates stand for.
The picture for Democrats is complicated by the sizable number of voters who support the Affordable Care Act but absolutely hate Obamacare. These are the folks who fiercely proclaim the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, but are afraid to use a public restroom unless they’re packing heat because there may be an 11-year-old transgender kid one can over. They’ve resolved that the Bible is the Official Book of the state, they cheer for the death penalty, and they’re okay with nursing homes getting off the liability hook for kneecapping Grandma.
They’ll be the last folks to realize, if they ever do, that the policy agenda of the Trump administration shuts down rural America, rocks agriculture-dependent economies, and decimates red state budgets. The Old Testament world they cherish is about to visit them in the here and now, and among its inconveniences is the absence of the black guy to blame it on.
My advice to Democrats? Smile, be nice to them, and say, “Well, bless your heart.”
As always, Dan, thank you for painting a picture using paints that have reality as their main ingredient. One addage never changes: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t.